Texas Holdem Slang Terms

• Texas Hold'em Slang Terms And Meanings In English
• Texas Hold'em Slang Terms
• Texas Holdem Slang Terms
• Poker Slang Words
• Texas Hold'em Slang Terms And Meanings In English

• Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker.Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages.
• Texas holdem poker has a language all of its own, and these Texas holdem terms can be confusing. Indeed it can be daunting to turn up to play a game of poker and hear words like ‘the river’, or ‘a fish’, or that a card is a ‘brick’. Texas Holdem Glossary. Newcomers to Texas holdem often get confused by some of the colorful slang.
• Game: Holdem Posts: 56 My name was the first email account i ever created with hotmail back in high school and i like to study military history/battles as a personal interest.

Etymology of 'Duck'[edit]

Texas Holdem Slang Terms. Enter at least 3 characters. Blood Suckers 2.

Anyone have a credible citation on the etymology of 'duck' for deuce? I should think that if it were a reference to shape, it would be 'swan', and that a simple corruption of 'deuce' is more likely. --LDC 18:57, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Flaming Waiter[edit]

Just as the Q3 is listed as a 'flaming gay waiter'; the J3 is called the 'Flaming Waiter' (not gay). J is a waiter, the 3 makes it flaming. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.64.46.47 (talk • contribs) 15:21, June 28, 2007

Please do not add vanity nonsense to the page. There is not even one incidence of your J3 assertion online. 2005 00:03, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

'Vanity nonsense?' Can you please explain what that means? ... As for J3 being called a Gay Waiter, it's been published, but I can't cite the referrence; the logic follows: J is a waiter, the 3 makes it flaming. Now, the article states a Q3 as a Flaming Gay waiter, or a Posh Gay Waiter: The Q, of course is a Gay Waiter, and the 3 makes it flaming (or posh). Transcend103 15:32, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

By 'vanity', I think what 2005 means is that it seems like this is a term that's being made up on the spot (WP:NFT), since we can't find sources for it. Please be aware that per Wikipedia's policy of verifiability, we can't include information in Wikipedia unless it's linked to a source. I'm willing to assume good faith on your part, but what we should do is remove the information for now, and then when you can find the reference, it can be re-added. You may also wish to read WP:NOR. --Elonka 17:29, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I have no idea where the 'flaming' comes from, but a Gay Waiter is Q3 and not anything else - directly from queen -tray. 'Queen' being the stereotype effeminate homosexual, a waiter carries a tray, which is homophonic with trey, tres and très - which are all 'three'.--Alf^melmac 19:53, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Flaming is slang for gay. Λυδαcιτγ 20:09, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Indeed it is, though it is not 'the 3 makes it flaming' as the ip that first posted suggests and I doubt the veracity that 'Flaming Gay Waiter' is current termininology (see Wikipedia:Complete bollocks ;)), certainly not on any of the (televised) poker shows I watch, nor used by anyone I play THE with.--Alf^melmac 18:47, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Hey morons its a queen and a trey, flaming waiter.

Oedipus Rex[edit]

Q-J = Oedipus Rex (incestuous mother and son) Hand NamesTranscend103 15:28, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I think that we need more than just one web site listing it as a common term. Otherwise this article would be nothing but cutesy names made up by some random blogger or home game host. I've never heard it and have played holdem all over the place. SmartGuy 19:20, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

OK I just did a google search and it comes up quite a bit, so maybe it does merit inclusion. SmartGuy 19:23, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

We should finally afd this article, as Wikipedia is not a slang or idiom guide. There are literally hundreds, thousands even, of terms that could be included in a slang guide. We only need an article that is a glossary of terms used in articles, so the poker terms one should be pared down to that and this one put to a merciful death asap. 2005 20:12, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I am in agreement with 2005 that Wikipedia is not here to provide a comprehensive list of every slang term that's in use on the web. I recommend that we only use terms that are genuinely notable and verifiable, meaning that they've shown up in multiple books or articles. As for other names, we can provide a link or two to websites that *do* seem to want to list every term in existence, and that should be plenty. We may also want to think about moving this information out to wikibooks or wikia, which have lower standards for inclusion. --Elonka 20:21, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't think we should afd this article just yet. I will agree, however, that the repeated additions/reversions of vanity nicknames are a colossal waste of time and cyberspace. SmartGuy 20:48, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

What if the article changed directions to be more historical? I came from Dead Man's Hand and I thought there were a lot more like that (Old West or older and emphasis on unique full hands) whereas this seems to be about more modern terms, especially for Texas Hold 'Em rather than more traditional games. - Callowschoolboy 14:28, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Stuff that can probably be removed[edit]

Texas Hold'em Slang Terms And Meanings In English

I'm listing here the names/nicknames that I do not commonly hear. I think that we can start removing from the article terms that are no longer in common use or are not widely used.

For starters, I would question the following:

Q-Mop Squeezer
J-Knave, Valet
9-Nina Ross
7-Mullet
2-Quacker

Quad aces - 4 Pips
KKK-Alabama Knight Riders
AAAA-Four Pips
Outside straight draw - Bobtail

AA-Two Pips
AK-Machine gun/Russian Steel
AJ-Jackass
A2-Drinking age
KK-Elvis Pressley, King Kong
KJ-King John
K3-Three Kings
Q9-Quinine
JJ-Kid Dynomite
J6-Railroad Hand
96-Dinner for two
88-Infinites
76-Trombones
44-Midlife Crisis
42-Jack Bauer
22-Swans

SmartGuy 21:00, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

It's hard for any one person to judge what is or isn't in 'common use': I hear 'Mop Squeezer', 'Nina Ross', and 'Dinner for two' pretty regularly, primarily because of regular players at my club. Other clubs and casinos probably have their share of favorites. I think the best we can do is our current standard: require some reasonable attestation. I might remove 'Knave' and 'Valet' because those aren't really slang, they're standard terms for the Jack in other places. --LDC

I'd get rid of all of them, even though mop squeezer, dinner for two and quinine are very common. There are many, many very common expressions used by hundreds of people locally all over the world that may be interesting in a slang-y way, but that isn't the mission of the encyclopedia. The article should be deleted, or just left to attract every bit of drivel. The other alternative is a specific threshold, say 1000 Google mentions. The article's primary value now is sitting here as a junk magnet, which saves from polluting the terms article and making a lot of afd's of vanity articles, but still WP:NOT is pretty clear. We aren't here to explain slang. We do need to explain technical terms required to read articles. Every slang bit from Big Slick on down is not within the scope of the stated policy of the encyclopedia. 2005 22:04, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I would recommend requiring citation in a reasonably reliable secondary source. I.e. a reputible poker magazine (bluff, card player) or online site (pokerpages, etc). --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 22:16, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

It's not about what we've personally heard of, it's what can be verified. If there are no reliable secondary sources for a name, delete it. It can always be added back in later if someone finds sources for it. --Elonka 23:15, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

But that is no solution. In fact it makes the problem worse. It is EASY to cite hundreds of extra terms from normally reliable sources, and even easier to cite from somepokersite.com. Individually citing these entries is just an invitation to spam somecrappokersite.com. The point is these items should NOT be cited. they should be in the Wiktionary, not here. The whole article is inappropriate, citing entries just makes it a spam target on top of a vanity one. Put another way, we could copy Weisenberg's enire book here, and cite every entry. What would be the point of that? This is not a dictionary. The article is inappropriate and unimportant... a link to a (new) Wiktionary page could be put on the poker terms page. That is really what is needed to fix the problem. 2005 23:29, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

And therein lies the problem. Just look at the edit history of this article - over the past 500 edits, nothing of real value has been added. It's 99% additions of and reversions of vanity garbage. I'm going to go ahead and annihilate some of the more ridiculous entries from the list I made above. SmartGuy 12:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Wiktionary sounds like a good solution, I'd support that. Especially since most of these names can't be given more than a single line description. --Elonka 23:31, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Okay, rather than moan about the article any further, I have nominated it for deletion. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 20:52, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Should these Redirect pages be added to the nomination? ▪◦▪≡ЅiREX≡^Talk 21:51, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Go a head a leave them for now. If the article is deleted the deleting admin should remove those pages too. If not, I'm sure there is some bot lurking around that will take care of them for us. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 22:50, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Jeebus this article attracts so much vanity nonsense bullshiiiite. Half of those redirects originally referred to vanity entries that are no longer included in this article, so I speedy tagged some of them. ♣♦SmartGuy♥♠ 16:17, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

'bizarre citations'[edit]

What is so bizarre about About.com and PokerWords.com? Λυδαcιτγ 06:19, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

You cited multiple individual words in the same line with the same citation. A single reference is preferable over 25 or more citations of invidivual words. Citations are for statements/facts, not something for multiple individual words in an article. Of course it just points out why this thing should not exist in the first place. I left the About link as a reference. The other one was just an anoymous website and there is no reason to cite that versus any of a thousand other websites offering the same lists. 2005 06:46, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

keep this article protected[edit]

I would think this article's edit history makes a pretty strong case for maintaining the protected status. —Kymacpherson 17:41, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. I think it expires in the next day or two. I'll request extended protection at that point. ♣♦SmartGuy♥♠ 17:44, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Deletion debate and no consensus.[edit]

Texas Hold'em Slang Terms

So, I spoke to the closing admin about this article. I'm not sure I follow his reasoning, but the gist is if one of us gets up the energy to move this to wiktionary, it can then be speedied. So, if anyone wants to do that, we can get rid of this article. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 18:14, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I have moved all single card names (the first section) to wiktionary. I will work on the other sections, but please feel free to chip in. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 22:59, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Kzollman. The original closing admin acted at best irrationally, and now the wikilawyers are all over things. The solution now seems to be to move any content to Wiktionary and just redirect this article to the list of poker terms, where we should add a single sentence, something like: 'Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang names for poker hands.'

Go for it. Since the debate was closed with no consensus, I requested that this article be protected. No dice, with the reason given that there was not enough recent disruptive activity. No shit, the temp protection just expired the other day. I say move away. ♣♦SmartGuy♥♠ 23:51, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm working my way through the hold'em hands now. This sucks... but at least we can be rid of the article soon. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 18:55, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

P.S. I'm only copying those terms that are in the references cited in the article. I think this is warranted. If this article were to be kept, we should remove them as uncited from this article anyway. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 18:57, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. This version with inline citations may be useful. Have you created a Wiktionary entry or are you going to finish first? Λυδαcιτγ 19:18, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm moving each term to an appropriate wiktionary entry, see, e.g. wiktionary:big slick. They have category schemes like we do, see wiktionary:Category:Poker. We could also create an Appendix of poker terms there, although I'm not sure it's necessary because of the category. --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 19:32, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

When I saw you were moving word by word, I was afraid I couldn't be much help because I'm not familiar with the Wikitionary. I thought this could just be moved as an article. Your way is better for Wiktionary, but harder for you, so thanks for doing it. I look forward to this mess being one line on the glossary article (which will need some work next since it has slang in it too like z-game, etc.) 2005 23:47, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

I've added {{Copy to Wiktionary}} to the top of the article. --M2Ys4U^(talk) 19:04, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Gone --best, kevin[kzollman][talk] 01:51, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

You da man. great work. 2005 03:29, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Just when you thought you had a decent grasp of the poker basics, Texas Hold’em came along with its intimidating terminology, multi-million-dollar tournaments, and poker rock stars. Forget about the odds of getting a royal flush and learn the main jargon and poker slang being slung.

Added bonus: learning poker slang is a great way to learn the game as well.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of every wacky word on the lips of the latest litter of poker cowpokes on the circuit. But as a good starting point for the Texas Hold’em beginner, consider this your poker primer.

Essential Hold’em Terms

Texas Hold’em has a stable full of wild and wooly terms, but before we take the bull by the horns, let’s start with the essential poker terms you need to know to navigate the Hold’em table, whether you’re playing in a land-based casino or at an online casino poker tournament. Ante up!

ALL-IN

When you bet all your remaining chips on a single hand of cards. You either have some really unbeatable cards (like four aces or a straight flush) or you’re just trying to scare the other players into folding.

BLINDS

In Texas Hold’em, the ante consists of two blinds, the big blind and the small blind. These rotating antes will hit everyone eventually. The small blind is the first player to the left of the dealer, and the big blind is the next seat farther left. The big blind is double the amount of the small blind.

BLUFF

Probably the most exciting aspect of poker: the bluff. Very skilled poker players can hide their TELL, put on their best poker face, and drop a huge raise with a crap hand (i.e. a pair of 2s). If everyone folds, the bluff has succeeded. But be careful: someone may call your bluff. Use with caution.

COMMUNITY CARDS

Texas Hold’em is a community poker game, where players make their poker hands from 2 private cards (hole cards) and five community cards which are shared by all players. Community cards are dealt face up in turns: the flop, the turn, and the river, with rounds of betting before and after each turn. Players must make the best possible 5-card poker hand from the seven total cards.

DEALER BUTTON

The plastic disc used to indicate the dealer. The button is passed clockwise after every hand of Hold’em, which also advances the blinds. The dealer rotation maintains fairness at the table, as certain player positions have advantages over others. Players in a ‘late position’ have more information to make better decisions than players in an ‘early position.’ Player position runs clockwise from the dealer.

FLOP

The initial 3 cards dealt face up in the community card area (table center) in a game of Hold’em after the 1^st round of betting (pre-flop bets). The flop is followed by another round of betting and 2 more single-card deals (the TURN and the RIVER).

HOLE CARDS

The 2 private cards dealt face down to each player, which are combined with the community cards to make a poker hand. Players place their first bets based on these 2 cards. The hole is also called the pocket.

RIVER

The river is the 5^th card dealt in the community cards row in a Texas Hold’em match. It is the final card dealt in the round, and players win or lose after the final bets are in.

SHOWDOWN

After the final round of betting ends, players turn their cards face up to determine the winner. A showdown occurs if two or more players have called or gone all-in during the final betting round.

TELL

A physical ‘tick’ or other sign communicated in ‘body English’ that signals how strong or weak a player’s poker hand is. Pro players hide their own tells, while they can often read the tells of weaker players. A good example of a poker tell is the character Teddy ‘KGB’ in the poker-related film ‘Rounders.’ Whenever KGB (John Malkovich) splits an Oreo cookie and listens to it, he is bluffing; if he eats the cookie, he is about to wipe the table with you.

TURN

The 4^th community card dealt face-up in a game of Hold’em. It follows the initial 3-card deal (the flop), and signals a new round of bets.

Hold’em Slang for the Seasoned Player

If you’ve just scored a pair of fish hooks and are about to knock a fish back into the muck, you’re probably sitting at a table at the WSOP with some seasoned Hold’em players. Hold onto your hats, cowboys, we’re about to leave the dusty trail behind and dive deep into the territory of fish, sharks, and whales.

COWBOYS

Poker slang for pocket Kings, the 2^nd best starting hand in Hold’em.

DEAD MAN’S HAND

Some poker hands are legendary. They bear the name of the player who made them famous, and thus became forever etched in the poker lexicon. When Wild West legend and pro poker player Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead while playing a hand of poker, the cards found in the dead man’s hand consisted of two pairs: 8s and aces.

DOYLE BRUNSON HAND

The ‘Doyle Brunson’ is a starting hand of 10 and 2, made famous by the man himself. Against impossible odds, Brunson won the WSOP main event in 1976 with this seemingly weak hand, simply by a twist of fate (he got a full house from the turn and the river). In 1977, he won the main event again—with the exact same starting hand. Since then, the 10-2 hand is known as the Doyle Brunson.

FISH

A newbie or a weaker player at the poker table. But if you’re new to the game, don’t worry about the card sharks, they’re probably looking for bigger fish to fry (see WHALE).

FISH HOOKS

A nickname for 2 pocket jacks, one of the strongest starting hands in Hold’em.

GUTSHOT

Another term for an inside straight, which can only be completed by a single card in the middle of a series. If your hole cards were a 7 and 8, and the flop shows a 10 and a jack, only a 9 would complete your straight. You are half as likely to hit a gutshot as an outside straight, which completes your straight from either end (i.e. you had 7-8 and the flop shows 9-10; you then need a 6 or a jack instead of a 9).

MUCK

The stack of discarded cards in a round of poker. A player tosses his cards ‘into the muck’ when he folds.

NUTS

The best possible hand a player can have at any given moment. If you have 2 jacks in the hole, and the flop shows jack-8-3, your trip jacks would make the best possible hand. Congratulations, you have the “nuts!” However, if the turn and the river add 2 aces to the mix, anyone with an ace in the hole would beat your trip jacks with trip aces, giving them the nuts.

POCKET ROCKETS

A pair of aces in the hole (pocket), and the best possible starting hand in Hold’em.

ROCK

A ‘tight’ player who sits round after round without betting for the pot. When the rock suddenly enters with a big bet for the pot, they probably have a really good hand.

WHALE

Like a fish – only with a much bigger wallet. A player whose bankroll is much larger than their knowledge of the game of Hold’em. Card sharks love to swarm on whales and reduce them to bones.

WSOP

Texas Holdem Slang Terms

The World Series of Poker is the biggest poker tournament in the world and the poker mecca for professional and amateur poker players alike. The main event of the WSOP is a final round of no limit Texas Hold’em, with blinds of $100,000/$200,000 or more, and millions in prize money. In addition to fat wads of cash, winners go home with some serious poker bling: the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. 2019 marks the 50^th anniversary of the WSOP in its Las Vegas home.

Poker Slang Words

So now you have a pretty good starting point to help you navigate the poker tables without a translator. Texas Hold’em may have started in the dusty back rooms of small Texas towns in the 1930s, but it has come a long way. From the early days of the first Hold’em matches held in Vegas at Binion’s Horseshoe to the main event of the WSOP (started by Mr. Binion himself), the rich vernacular of the poker player continues to grow.

Just how many of these poker terms originated with the original Texas Road Gamblers (Doyle Brunson, Sailor Roberts, and Amarillo Slim) and how many were added later, we may never know.

Texas Hold'em Slang Terms And Meanings In English

But now you talk the talk. Do you walk the walk?