Global Sports: Texas Holdem Starting Hand Nicknames

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Texas Holdem Starting Hand Nicknames

By Corinne Michel

Texas Holdem Poker has a colourful history. Billions of hands have been played and many a jovial situation has occurred at the poker table. Most of the hands in poker have acquired a nickname or two over the years, some are colourful and ugly, otherwise are humourous and witty.

The most powerful hand before the flop in Texas Holdem Poker is two Aces. Subsequently they generate the most excitement and colourful names. The most common names for two Aces are Rockets, Pocket Rockets, and Bullets (for obvious reasons). They are named after several famous people and organisations with initials starting with the letter "A" including Alan Alda, Albert Anastasia, and American Airlines. They are also known as numerous pointy and sharp objects including Rocky Mountains, Sticks, Teepees and Two Pips. A few obscure references include Squirrel (the nuts) and Batteries (Double A). Individual names for a single Ace include Bull, Bullet, Death Card (spades), Mastercard, One Spot, Puppy Foot (clubs), Seed, Sharp Top, Spike and Tax Card (spades).

Two kings are another strong hand preflop in holdem and are commonly known as Cowboys. Another name is Butchers of Baghdad (so named in reference to Saddam Hussein on the Iraqi most wanted playing cards). Alliterations of KK include Krispy Kreme and King Kong (and also Gorillas, Gorillas in the Mist). Ace Magnets is common because an Ace always comes on the flop. A King is also known as David (spades), Julius Caesar or One eyed king (diamonds), K-Boy, Monarch, Sergeant, Alexander (clubs), Charlemagne or Charles (hearts). Another fitting term for this hand is The Elvis Presley (The King of Rock n Roll).

Queens often cop the short end of nicknames, partly because of the number of times they are beaten by Aces and Kings, but also through reference to homosexuality. Common polite terms include Ladies, Lovely Ladies, Calamity Jane (likely extensive of Cowboys for KK) and Snowshoes (owing to their resemblance to the original shape of snowshoes). More crude nicknames include Four T*ts, Jail-house Rock, Siegfried and Roy and B***hes.

Other pairs such as Jacks through to Twos all have a nickname or two. Jacks are commonly known as Hooks or Fish-hooks. Less known names include Rent boys, Kid Dyne-o-mite (TV show reference), Brothers, Jay Birds, John Juanda (Poker Player) and finally possible the most vulgar - Colostomy Bag (as Jack is slang for toilet in some countries). Two Tens are referenced as Two Dimes, TNT, Dynamite and Binary (In Binary 1010 is the equivalent of 10). Nines are known as Barbara Feldon (Get Smart- Agent 99), German Virgins (Nein), Phil Helmuth (Won WSOP in 1989), Popeye, Pot hooks and Wayne Gretzky (Hockey Player). Two eights are Snowmen, Dawg Balls, Piano Keys, Little Oldsmobile, Racetracks, Two Fat Ladies, Lacey, Pretzels, and Wurlitzer. Sevens are axes, mullets, hockey sticks or walking sticks. A couple of sixes are known as Cherries, Boots or Kicks (On Route 66). Fives are Presto, Snakes or Speed Limit, while Fours are Canadian Presto, Dark Force, Darth Vader, Magnum and Sail boats. A Pair of threes is either crabs (claw shaped like the number 3) or treys and a pair of Twos is usually Deuces, Ducks, or Quack Quack (in reference to the number two being shaped like a duck).

Other non pairing hands of notable fame include the infamous Ace and King combination known as Big Slick. Names include backronyms such as Korean Airlines and King Arthur as well as normally acronyms such as Anna Kournikova (also named because it looks good but seldom wins). Another common reference is Kalashnikov (who designed the AK47). An Ace and a Queen is known as Big Chick or Mrs Slick. Other non pairing notable hands include Jack-Four (Flat Tire - what's a Jack for?), J6 (Rail Road - phonetics of Jacks n Sixes, Jacks n Sixes, Jacks n Sixes - Woo Woo). Ten-Deuce is known as the Doyle Brunson after he successful made two full houses and won two World Series of Poker bracelets.

Obviously the list of starting hand nicknames is more extensive than this. In addition there are alot of names too crude to be discussed here. If you are interested in other poker starting hand nicknames I recommend searching Wikipedia for an extensive list of common names with interesting references.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment