Colorful Terms for Poker Hands

Poker has its share of characters with colorful nicknames like "Texas Dolly," "the Robin Hood of Poker," and "Kid Poker."

It also has given colorful names to the first two cards that you might draw in a game of Texas Hold 'em.

A few examples:

If you are holding a pair of Aces (lucky you), you might talk about having rockets in the pocket or American Airlines

A couple Kings are cowboys or King Kong

A pair of Queens are ladies. Amarillo Slim will tell you he held three queens by referring to them as six titties

Jacks are fish hooks

A couple of tens are dimes

77: Sunset Strip

66: Get your kicks on this route

55: The speed limit

A lowly pair of twos: ducks, because they look like . . .

AK: Big slick

AQ: Big chick also known as "Walking Back to Houston" because it is a hand that most players hate

A8: Dead Man's Hand. Legend holds it that Wild Bill Hickok was shot to death during a poker game in Deadwood, South Dakota, and that the hand he held was two pair, black aces and black eights. Wonder what the fifth card was?

J5: Motown or the Jackson Five

Ten-two: Texas Dolly because poker great Doyle Brunson won the World Series of Poker two times, each time with that same opening hand

98: Oldsmobile

76: Union Oil

57: Heinz. Ketchup anyone?

39: Jack Benny. For years he had a running gag that every birthday was his 39th

Some of these terms have been around forever and will endure.

Others like Doyle Brunson's 10-2 starting hands become legendary at the time they happen.

If Charley Schlossenpawfefferian wins the next World Series of Poker with an unusual hand, you might find Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten of the World Poker Tour trying to say, "Hey, he just got a Schlossenpawfefferian! Great hand!"

(c) 2006 Murphy James