Play Hukam Teen Patti free online

How the hukam works

Hukam, also written hukum, means a command. At Indian card tables it is also the everyday name for spades and, in games such as Court Piece, the word for the trump suit. Hukam Teen Patti borrows that idea: after the deal the dealer turns the next card of the deck face up, and its suit is the hukam for the hand.

Every other card of the hukam suit is a joker. If the Five of spades is turned up, every spade still in play is wild, from the two to the ace. The turned-up card itself belongs to nobody.

Jokers play as in AK47 and Joker: one joker turns a pair into a trail, completes the best run your other two cards fit, makes a colour with two cards of one suit, or pairs your higher card. Two jokers, which here simply means two cards of the hukam suit, make a trail of your third card. Three hukam cards are three aces.

Hukam or Joker: which is which?

Both games turn up a card after the deal. In Joker the card's rank is wild, so there are three jokers. In Hukam the card's suit is wild, so there are twelve. Apps and rule sites do not agree on the name: some describe a rank-wild game as Hukam. We play the suit version under the name Hukam, as hukam means the trump suit, and the rank version under the name Joker, so you can try both.

Hukam rankings

Best first, with how often each hand is dealt, averaged over every possible hukam card. In the examples a spade was turned up, so spades are jokers (starred).

Who wins? Worked examples

In every example below the Five of spades was turned up, so every other spade is a joker.

Betting, show and side show in Hukam

Nothing about the betting changes. Everyone posts the boot, blind players bet the stake and seen players twice the stake, and you can pack at any turn. A show is possible once two players are left, and a seen player can ask the previous seen player for a side show while three or more remain.

When hands are compared, every joker is played at its best and a joker hand is worth the same as the natural hand it makes. On equal hands the player who asked for the show or side show loses.

Hukam tips

• Find the hukam suit in your hand first. One card of it is a joker; two make a trail.
• Trails are common, so a low trail is good but not safe. Three twos beat about 84 hands in 100, three Queens nearly 96.
• A natural pair of Kings only beats about half of all Hukam hands. Without a joker, be careful with pairs.
• If your hand has no hukam card and nothing else, pack early: the others have many ways to beat you.

Where versions differ

Versions differ most here. Some apps play Hukam with the turned card's rank wild, which is our Joker game; we play the suit version, after hukum, the trump suit.

Hukam questions