Poker players have called sevens hockey sticks, candy canes, walking sticks, axes, and even mullets for the shape of the numbers. Other nicknames for eights include piano keys (for 88 keys on a piano), pretzels, racetracks, infinity, and the most popular snowmen. Calling eights the time travel or time travelers refers to the Back to the Future film, in which the car needed to reach 88 miles per hour to travel in time. The Dale Junior represents the number on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s race car. The nickname Popeyes is a stretch, as the nines are supposed to look like Popeye’s muscles. This is also known as the Phil Hellmuth, who won the 1989 WSOP Main Event with pocket nines. The Wayne Gretsky refers to the hockey legend’s jersey number of 99. There’s also dynamite for ten-and-ten (TNT). One of the most dated nicknames is Bo Derek, who starred in the 1970 movie 10, referring to her rating as a “10.” This pair is also called the dimes or train tracks as the zeroes could look like wheels and the ones like tracks. Referring to the shape of the J, the jacks can be hooks, too, as in fish hooks. Jack-jackĭuring poker’s heyday, some called the double J the John Juanda - a well-known player during the poker boom. Some call them the cowgirls (partners to the cowboy kings). The most common nickname for pocket queens is the ladies - an obvious gender reference. Some call kings the ace magnets, as they draw out the one hand that can beat them. King Kong plays off the KK initials, while Elvis Presley references “the King.” Cowboys is an old favorite derived from cowboys being treated like kings in the Southern U.S. The second-best set of hole cards have garnered a few nicknames over time.

And the value of aces (one each) prompted nicknames like snake eyes (from craps) and Apollo 11. The double-A makes some people think of batteries. Bullets is a shape reference and hints at the power of the hand.

Other nicknames refer to the shape of the letters, like pocket rockets, teepees, and needles. The nicknames American Airlines and Alan Alda reference the letters themselves. The favorite set of hole cards for most players also has more nicknames than any other pair of cards. Poker players have assigned the most nicknames to pocket pairs because players generally like them so much, especially as hole cards. Try these at your next poker game and see if anyone gets the references. Some don’t make a lot of sense, a few are controversial, and others are downright offensive. Many are reflective of the times, referencing television shows or movies. Poker’s colorful and long history has produced some interesting (and in some cases eye-popping) nicknames for poker hands.

Texas holdem number of starting hands