Jack (playing card) Jack (playing card) A jack or knave is a playing card which, in traditional French and English decks, pictures a man in the traditional or historic aristocratic dress generally associated with Europe of the 16th or 17th century. The usual rank of a jack, within its suit, plays as if it was an 11 (that is, between the 10 and the queen). As the lowest face (or "court") card, the jack often represents a minimum standard — for example, many poker games require a minimum hand of a pair of jacks ("jacks or better") in order to continue play. The
Joker (playing card) Joker (playing card) The Joker is a playing card found in most modern card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades). The Joker originated in the United States during the Civil War and was created as a trump card for the game of Euchre. It has since been adopted into many other card games, where it may function as a wild card. The card is unique within the French pack in that it lacks an industry-wide standard appearance. In the game of Euchre, the highest trump card is the Jack of the trump