Texas Holdem Press

One of the elements that has brought poker – and Texas Holdem specifically, to its present level of popularity, is its association (real or imagined) with the so-called ‘Wild West’: that mythic place of cowboys and gunfights, brilliant sunsets and parched, unforgiving deserts. Poker would seem to be its gaming equivalent – where bold risks are often rewarded, but the smallest misstep can spell disaster.

Of course today’s poker is more likely played in the absurdly refined and comically decorated confines of a luxury hotel, than on the windswept wooden tables of a saloon. And the top participants today are often playing with ‘house’ stakes, so to speak – and not risking the so-called month’s pay. You won’t find many drunken cowpokes at the high stakes tables these days: rather its ‘card sharks’ all around.

But still the mythic persists, kept alive in large part by the element of risk, and by its terminology.

It is one thing to approach poker, in all its varieties, from the perspective of its actual rules. It is quite another to learn to speak ‘holdem’.

Here then is a rambling list of the various hands, and common yet colorful terminology specifically associated with Texas Holdem – along with some lesser know, even suspect language that may in fact be all hat and no cattle.

Famous Holdem Opening Pairs

Perhaps the most famous opening pair is named for a poker player himself. A Doyle Brunson is a rather humble 10 and 2 – something many players would simply lay down reflexively, but which Doyle parlayed into two World Series of Poker Main Event championships (out of the ten World Series events that he won in his lifetime).

Opening pairs are known by a variety of names, some obvious, some colorful, some arcane.

A pair of Aces (A A) for example, is often referred to as Pocket Rockets, or Bullets, but at other times can be called American Airlines, Honor Roll, or The Canadian (eh eh?). Interesting to note that an obvious potential term at least, Alkies Anonymous, is not used, perhaps out of respect for the old tradition of hard drinking card players. Of course today’s poker players are as likely to be computer geeks or Wall Street wizards, as good old boys from Wichita.

The Ace – King combination (A K) has some colorful names, most notably Walking Back to Houston, which arises out of the fact that the AK combo is a tempting hand to overplay, oftentimes resulting in the player having to walk back home afterwards, having risked it all on this unpaired beauty. Other nicknames include Big Slick, or Baked (referring to the abbreviation for Alaska, AK).

Pocket Kings (K K) are almost always referred to as Cowboys, but recently there have been some humorous variations, including King Kong, and a modern, somewhat disrespectful variation on a pair of cowboys, Brokeback.

Some terminology is showing its age. The Seventy’s TV show starring Telly Savalas gave its name to the King-Jack ( K J ) opening pair, but who among the game’s many prominent players under thirty, remembers Kojak? Then again, Telly may be worth remembering, as he was not only a TV star, an Academy-award nominated film actor, and a former executive with ABC news, but he also finished in the top 25 at the 1992 World Series of Poker.

Some terms persist because there are so straightforward, and obvious: Canine is the King-Nine (K 9 ) combination. What else could it be? Pit Bull? Lassie?

Personally I love the quirkier, more imaginative terms:

A pair of Queens ( Q Q ) is well served by the terms Ladies, Dames, or Divas, but kudos to whoever first came up with the idea of calling it Siegfried & Roy.
A Queen-Jack ( Q J ) might often be called a Maverick (taken from the 1960’s TV show about a gambler played by James Garner), but it is also known as an Oedipus Rex, referring to the unwholesome closeness of the queen (Q) and her son (J)
Some terms are wonderfully visual, requiring a little bit of imagination.

Hooks are, obviously I think, two Jacks (J J); Snowmen refers to two eights (8 8); Sailboats two Fours (4 4), and Ducks ( a little harder to visualize), two 2’s (2 2).
You don’t really need to memorize these terms, but its fun. You can make up your own terms if you want, as long as you understand the relationship between each. There is also, in these terms, hints at the history and the strategy of poker if you care to look a little closer.
Here is a list of most of the potential opening pairs, and the traditional terms used to refer to each. Feel free to make up your own.

A-A – Bullets, Pocket Rockets, Honor Roll

A-K – Big Slick, Walking back to Houston, Baked

A-J – Ajax, Black Jack

K-K – Cowboys, King Kong

K-Q – Marriage

K-J – Kojak

K-9 — Canine

Q-Q – Ladies, Dames, Divas, Siegfried & Roy

Q-J – Maverick, Oedipus Rex

J-J – Hooks, Jokers,

J-5 – Jackson Five, Motown

10-5 – Woolworth, Five and dime

10-2 – Doyle Brunson

9-9 – Meat hooks

8-8 – Snowmen, Piano

7-7 – Hockey Sticks, Sunset Strip

5-5 – Slow Lane, Nickels

4-4 — Sailboats

2-2 — Ducks