Type of wild card in poker
A royal flush with a bug as the queen of hearts
A bug in poker is 👏 a limited form of wild card. One or both jokers are often added to the deck and played as bugs.
In 👏 draw poker played for high and pai gow poker, the bug is considered to be an ace, unless it can 👏 be used as a missing card to complete a straight or a flush, in which case it becomes the highest[1] 👏 card which can complete the hand.
K-K-Joker-5-2 is a pair of kings with an ace kicker.
is a pair of kings with 👏 an ace kicker. A-A-Joker-9-4 is three aces.
is three aces. A♥ - J♥ - 8♥ - 3♥ -Joker is a flush, 👏 ace-king high, the bug becoming the K♥ , even if another player holds the "real" K♥ .
is a flush, ace-king 👏 high, the bug becoming the , even if another player holds the "real" . 7-6-5-4-Joker is an eight-high straight, the 👏 bug becoming an eight rather than a three since both complete the straight but the eight is higher.
is an eight-high 👏 straight, the bug becoming an eight rather than a three since both complete the straight but the eight is higher. 👏 Joker-J♣-10♣-8♣-7♣ is a straight flush, jack high, the bug becoming the 9♣.
In California lowball, the bug is the lowest unpaired 👏 card in a hand. For example in 8-6-4-3 plus the bug, the bug becomes an ace; in A-2-3-5 plus the 👏 bug, the bug becomes a four.
Holding the bug greatly increases the power of certain drawing hands. For example, playing for 👏 high, a natural four-straight such as Q-J-10-9 drawing one has nine outs to complete the hand, any king or eight 👏 or the bug. By contrast a four-straight including the bug can have as many as sixteen outs to complete the 👏 straight - Q-J-10-Joker can catch any ace, king, nine, or eight.
