The Perfect Hand

When we are at my step-mom's house, we like to play the game "500". My step-mom's family has played this game for generations, I think. It's not a hard game to play and it's fun. The object is to take all the "tricks", as that is true in many card games. In this game, as in other games, you bid if your cards are strong in a particular suit. In this case, my step-mom had a good hand with lots of hearts. Since she won the bid, because nobody else had much to bid on, she was able to use the 5 cards that are in the "kitty". Then she discards 5 loser cards and then plays with what she has left. Already strong in hearts, she got in the kitty...4 other heart cards and the Joker. She said, "oh, my gosh, I got all hearts and the Joker in the kitty!" and the opposition just laid down their cards in defeat. I ran for the camera!

The two Jacks are high cards in the suit that you bid in, so the importance of the cards are shown in how she arranged her cards. And the other Jack in the same color, is the third most important card, as is shown here.