Whether you’ve just started to learn how to play poker and are tuning into the excitement of playing online poker for real money, or you’ve been a poker player for a while now, you’ll know that this popular card game has a language all of its own. While it takes time and effort to learn all the rules and quirks, it’s worth it to get maximum enjoyment out of the game – and to be able to join in all the banter in the chat rooms! 

One of the best places to start (before you dive into learning some of the more advanced strategies, such as GTO poker and some of its myths) is by understanding the nicknames for some of the poker hands you’re likely to be dealt. Let’s get straight to the various Texas Hold’em poker hands and their nicknames.

Pocket aces

If you’re dealt a pair of aces – known as “pocket aces” – your game is off to the best start possible in Texas Hold’em poker. But don’t get too happy. The two highest-ranking cards in the deck are not invincible. The more players enter the pot, the more likely it is that someone will beat your aces with two pairs of any other cards. So, read up on how to play pocket aces so you have a clear strategy in place to raise and reraise before the flop, play aggressively after the flop, and know in which circumstances you should fold. Your chances of getting pocket aces are once in every 221 hands.

Also called: “Pocket rockets” (because you’re “flying high,”) “American Airlines” (two As are the initials of the airline,) “sharp tops,” and “Rocky Mountains” (both visual references,) and “batteries” (as in those double-As you use in various electronic devices.)

Pocket kings

This is the second-best starting hand you can be dealt, after pocket aces. Be cautious of an ace showing on the flop here. It could quite easily pair with one of your opponents’ hole cards to give them a higher pair than you hold. A solid poker tournament tip when wanting to raise preflop with pocket kings is to hold back from betting heavily and any attempt to get maximum profit from your hand. Instead, wager an amount that will help you figure out the strength of your opponents’ hands. Are they possibly holding an ace when they call? This way, you can make better judgments at the flop and beyond. The chances of winning with pocket kings in Texas Hold’em poker is 18% compared to 81% if you’re dealt pocket aces.

Also called: “King Kong” (an alliteration,) “cowboys” (a common nickname for the king picture cards,) “Elvis Presley” (the king of rock ’n roll,) and the rather ironic “ace magnets” (an ace is the only card you don’t want to see on the board.)

Pocket queens

If you’re dealt a pair of queens when you play poker online games, you’ll have the last of the top three best starting hands. “Pocket queens” will almost always help a player in cash games or online poker tournaments so long as no aces or kings appear as community cards. Q–Q is usually worth a raise or three-bet (this is the third bet in any given sequence of bets – so a bet, a raise and a reraise). This will determine the strength of opponents’ hands and help to build the pot.

Also called: “Ladies” (for obvious reasons,) “Calamity Jane” (from the frontierswoman who was a friend of Wild Bill Hickok,) “Canadian aces” (because Canadians are part of the Queen’s Commonwealth of Nations,) and the “Hilton sisters” (Paris and Nicky, that is.)

Pocket jacks

“Pocket jacks” may be the fourth-strongest pocket pair in poker, but it can be a tricky hand to play. Too often, novices will play it as a strong hand, applying the strategies they’d use when holding pocket aces, kings or queens. But J–J can be beaten by pairs of any of those three, so if you’re a beginner, play pocket jacks as if they’re nothing more than a good high pair and play them into small pots.

Also called: “Hooks” (the “J” letter looks like a fish hook) and “Ice–JJ-Fish” (like the rapper, they rock.)

Pocket 10s

This hand has some catchy nicknames, including “Audi” (after their famous model TT car), “dynamite” (10 and 10 sounds like TNT) and “TNT” (again connected to the idea of dynamite). This pocket pair can mislead many newer players into thinking it is a strong hand, but it is only a good hand in specific scenarios. For example, it is strong preflop, but slow, multi-way pots decrease the value of pocket 10s as other players are more likely to increase their chances of winning. 

A–X

The next best thing after the featured pocket pairs is a hand with an ace and a different card. Here are some examples.

Ace–King

The “big slick” (a slippery hand known to bring big wins or big losses) doesn’t give you much to work with until you start putting together a flush, straight or pair with the flop. But this poker hand does give you a shot at a “nut flush” (a flush with an ace as the high card,) a straight or high pair, or (if they’re suited) even a royal flush (ace, king, queen, jack, 10 in the same suit.)

Ace–Queen

Also called the “big chick” or “little slick,” this hand gives you the opportunity to develop a high pair, straight, nut flush or occasionally a royal flush. If you’re a newbie at live poker, or at any other poker format, for that matter, try to avoid playing A–Q in early positions and play only in an un-raised or unopened pot in a middle to late position.

Ace–Jack

This combination is known as “Armani Jeans” (it shares the same initials), Ajax (due to the similarity in the way it sounds) or Blackjack (since this is also the highest value hand in the game of blackjack). The value of an ace and jack differs depending on the number of players in a game. Games with a couple of players increase the value of this hand, while games with more players decrease the value of this hand. If you are first to enter the pot, be sure to raise, but if you are facing a raise from another player in the early or middle position, it’s safest to fold. 

Putting a world of poker at your fingertips

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