Poker is not all about intuition, risk, and skills. To win the game, you’ll need other tricks, and one of them is carefully listening to what the other players are speaking around the poker table and calling out the bluffs of the opponent.
Our guide will get you all caught up on the poker hand nicknames, and you’ll be ready to communicate fluently at the poker table.
Nicknames for Poker Hands
Pocket Aces
- American Airlines – the double-aces are also called American Airlines because they have the same AA initials. Having pocket aces in your hand will take you on a first-class flight to winning the game.
- Pocket Rockets – one of the poker nicknames for pair of aces is pocket rockets. The nickname comes from the fact that they are a pocket pair and the A’s look like rockets that are ready for takeoff and bring you those poker chips on the way back.
- Bullets – the hand of two aces got the nickname bullets because they can be a strong weapon to make a killer win. In addition, the A’s are sharp and pointy like a bullet.
- Apollo 11 – the ace is the first card in the deck and having two aces can also be written as 11. That is reminiscent of Apollo 11, and having it may bring your first successful mission to win the highest amount of money on poker.
- Batteries – this nickname is inspired by the “AA” batteries, plus the fact that the pocket aces can easily give you the energy you need to wager the poker chips.
Pocket Kings
- King Kong (or Gorillas) – another nickname for pocket kings is “king kong” because of the two K’s and their large power in poker.
- Cowboys – the King in poker is also known as a Cowboy. If you have a hand of two kings, you can refer to it as cowboys.
- Ace Magnets – having the second most powerful pocket pair in poker is often considered to be a magnet for flipping aces that will lead you to lose that round.
- Elvis Presley – if you hear someone saying Elvis Presley, they are not just fans of the king of Rock and Roll—they are also using one of many different poker hand names for the hand of pocket kings.
Pocket Queens
- Ladies – being the only cards based on females, this nickname doesn’t need any special explanation, but one thing is sure—a lot of poker players hope to get some lady’s luck.
- Calamity Jane – this nickname is based on the name of the frontierswoman back in the Old West that was a friend of the famous poker player Wild Bill Hickok.
Pocket Jacks
- Hooks/FIshhooks – the J in Jacks looks like a fishhook that can help you hook all the poker chips in the sea.
- Brothers – this poker hand nickname may be the easiest to remember from all poker hand nicknames as it’s inspired by the two male figures that stand like brothers who will never let you down.
- John Juanda – the pocket Jacks are also nicknamed after the famous Indonesian poker player.
Pocket Tens
- Dimes – the hand of two tens got the nickname dimes thanks to the value of the dime in the United States.
- Binary – the binary language uses only combinations of 1 and 0, and 1010 in binary looks like two tens. Thus, one of the funny poker names for the pocket tens hand is binary.
- Dynamite – reading the poker hand, Ten-Ten makes a similar sound to TNT.
Other Poker Hand Nicknames
Ace-King
- Big Slick – if you have the Big Slick, prepare yourself for quite a smooth or a slippery ride because it can lead to a big win or a big loss.
- Anna Kournikova – the Ace-King hand can also be called after any other celebrity that has the initials AK, not just the former tennis player Kournikova.
Ace-Queen
- Rocket Queen – this nickname is inspired by the good old Guns N’ Roses song.
- Anthony and Cleopatra – if gamblers wrote this Shakespeare’s play, Cleopatra would be played by the Queen and the Roman King Anthony by the strong Ace.
King-Queen
- Marriage/Divorce – as you might have guessed, these two funny poker nicknames show that the combination of King and Queen can either end up in you experiencing the happily ever after or you splitting your chips up.
- Throne – another nickname for this combination is the throne because that is where both the King and Queen are seated.
King-Jack
- Just Kidding – this nickname comes from the short form of both the nickname and the poker hand, as they both have the J and K letters.
- Jackie Kennedy – the poker hand nickname for a hand of King and Jack is used in because of the wife of John F. Kennedy.
- Kojak – a King-Jack hand poker nickname that refers to the 70s TV action show with the famous catchphrase, Who loves ya, baby? Well, who doesn’t love a Kojak poker hand?
Queen-Jack
- Quack – The nickname doesn’t have any special background story, and it is only a combination of the two cards.
- Hawaii – professional poker players believe that not playing this hand for a year will save you money to go on vacation to the Aloha state.
Queen-Ten
- Cutie – don’t get excited if someone says cutie on the poker table. They are not trying to hit on you—they’re using the nickname for Queen and Ten, which comes from the combination of the first letters of the cards QT.
- Q-Tips – this nickname also comes from the backronym of the poker hand.
Jack-Ten
- TJ Hooker – nicknamed so after an 80s TV show.
- Greek Passport – this one’s among the most favourite and funny poker names out there. Word has spread around that a Greek immigrant bought his Australian residency by winning with the Jack-Ten hand in this casino game for beginners named poker.
Jack-Seven
- Jack Daniels – this nickname is a reference to the famous Jack Daniels whiskey, also known as Old No. 7.
Ten-Nine
- Countdown – You can know this name by heart as we all start the countdown with 10, 9 etc. Or shall we say the countdown till you collect your winnings from Texas Hold’em has started?
Nine-Six
- The Dirty – do we need to turn the numbers around, or do you have a clue from where this nickname comes from?
Aside from the Dirty, here are some other nicknames for the romance mix of numbers:
- Big Lick
- Happy Meal
- Dinner for Two
- Good Lover
Nine-Five
- The Dolly Parton – was named after the country star because of her song “9 to 5”.
Seven-Five
- 007 – nicknamed after the film the “Casino Royale” where James Bond got a big win with this poker hand.
- Heinz – this is one of those poker nicknames food lovers will love; the name Heinz comes from the 57 different products Heinz offers.
- Vietnamese Slick – nicknamed after the year in which the Vietnam War ended— 1975.
Three-Two
- Nut low – being the lowest possible hand you can get in poker games, the nickname of the combination is well deserved.
- Michael Jordan – referencing the number Jordan sported while writing history in the NBA.
Conclusion
Now that you know most of the poker hand nicknames try using them the next time you’re playing.
Being entirely ready for smooth poker communication, you can order some drinks in peace.
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