Jokers Kill

Contributed by Trevin Cowman

This game for two or more players requires one standard 52-card pack and a pencil and paper for scorekeeping. There are two variations of the game, With Jokers and Without Jokers.

Without Jokers

Players: 2 or more

Each player is dealt one card face down. One card is then placed face up on the table.

Scoring

• If none of the players' cards match the rank of the face up card then whoever has the lowest card wins the hand.
• If the lowest card is lower than the face up card (and no one matches the face up card), the player with the lowest card receives 2 points.
• If the lowest card is higher than the face up card, the player with that card receives1 point.
• If one player matches the face up card, they win the hand and receive 3 points.
• If two or more players match the face up card, or if no one matches the face up card but two or more players tie for lowest card dealt, then to break the tie, each of these players receives another card, and the lowest of these new cards wins. If there is again a tie for lowest, then the players involved in this new tie receive another card; this continues until a single player wins by being dealt the lowest card. The player with the lowest card then receives 3 points. Matching the face up card does not win during a tie break. Example:
  • The face up card is a 5, and the five players have 7, 7, 9, K, 7.
  • The three players with sevens are dealt new cards and get 10, 10, Q.
  • No result yet as there is still a tie for lowest, so the two players with 10's are dealt new cards.
  • Both get sixes - another tie so they are dealt another new card each.
  • The new cards are a 4 and a 5. The player with the 4 wins 3 points (it does not matter that the other player's card matches the face up card).
• If an Ace is dealt to a player, it is lower than the other dealt cards. If an Ace is dealt face up on the table, it is higher than the dealt cards.

When a hand is won, the winning player collects the cards played in that hand and makes a Prize Pile.

Game is played until the entire deck is dealt, or as many as can be are dealt evenly.

After all cards are dealt, each player searches their Prize Pile for the following Bonus Cards:

• Suicide King (King of Hearts) = 2 points.
• One-eyed Jack #1 (Jack of Spades) = 1 point.
• One-eyed Jack #2 (Jack of Hearts) = 1 point.

Each player than adds all their points. The player with the most points is declared the winner.

In the event of 2 or more players tying, the deck is reshuffled and a new game is played between these players. The first to win 3 hands in this new game is the winner.

With Jokers

All rules are the same except:

• Two or four Jokers are shuffled into the 52 card pack.
• If any player(s) is dealt a Joker, then the hand is declared dead. No one can earn points for this hand. The player(s) put their Joker in their Prize Pile, and the other cards in play are discarded and can not be used for points.
• When adding up scores at the end of the game, each Joker in a player's Prize Pile is -1 point to their final score.