Oh Hell online
Oh Hell online, with two jokers
Joker AI lets you play the closest relative of Oh Hell online: you call your exact tricks, the dealer can’t make the bids add up, and only a kept bid really pays. It is not plain Oh Hell. The game is Joker, for four players with 36 cards and two jokers, and it runs free in the browser and on iOS and Android, with friends or with bots in the empty seats.
What will feel familiar
If you know Oh Hell, you can already play most of a hand. You see your cards, a suit is turned up as trump, and everyone says out loud how many tricks they will take. All bids are public, you must follow suit, and the last bidder is hooked: their number can’t make the total equal the tricks in the hand.
The deals also go up and down. Joker climbs from one card to eight, plays four hands of nine, drops back to one and ends on four more nines. The score sheet has the same rows, whether you play here or with a real deck.
What is different from Oh Hell
| Oh Hell | Joker in Joker AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 3 to 7, each for themselves | Exactly 4, each for themselves |
| Deck | 52 cards | 36 cards, with two jokers replacing the black sixes |
| Hands | Usually from a big deal down to one and back | 24 in four chapters; also 12 or 40 |
| Kept bid | Commonly 1 per trick plus a 10 bonus | 50 plus 50 per trick bid |
| Missed bid | Tricks only, or nothing | 10 per trick; bid and take none is a shtanga of −200 |
The jokers change the most. A joker thrown into a trick beats everything, the ace of trumps included, or it can step aside and take nothing. Lead one and you name a suit and a demand. That turns a hopeless hand into a kept bid and a safe hand into a disaster, which is the reason to try it after years of Oh Hell. The comparison of the two games goes through the differences one by one.
How to start a game
- Quick play seats you at an open table, or starts a Short 12 with Lilith, Noll and a guest at once.
- A private table has four seats: invite friends, or leave a seat and a bot takes it at the start.
- Ranked play has fixed rules, seasons and leagues, for when bots stop being a challenge.
- A three-hand lesson explains the jokers at a real table, and nobody is timing you.
You need a free Amavie account to sit down, the same one on the web and in the apps. A move has 30 seconds at tables with people and 15 against bots.
When another site suits you better
If you want Oh Hell exactly as your family plays it, with three to seven players and a full deck, Joker AI won’t give you that. Board Game Arena lists it for 3 to 7 in the browser, Trickster for 3 to 6 with video chat, and PlayingCards.io gives you a room code and a virtual table with no rules enforced. Come to Joker AI for the two jokers, the fixed four and the bots.
What a hand pays
| Pass kept — bid 0, took 0 | +50 |
|---|---|
| Bid N and took exactly N | 50 + 50 × N |
| Bid every trick of the hand and took them all | 100 × N |
| Missed either way, took k tricks | 10 × k |
| Shtanga — bid at least one, took none | −100 · −200 · −100 × cards |
| Gold hand, per trick | +100 |
| Misère, per trick taken | −100 |
| Misère flipped — all nine taken, per trick | +100 |
The shtanga is the table’s choice when it is set up; −200 unless agreed otherwise.
Time to move: 30 seconds at tables with people, 15 against bots.
These numbers come straight from the game engine — the same ones the score sheet uses.
Questions about playing online
Can I play Oh Hell online with friends?
Plain Oh Hell, yes, on sites like Board Game Arena. Its two-joker relative is on Joker AI: open a private table, send your friends the invitation, and bots take any seat nobody claims.
Can I play against the computer?
Yes. Every game on Joker AI can run with bots, at a Normal or Strong level, and the characters Lilith and Noll can take a seat and talk about the cards.
Is it free?
Yes. The game is free to play in the browser and in the apps, and no money is at stake at any table. The only thing on sale is the look of your cards and table, paid for in Quanta.
Is Joker the same game as Oh Hell?
They are relatives, not the same game. Both are about bidding your exact tricks, and pagat.com files both under exact-bidding games. Joker has a fixed four players, a short deck, its own scoring and the two jokers.
Do I have to install anything?
No. Joker AI runs in the browser on a computer or a phone. The apps for iPhone, iPad and Android use the same account if you prefer them.
Is there a score sheet for playing with real cards?
Yes. The score sheet on this site prints on one page and adds itself up online. It follows Joker’s scoring, so for Oh Hell you would need your own column of numbers.