| Hand | Nickname | Description |
| A A | Bullets
American Airlines
Pocket Rockets | AA will not win every time, but is far and away the best hand in holdem. |
| K K | Cowboys
Ace Magnets
King Kong | KK seems to attract an A on the flop…. |
| Q Q | Bitches
Sigfried & Roy
Four Tits | Perhaps the negative name for this hand has something to do with the results you get if you over play it! |
| J J | J-Birds
Hooks | Don’t fall in love with JJ, they can be expensive. |
| T T | Dimes
Tension | The chance of getting overcards on the flop with TT is almost 70%. |
| 9 9 | Phil Hellmuth
Popeye's | Phil Hellmuth won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1989 with this hand. |
| 8 8 | Snowmen
Dog Balls
Little Oldsmobile | Snowmen and dog balls look like the number 8. 88 was an Oldsmobile model that's smaller than the 98. |
| 7 7 | Mullets
Hockey Sticks | Nicknamed because of similarity to the shape of the number 7. |
| 6 6 | Cherries | Nicknamed because of similiarity to the shape of the number 6. |
| 5 5 | Speed Limit | |
| 4 4 | Magnum
Sailboats | 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Now, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is the .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and could blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk? |
| 3 3 | Crabs
Treys | Nicknamed treys because treys are 3 pointers in basketball. Crabs because of the similarity to the shape of the number 3. |
| 2 2 | Ducks | Nicknamed ducks because of the similarity to the shape of the number 2. |
| A K | Big Slick | |
| A Q | Big Chick | In Texas this hand is known as Doyle Brunson. |
| A J | Ajax
Blackjack
Jackass | Nicknamed Ajax and Jackass for purely phonetic reasons. |
| A T | Bookends
Johnny Moss | It's speculated that Johnny Moss is associated with this hand because he began playing poker at the age of 10. |
| A 9 | Jesus/Chris Ferguson | Chris Ferguson beat TJ Cloutier at the final hand of the 2000 WSOP Championship event holding A9 against TJ's AQ. |
| A 8 | Dead Man's Hand | Wild Bill Hickock held two pair, Aces and Eights, when he was fatally shot in the back by Jack McCall on August 2nd, 1876. |
| A 5 | High Five | A5 is a statistically better hand than A6 because of its ability to make a straight. |
| A 4 | Transvestite | Called transvestites because you see the first ace, and the 4 looks like another, but it turns out not to be. |
| A 3 | Baskin Robbins
Ashtray | Nicknamed Baskin Robbins because of their 31 different flavors of ice cream. |
| A 2 | Hunting Season | Aces are known as bullets and twos are known as ducks, hence hunting season. |
| K Q | Marriage | ...or Divorce if it doesn't hold up. |
| K J suited | Kojak | Nicknamed 'Kojak' for phonetic reasons. Nothing to do with Telly Savalas. |
| K J offsuit | Kojak
Bachelor's Hand | Nicknamed 'Bachelor's Hand' because it is literally Jack King off. |
| K T | Katie | K-T sounds like Katie. |
| K 9 | Canine
Dog | K9 sounds like Canine. |
| K 8 | Kokomo | |
| K 4 | Fork | 4K sounds like Fork. |
| K 3 | King Crab | |
| Q J | Maverick
Oedipus Rex | Taken from Maverick TV show theme song, Livin' on jacks and queens. Maverick is a legend of the west. Also, Oedipus Rex refers to a play by Greek playwright Sophocles referring to an incestuous mother and son. |
| Q T | Quint
Robert Varkonyi | Robert Varkonyi won his 2002 WSOP Championship bracelet holding QT and making a boat over Julian Gardner's flush. |
| Q 9 | Quinine | Queen Nine sounds like Quinine, an early anti-malarial drug. |
| Q 7 | Computer Hand | Computer calculations show this is an “average” hand that wins against 50% of starting hands. |
| Q 5 | Granny Mae | Nickname of well-known poker forum poster, granny can be a queen and May is the fifth month of the year. |
| Q 3 | Gay Waiter | A Queen with a “trey” |
| J T suited | | Previously thought to be the best drawing hand. |
| J T offsuit | TJ Cloutier | |
| J 8 | Jeffrey Dahmer | Jeffrey Dahmer ate Jack. |
| J 6 | Jack Talley | |
| J 5 | Motown | The Jackson Five released their albums through the record company 'Motown'. |
| J 4 | Flat Tire | Answer to the question What's a jack for?. |
| T 9 | Countdown | Countdowns usually start at ten...nine... |
| T 8 | Tetris | |
| T 7 | Bowling Hand | The seven-ten split is thought to be the toughest spare in bowling. |
| T 5 | Woolworth | Woolworth was a five and dime store…precursor to the Dollar stores of today. |
| T 4 | Broderick Crawford | From Broderick Crawford television show Highway Patrol,10-4 over and out! |
| T 2 | Doyle Brunson | Doyle Brunson won his 1976 & 1977 WSOP Championship bracelets holding T2. |
| 9 8 | Oldsmobile | 98 was an oldsmobile model that was bigger than the smaller 88 model. |
| 9 6 | Big Lick
2 can chew | |
| 9 5 | Working girl
Dolly Parton | Dolly Parton starred in the movie 9 to 5. |
| 9 4 | Joe Montana Banana
San Fransisco | 49 refers to San Fransisco's Football team, the 49ers. |
| 9 3 | Jack Benny | For years Jack Benny claimed to be 39 years old. |
| 9 2 | Montana Banana
Twiggy | Twiggy was an ultra thing fashion model in the late sixties. |
| 8 7 | RPM | Very old phonograph records spun 78 revolutions per minute |
| 8 4 | Orwell | George Orwell was the author of the book 1984. |
| 8 3 | Raquel Welch | Raquel Welch still claims to be 38, and she still may measure that, but her age is well past this! |
| 7 6 | Union Oil
Trombones | Union 76 Gas stations, and the song 76 Trombones in the movie Music Man. |
| 7 5 | Heinz | The Heinz company in Pittsburgh, PA has 57 varieties of condiments, the most famous being ketchup. |
| 7 3 | Hachem | Joseph Hachem won the 2005 World Series main event holding 7c3s when the flop came 4d5d6h. |
| 7 2 offsuit | Beer Hand | Considered the worst starting hand in holdem because it makes no straights or flushes. |
| 5 4 | Jesse James
Jane Russell
Moneymaker | Jesse James was thought to have been shot with a .45. Moneymaker won in 2003 with this hand. |
| 5 2 | Quarter
Two Bits | |
| 4 3 | Waltz | Waltzes are always in 3/4 meter. |
| 4 2 | Lumberman's Hand | A common piece of lumber is a two by four. |
| 3 2 | Mississippi Slick
Polish Big Slick | Derogatory terms, as 32 is the complete opposite hand of Ace-King or Big Slick, the best non-pair starting hand in holdem. |
