Regular poker players sometimes spice up their card gaming sessions by using unique nicknames for the playing cards. For example, a King could be called a Cowboy or a Knight, while the Jack of Diamonds is sometimes called Hector. Many of the origins of these names have interesting sources and there are some great books and internet sources out there that list how card nicknames came about. When you play games such as Texas Hold ’em and you come across a combination of two cards, these get their own nicknames. For example, if you land two Aces, they could be called Alan Alda (after the star of the TV show M*A*S*H), or A5 could be named High Five after the fact that the Ace is high and the added five is a play on the typical ‘high five’ greeting.
Here is a list of common nicknames used for single cards in a regular pack of 52 cards:
Ace – As Nas, Mastercard, One Spot, Spike
King – Cowboy, Knight, Monarch, Sergeant
Queen – Cowgirl, Bitch, Lady, Painted Lady, Hen
Jack – Boy, Fishhook, Knave, J-Boy, Jackson
10 – Bo Derek, Sawbuck, Dime
9 – Nina Ross, Pot Hook, Neener, Niner
8 – Fat Lady, Snow Man, Time Travel
7 – Candy Cane, Hockey Stick, Salmon
6 – Sax, Sex, a Boot
5 – Pedro, Nickel, Five Spot
4 – One Legged Ace, Broken Ace, Sail Boat, Four Spot
3 – Butts, Trey, Crab
2 – Deuce, Swan, Dewey
Sometimes specific cards are given a nickname. Some of the more common ones are:
Ace of Spades – Death card, Tax Card, Spadille
King of Hearts – King without mustache, Suicide King, Charles
King of Diamonds – Julius Caesar, One Eyed King
King of Spades – David
King of Clubs – Alexander
Queen of Spades – Black Maria, Calamity Jane, Fanny Kaplan, Pallas Athena, Molly Hogan
Queen of Hearts – Helen of Troy, Judith
Queen of Clubs – Argine
Jack of Spades – Eunech, Ogier
Jack of Clubs – Lancelot, Pam
Jack of Hearts – La Hire
Ten of Diamonds – Big Cassino
Nine of Diamonds – Course of Scotland, Scourge of Scotland
Seven of Diamonds – Beer Card
Six of Hearts – Grace’s Card, Loyalty at the Risk of Death
Four of Spades – The Devil’s Bedpost
Two of Spades – Little Cassino, The Curse of Mexico
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