Joker

Georgia’s favorite card game. Bid exactly the tricks you’ll take, and play your jokers to grab a trick or give one away. 4 players.

Also known as Georgian Joker and Jokeri.

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How to play Joker

  1. 1Four players, 36 cards: 6 up to ace in every suit (aces high), with the 6♠ and 6♣ swapped for two jokers.
  2. 2A full game is 24 deals in four sets: deals of 1 up to 8 cards, four deals of 9, deals of 8 down to 1, then four more of 9. The host can choose a short game of just the eight nine-card deals.
  3. 3In deals of 1 to 8 cards, the next card is turned up and its suit is trump; a turned-up joker means no trump. In nine-card deals, the player left of the dealer looks at their first three cards and chooses trump, or no trump, before the rest are dealt.
  4. 4Starting left of the dealer, everyone bids how many tricks they'll take. The dealer bids last and can't make the bids add up to the number of tricks.
  5. 5Follow the suit led if you can. If you can't, you must play a trump if you have one. Otherwise play anything. The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads next.
  6. 6A joker can be played at any time. Played to a trick, it either takes it (only a joker played high after it can beat it) or gives it away, losing to every card.
  7. 7Leading a joker, you name a suit. High: everyone must play their best card of that suit, and the joker takes the trick unless someone trumps or plays the other joker high. Low: everyone must play that suit if they can, and the joker gives the trick away.
  8. 8Make your bid exactly to score 50 a trick plus 50 (bid 0 and make it: 50). Bid every trick and take them all: 100 a trick. Miss, and every trick you took is 10, but bidding some and taking none costs 200.
  9. 9Make every bid in a set and your best score of that set counts twice. After the last deal the highest score wins.

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