Tom deals the first hand

Tom picked up the deck of cards. Deft fingers quickly mixed the pasteboards. He held it out to Cindy. The blonde picked up a section of the deck and placed it on the carpet. Tom placed the section underneath the part he held. One by one Tom laid cards face down in front of Linda, Cindy and himself. When he had put five in each, he set the deck down. He flipped his cards over one by one and called out each as he did.

Nine of Spades
King of Diamonds
Jack of Spades
Three of Clubs
Joker

“The joker counts as any card.” Tom explained, “Therefore I have a pair of kings. In a regular game, I would keep the spades and joker. It guarantees a pair of jacks with the possibility of a straight flush. However, since you win by not having the lowest hand rather than having the highest hand, I’ll keep the king and joker.” Tom slid the other three cards to the side.

“Linda?” he prompted. The older gal flipped over her five cards. Two and four of Diamonds. Four of Hearts. Six and seven of Clubs.

“You have a pair of fours,” Tom pointed out, “There doesn’t appear to be a lot of potential for a straight or flush. I would keep the fours and throw the rest.”