No matter what type of card game you want to play, be it teen patti or a rummy game, you will always be able to encounter a joker card in the deck. But what is the meaning behind the joker card and why was it created in the first place?
Simply put, the joker card is basically a wild card and it doesn’t have a specific meaning to begin with. It was created specifically as a standard addition to the four suits and it’s designed in order to be very easy to use.
When was the joker card created?
The joker card has its origins in the game of Euchre. This is the highest trump card, the jack of the trump suit and it’s called the right bower. At around 1860 the American Euchre players managed to devise a higher trump which was named the best bower and that was created out of a blank card which is very important to keep in mind.
Samuel Hart was the first person that illustrated this card 3 years later and he started to use clowns and jesters on it as an image. That managed to bring in front some incredible results for the players as they became very interested and intrigued by the entire experience offered by this card.
However, despite the fact that this card has depictions of jesters and clowns on it, it wasn’t called joker until a few years later. The idea here was that Joker came from the original German spelling of Euchre which was Jucker or Juckerspiel.
Starting with 1871 a British card manufacturer has started to create packs and he included jokers in them. These started to sell so well that he had to create more and more. The first joker for the domestic market in the UK was sold 3 years later.
Do other card games use it?
Despite the fact that the joker does come from Euchre, other card games integrated it very fast. The first one after Euchre was poker and its main purpose here was as a wild card. Soon packs with not only one but two jokers were created and these were suitable for the game was Canasta which became popular in the middle of the 20th century. There were a few instances where some games such as German rummy actually started to integrate 3 jokers and all of them could be used which was very interesting to begin with.
In conclusion, the Joker card was invented by accident but it’s used very often and it really is one of the most interesting and beloved cards that you can find on the market. It looks great and it manages to provide a unique twist to the entire card game experience. Nowadays, the joker has a meaning in just about any card game that you choose to play and sometimes it can even be the titular card. Regardless of that, the joker card is indeed one of the most interesting inventions in the card game world and it continues to amaze as well as entertain people worldwide!