Nicknames for Texas Hold’em Poker Hands
With the literal poker explosion in the last several years and millions of new players flocking the the game, poker hand nicknames have become more prevalent and popular than ever.
With poker television announcers spreading the word and old-time cardroom regulars ing along the word like cultural oral tradition, new poker players might feel lost amongst the jargon and lingo of seasoned veterans. With the obscurity of some of these nicknames, who can blame them?
While some hand nicknames are fairly transparent (American Airlines, Fish Hooks, and Jackson Five), the newer poker generation may have trouble with others (Broderick Crawford, Dead Man’s Hand, and Walking Back to Houston).
The following list contains some of the most popular poker hand nicknames.
| Hand | Nicknames |
|---|---|
| A-A | American Airlines, Rockets, Bullets, Snake Eyes |
| K-K | Cowboys, King Kong |
| Q-Q | Ladies |
| J-J | Fishhooks, Hooks |
| 10-10 | Dimes |
| 9-9 | Phil Hellmuth (won the 1989 Main Event with two black nines), Wayne Gretzky |
| 8-8 | Snowmen, Piano Keys (88 keys on a piano) |
| 7-7 | Walking Sticks, Sunset Strip (TV show title) |
| 6-6 | Route 66, Boots (for the slight resemblance of a boot to a 6) |
| 5-5 | Speed Limit, Presto |
| 4-4 | Magnum (the .44 Magnum pistol was Dirty Harry's gun), Sailboats |
| 3-3 | Crabs, Treys |
| 2-2 | Ducks (the 2 is similar to a duck's shape in water) |
| A-K | Big Slick, Walking Back to Houston (overplay Ace-King and you'd be left walking back to Houston) |
| A-Q | Doyle Brunson (the poker legend hates to play AQ) |
| A-J | Ajax |
| A-10 | Johnny Moss |
| A-8 | Dead Man's Hand (Wild Bill Hickok was holding Aces and Eights when he was shot and killed) |
| A-3 | Baskin-Robbins (an Ace is also a 1 when playing lowball, making 31 for 31 flavors) |
| K-Q | Marriage |
| K-J | Kojak, Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) |
| K-9 | Canine, Fido |
| K-3 | King Crab, Commander Crab (a 3 is often called a "crab") |
| Q-J | Maverick (Jacks and Queens from the "Maverick" theme song) |
| Q-7 | Computer Hand (statistically, this is the average winning hand in Hold'em) |
| J-6 | Railroad Hand (repeating "Jacks and sixes" sounds like a train on its tracks) |
| J-5 | Jackson Five, Motown |
| J-4 | Flat Tire (what's a jack for?) |
| 10-5 | Dime Store, Woolworths (the old discount five and dime store chain) |
| 10-4 | Broderick Crawford (his catchphrase in "Highway Patrol"), Roger That |
| 10-2 | Doyle Brunson (he won both his WSOP Championships with this modest holding) |
| 9-8 | Oldsmobile (the classiest model was the 98) |
| 9-3 | Jack Benny (always claimed to be 39 years old) |
| 7-6 | Union Oil (owns the 76 gas station brand) |
| 7-5 | Heinz (for Heinz' 57 flavor varieties) |
| 7-2 | The Hammer |
| 6-3 | Blocky (from Doyle Brunson's Super System) |
| 5-4 | Jesse James (he was allegedly killed with a shot from a .45 pistol) |
| A-K-Q-J-T | Broadway |
| A-2-3-4-5 | Wheel |
| K-K-K | Three Wise Men |
| T-T-T | Thirty Miles of Bad Road (Gilroy to San Jose) |
| Q-Q-K-K | Mommas and Poppas |
| A-K-4-7 | Assault Rifle (named after the Russian machine gun) |
| 2-2-2 | Huey, Dewey, and Louie (three famous "ducks") |
| Nuts | The unbeatable hand |
| Quads | Four of a Kind |
| Set | Three of a Kind (using a pocket pair) |
| Trips | Three of a Kind (using a pair on the board) |
| Any Face Card | Paint |
Whether to add a bit of humor and sociality to the game or just made out of boredom in between deals, poker is one of the great purveyors of nicknames both for its players and its hands.
If you’re new to the game, understanding poker hand nicknames is important for getting yourself deep into the game’s culture. Knowing these can also aid in learning the strategic discussions around them, because they can act as sort-of mnemonic devices as you’re learning about hand-strength.
While Texas Hold’em starting cards have inspired most of the two-card hand nicknames, some have their roots way back in the Wild West draw poker days – like Dead Man’s Hand and Maverick. Even seemingly generic like using Bullets to mean Aces go all the way back to the old west.
Poker is not just a game of cards; it’s a vibrant subculture rich with its own colorful language. Poker hand nicknames are just one of the many types of slang you’ll hear on the felt or see in the chatbox. Imbued with humor and history, they are an important part of the poker vernacular.
I’d argue that getting to know these is essentially learning alongside a successful poker strategy, especially if you want to ingratiate yourself into the poker community at large.
Josh is one of the world’s most respected online gambling experts. He has been featured on outlets such as CardPlayer, the World Poker Tour, Google News, and Forbes. Josh has nearly 20 years of experience reviewing poker rooms, casinos, and online sportsbooks. He launched Beat The Fish in 2005, which has been peer-certified as a trustworthy gambling portal. Josh’s proven systems and extensive knowledge of the iGaming industry have been used by thousands of online bettors to make more informed decisions.
2/7 Should be called No Man’s Hand. Playing off no man’s land, the land between the trenches in WW1. It’s no man’s hand because it does NOthing for you and your in danger if you dont fold and get the hell out of there.
ak = anna kournikova the tennis player, looks pretty but wins nothing
10-6 the graveyard, 10pm to 6am the normal nightshift
My poker pals and I call K-9 the little dog if it’s not suited, big dog if it is suited. Go get a bite!
Good ones!
I can’t believe you left off 9 – 5… the “Dolly Parton”.
9 to 5! Thanks for the tip, you’re absolutely right. I’m going to have to fix up that chart here soon with a bunch of ones I might have missed.
And the Heinz… 5-7
Yes, absolutely. Love that one actually. A good classic.
Looking over this page again it’s about time I make this page a lot more epic. Thank you for the impetus.
Thought A-Q was “walking back to Houston”?
It’s A-K. I’ve seen a couple of opposite explanations for the term. Either players were prone to playing A-K too strongly so they would be left “walking back to Houston” after they overplayed it or the old Texas rounders would play the hand so well that when you ran into one of them with A-K you’d be left “walking back to Houston”. The former seems to make more sense.
I’ve heard A-Q called “Little Slick” or “Doyle Brunson” because of how much he described his dislike of it in Super System.
5&10 is also murphys five and dime store
Good ones. I’ve heard “Woolworths” as well for 10-5, which goes along with “Five and Dime” and “Dime Store”. I will have to add those in to the list.
I don’t know the Murphy’s one. The closest I could find was “Merfs”, which describes a draw poker variant where Tens and Fives are wild of all things. Is that it?