| Starting hand |
Slang name |
| AA |
Pocket Rockets, American Airlines, Bullets, Two Pips |
| AK |
Big Slick (originally referred to A?K?, but the name has become common for any Ace-King, especially suited), Anna Kournikova (looks good but rarely wins), Machine Gun (AK-47), Walking Back to Houston ("I can see you learned to play in Houston. Those Houston 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.'" - , quoted by Barry Greenstein) |
| AQ |
Little Slick, Big Chick, Mrs. Slick, Doyle Brunson |
| AJ |
Blackjack, Ajax, Jackass |
| AT |
Johnny Moss |
| A8 |
Dead Man's Hand (by analogy with Wild Bill's aces and eights) |
| A3 |
Baskin-Robbins(plays off the number 31: 31 Flavors), Friday The 13th (An ace played low would be considered equivalent to 1) |
| A2 |
Acey-Deucey, Drinking Age |
| KK |
Cowboys, Elvis Presley, King Kong, Ace Magnets, Brokeback |
| KQ |
Marriage, Royalty |
| KQ offsuit |
Mixed Marriage |
| KQ suited |
Royal Marriage |
| K?Q? |
Valentine's Day |
| KJ |
Kojak, King John |
| KJ offsuit |
Bachelor Hand (from "Jack-King-Off") |
| K9 |
Canine, Dog, Fido, Sawmill, Rin Tin Tin |
| K3 |
King Crab, Alaska Hand, Three Kings |
| QQ |
Cowgirls, Ladies, Siegfried and Roy, Four Tits, Bitches |
| QJ |
Maverick (the theme song for the television series Maverick speaks of the title character as "livin' on jacks and queens") |
| QT |
Q-Tip, Varkonyi (named after , 2002 World Series of Poker main event champion, who won his bracelet with a Full House with this hand) |
| Q9 |
Quinine |
| Q8 |
Kuwait |
| Q7 |
Computer Hand |
| Q3 |
Gay Waiter, San Francisco Busboy ("Queen with a tray") |
| Q3 suited |
Posh Gay Waiter |
| Q?3? |
Flaming Gay Waiter |
| JJ |
Fishhooks, Hooks, Jokers, Kid Dyn-o-mite, Johnnies |
| JT |
Cloutier (play on name: T. J. Cloutier) Big Danny( kind of starting hand Daniel Negreanu likes) |
| J7 |
<Jack Daniel's (Jack Old No. 7) |
| J6 |
Railroad Hand |
| J5 |
Motown, Jackson Five |
| J4 |
Flat Tire ("What's a jack for?") |
| TT |
Binary, Dimes, TNT, Boxcars, Dynamite |
| T5 |
Five and Dime, Woolworths |
| T4 |
Broderick Crawford, Good Buddy, Highway Patrol, Over and Out, Roger That (play on radio code 10-4) |
| T2 |
Doyle Brunson, Texas Dolly (Brunson won the World Series of Poker Main Event with it twice in a row—1976 and 1977) |
| 99 |
Wayne Gretzky (his jersey number), German Virgin ("nein, nein" means "no, no" in German) |
| 98 |
Oldsmobile |
| 96 |
Big Lick, Porno, Dinner for Two |
| 96 suited |
Prom Night ("Sixty-nine suited") |
| 9?6? |
Valentine's Day |
| 95 |
Dolly Parton (she sang "9 to 5"), Full-time job |
| 94 |
Gold Rush, San Francisco (play off the number 49) |
| 93 |
Jack Benny (play off his running gag of always being 39 years old) |
| 92 |
Montana Banana, Twiggy |
| 88 |
Snowmen, Octopussy, Little Oldsmobile, Infinities, Double Infinity, Doggie Balls |
| 83 |
Raquel Welch |
| 77 |
Hockey Sticks, Candy Canes, Walking Sticks |
| 76 |
Philadelphia, Union Oil, Trombones (from the song "76 Trombones") |
| 75 |
Heinz Ketchup (play on Heinz's 57 varieties) |
| 74 |
Double Down, Blackjack hand |
| 73 |
Joe Hachem (Named after the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Joe Hachem, who won the top prize of $7.5 million with this hand after flopping a straight) |
| 72 offsuit |
Beer Hand (72 offsuit is the worst possible starting hand in Hold 'em; this name implies that you would have to be drunk to play this hand or that you'd better fold and go get more beer for everybody) |
| 72 suited |
Velvet Hammer |
| 66 |
Route 66 |
| 63 |
Blocky |
| 62 |
Ainsworth |
| 55 |
Presto, Speed Limit, Nickels |
| 54 |
Jesse James, Colt 45 (both play off the number 45) |
| 52 |
Bomber (B-52 bomber) |
| 44 |
Sailboats (looks like two sails), Midlife Crisis, Magnum, Luke Skywalker ("May the fours be with you") |
| 4?4? |
Darth Vader ("Dark Side Of The Fours") |
| 42 |
Willie Mays, Jack Bauer |
| 33 |
Crabs, Hooters |
| 32 |
Can of Corn, Michael Jordan |
| 22 |
Ducks (from "deuces"), Swans, Quack Quack |
| any pocket pair |
Wired pair, Wired (for example, a starting hand of 8-8 might be called "wired eights" or "eights wired") |
