JOKER BAIT (Article 181)

Joker bait is a tactic coined by Tom Sloper. It is a calculated gamble: you keep a pair you don’t need, then, around the middle of the game, discard one tile, hoping another player claims it and uses a joker in the exposure. On your next turn, you can use the matching tile you kept to exchange for that joker. It’s a low-percentage tactic—about a 10% success rate—but can be valuable when it works. Flowers generally make poor joker bait because there are eight interchangeable flowers, making it more likely that another player will have a flower and exchange for the joker before you get the opportunity.

Here are video demonstrations of strategies for playing with jokers.

• Joker Bait I Hit or Miss https://goo.gl/2dqb3M
• Joker Bait II Etiquette and Tells https://goo.gl/W9xCY2
• Joker Bait III Chum the Table https://goo.gl/4Ct7Pm
• Plethora of Jokers I Focus on known tiles https://youtu.be/1YhV7aeTVHY
• Plethora of Jokers II Build around strength https://youtu.be/xRQS81UrH9E
• Plethora of Jokers III Force a Quint https://youtu.be/7DYn5GB_fDs
• Void of Jokers I Leverage Multiples https://youtu.be/0Bq5K9T2bVc
• Void of Jokers II Force a Pair Hand https://youtu.be/IkFub9SuQhE