Question:    How should I handle the “wild-cards” and the joker hands while playing for low cards? Are there any variations while dealing with the cards?

Answer:    Several variations are possible while dealing with the cards if you are playing for low. Some poker games permit the ace to play low and ignore straights and flushes; making 5,4,3,2,A the best possible low, even if it makes a straight flush. Other games just reverse the order used for high hands, making 7,5,4,3,2 of mixed suits the best possible low. Still others count straights and flushes against you, but let the ace play low, making 6,4,3,2,A the best low. Note that in most games in which the ace plays low, a pair of aces is lower than a pair of deuces, just as an ace is lower than a deuce.

When a joker is in play, it usually can only be used as an ace or to complete a straight or flush. It cannot be used as a true wild card, for example, as a queen to make Q,Q,4,3,X play as three queens. When playing for low, the joker becomes the lowest rank not already held, so, 8,6,4,A,X is played as 8,6,4,2,A, with the joker used as a deuce. Although true wild cards are rarely seen in a casino, they are a popular way to add excitement to home poker. Wild cards introduce an additional hand, five of a kind, which normally ranks above a straight flush. They can also cause confusion when two players hold the same hand composed of different wild card combinations. The standard rules of poker do not distinguish between such hands, but some players prefer to rank hands using fewer wild cards above less "natural" versions of the same hand.