Nicknames for Starting Hands in Texas Hold 'Em, Part Two - Non-Paired Hands

In our last article, we looked at nicknames for all of the pocket pairs you could potentially receive when playing Texas Hold 'Em. We will now continue our look at these nicknames by examining some non-paired starting hands with special names attached to them.

Ace-King: Big Slick, Anna Kournikova (looks good, rarely wins), Machine Gun (AK-47), "Walking Back to Houston" (which is attributed to the following quote by poker legend T.J. Cloutier: "I can see you learned to play in Houston. Those Houston scr888 players would come to Dallas and play that ace-king, but they'd always end up against a pair of aces. That's why we call that hand 'Walking back to Houston.'")

Ace-Queen: Little Slick, Doyle Brunson

Ace-Jack: Blackjack (for obvious reasons)

Ace-Ten: A-Team, Johnny Moss

King-Queen suited: Royal Marriage

King-Queen offsuit: Mixed Marriage

King-Jack: Kojak

King-Jack offsuit: The Bachelor (Jack-King off)

K-9: Hand of the Dog (K-9 = Canine)

K-3: King Crab

Queen-Jack: Maverick (the theme song for the old television show described the title character as "livin' off Queens and Jacks")

Queen-Ten: Q-Tip, Varkonyi (named after 2002 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Robert Varkonyi)

Queen-Three: San Francisco Waiter (a queen with a trey)

Jack-Ten: Cloutier (a play on the name of poker great T.J. Cloutier)

Jack-Eight: Jeffrey Dahmer (Ate Jack)

Jack-Five: Motown, Jackson Five

Jack-Four: Flat tire (What's a jack for?)

Ten-Five: Five and Dime

Ten-Four: Over and Out, Good Buddy (a play on CB radio code)

Ten-Deuce: Doyle Brunson

Nine-Six: Dinner for two (Put the numbers the other way. If you're still confused, arrange a sit-down with your parents.)

Nine-Five: Dolly Parton (from the song and the movie Nine to Five)

Nine-Four: Gold Rush, San Francisco (again, put the numbers the other way)

Seven-Six: Philadelphia, Union Oil, Trombones

Seven-Five: Heinz, Ketchup (because of Heinz's fifty-seven varieties)

Seven-Three: Hachem (This is the hand 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Joe Hachem held on the final hand of the tournament. He flopped a straight.)

Seven-Deuce offsuit: The Hammer (The worst starting hand in Texas Hold 'Em, despite what any number of internet poker bloggers will tell you.)

Seven-Deuce suited: Velvet Hammer

Five-Four: Colt 45, Moneymaker (named for 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker. This was the hand he held on the final hand of the main event.)

Now, you may have noticed that Doyle Brunson has not one, but two hands named after him. There are reasons for this. First off, he's Doyle Brunson, so who are we to argue? Second, Ten-Deuce is named after Texas Dolly because he won two consecutive World Series of Poker main events with that exact hand. Ace-Queen, on the other hand, is named after him because it's his least favorite hand, and he's long let it be known that he feels the hand is nothing but trouble.