Interesting Hand Names In Holdem Poker

• Author: Clementine Gaillou
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Sep 14,2010

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 have nasty nicknames, partly because of the number of times they are beaten by Aces and Kings, but also through reference to homosexuality. Some nicer terms include Lovely Ladies, Ladies, Calamity Jane (likely extensive of Cowboys for KK) and Snowshoes (resemblance to the original shape of snowshoes). Crude nicknames include Siegfried and Roy and B***hes.

Smaller pairs such as Jacks to Twos all have a few nicknames. Jacks are known as Hooks or Fish-hooks. Less known names include Kid Dyne-o-mite (TV show reference), Brothers, Jay Birds, John Juanda (Poker Player) and finally Colostomy Bag (Jack is slang for toilet). Two Tens are Two Dimes, TNT, Dynamite and Binary (In Binary 1010 is the equivalent of 10). Nines are known as Barbara Feldon (Get Smart- Agent 99), Phil Helmuth, Popeye and Wayne Gretzky (Hockey Player). Eights are snowmen, Piano Keys, Little Oldsmobile, Racetracks, Two Fat Ladies, Lacey, Pretzels, and Wurlitzer. A couple of Sevens are known as axes, mullets, hockey sticks or walking sticks. Two sixes are known as Boots, Cherries, or Kicks (On Route 66). A pair of Fives are Presto, Snakes or Speed Limit, while a pair of Fours are Canadian Presto, Dark Force, Darth Vader, Magnum and Sail boats. A Pair of three is either known as crabs (claw shaped like the number 3) or treys and a pair of Twos is usually Deuces, Ducks, or Quack Quack (shaped like a duck).

Other hands with nicknames include the powerful Ace and King combination known as Big Slick. Other names include backronyms such as Korean Airlines and King Arthur, as well as the aptly named Anna Kournikova (looks good but seldom wins). Another common reference is Kalashnikov (who designed the AK47). Ace-Queen is known as Big Chick or Mrs Slick. Other notable hands include Jack-Four (Flat Tire) and J6 (Rail Road). A Ten and a Deuce is a famous hand known as the Doyle Brunson after he successful won two World Series of Poker bracelets.

The complete list of starting hand nicknames is by far more extensive than this article. Additionally there are alot of names not appropriate for everyday reading. If you have an interest in other poker starting hand nicknames I recommended search Wikipedia for an extensive list of common names and some of the stories about how they came about.

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A Guide To Poker Tells: Reading The Competition

• Author: Bruno Chauvet
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Sep 3,2010

Being able to read your opponent is crucial in poker. It is what differentiates a game of skill such as poker from other games of chance such as roulette. Everybody has poker tells at the table and the more you observe, the better you will be able to read what a player is thinking and what cards they hold. Poker tells include any source of information that you can gather from an opponent including physical movement, changing and patterns of talking as well as how they move the chips around the table.

Eyes The eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. The length of stare at hole cards is a key timing tell, each person is different but some people can help but stare longer at their hole cards when they have a big hand. Others quickly snap the cards back down as soon as they see a monster. Another glaringly obvious tell is the glancing to the left consider a steal if in position. Quickly glancing at their chips when the flop comes down usually means they hit a piece of the flop. If a player glances at their chips when they hit it hard, then they will often stare at the flop when they miss.

The Hole Cards Double checking the hole cards usually means a weak hand. People don’t often double check big pairs because they remember what it was the first time. Looking away and uninterested after seeing the hole cards is a dead give away for strength. Squeezing out the second hole card sometimes means the first card seen is an ace. Checking the hole cards on a flop that is all the same suited usually implies someone doesn’t have the flush.

Patterns of Betting The classic saying in poker is that weak means strong and strong means weak. Looking aggressive and forcefully shipping chips into the middle is usually weak. The opposite is also true, quietly putting chips into the pot is often strength. If an opponent looks at his hand and then bets instantly, it is seldom a bluff.

Chip Stacks Studying how the chips are put out, the amount of bet, whether it is large chips or small chips can give clues to betting tells. Loose aggressive players usually have unorganised stacks while tight conservative players keep neat stacks. Some players keep two stacks in cash games, these type of players will stack their winnings off to the side or in front so they can easily tell how much they are up on the game. If you can determine this, they will be less likely to call a bet which would put them in the red for the game, unless they have a very strong hand. If you ever notice a player winning a large pot, and perhaps may still be stacking their chips from it, they will not play the hand unless they have good cards.

Speaking at the table If an opponent is having a conversation during a poker hand and his talk is all of the place, as if his mind is on something else, it usually means he is not too confident in his hand. This correlates to a weak poker hand. Conversely, if a player is talking smoothly while in a hand, it means he is not overly concerned about the hand he is playing. This is because he feels comfortable and usually means a big hand.

Every player gives off tells, try to remain patient and always watch the table even when you aren’t in a hand.

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Defining The Qualities Of Good And Bad Poker Players

• Author: Thomas Kearns
• Filed under: Poker
• Date: Jul 11,2010

A very clever Soviet satire is written about a con artist set out to win a bunch of money from a small town chess club. He convinces the avid members that he is a traveling master of the game and wishes to organize a tournament for the assembled group. He, of course, charges an entrance fee from all the players and proceeds to play “twelve identical matches” without a clue as to what he is doing. This is the second chess match he has ever played, but he manages to place the pieces somewhat correctly and makes his moves to the awe of those surrounding the board. Like lots of folks when in the presence of greatness, they read a lot into the moves and pay close attention. Soon after beginning the games, he loses all of them but still keeps his sense of humor. The town is utterly amazed, but by then he has had the required time to run off with the entry fees. So, our traveling maestro may be a lousy player, but he is a winning one.

The Twelve Chairs is the title of the satiric novel. It has been translated into English to become both a book and film adaptation on DVD readily available at Amazon.com. A Mel Brooks comedy was the subject of the film and unless you are fanatical about Mel Brooks, stay clear of this one. Mark Zaharov, a brilliant director, not as well known as his compatriot Tarkovsky, adapted it into a Russian mini-series in 1976.

The point is that the definition of a good player, in poker or otherwise, depends on what that player’s purpose is. As far the fictional con artist was concerned, he was an effective player since his strategy precisely achieved his goals – quick money. It is a subtler point, however, that he was a good player also because he knew he couldn’t play solid chess for more than the first five or so moves and because he prepared an escape route.

There are numerous poker players out there who do not recognize their lack of ability. Poker players are blessed with an overactive ego, possibly due to the riskiness of the game giving the players a certain bravura. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for the good player, they didn’t get the concept that poker is a complicated, demanding game which requires education and hands-on experience to succeed at all. For those who are clear on the concept, the game can be most profitable.

Then there are those who play by rote, repeating a learned set of rules and strategies with no cognitive activity to gum up the works. No point in improving because they win more than half of the time and are therefore good players – they have met their goal.

In poker as art, however, all of these people are not real players (to avoid calling them bad). They are on the set somewhere, but theirs are not exactly the leading roles. A good poker player is one who is eager and grateful for yet another insight which might still improve his already nuanced game of thought, skill, showmanship, and perception. He or she admits his weaknesses and strives to have as round a set of skills as possible.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Full Tilt Poker and competes in the monthly Races and Rolls Freerolls.