Joker in cartomancy

The joker is, in cartomancy with a 54-card deck, the extra card that originated in the United States in the 19th century for certain trick-taking games, and which most divination methods remove from the pack. Practitioners who keep it read it as a surprise, the unexpected, something out of the ordinary or a turning point. Some liken it to the Fool of the tarot, an unnumbered figure that escapes the rules. Its use is not part of the old French cartomancy tradition, based on the 32-card deck.