Pestaño: Poker lingo and trivia

Friday, October 3, 2014

I HAVE been requested by some poker players to write about the game since it has been a long time since my last article. Poker and chess are dubbed “distant cousins.”

The figures are astonishing. It is estimated that there are more than 60 million poker players in the United States alone and more than 150 million worldwide. In fact, more people play poker than play golf, billiards, or tennis combined.

Now, all that will dramatically change due to the internet phenomenon Facebook. FB has entered the picture and the game, particularly Hold ‘em, and it has grown by leaps and
bounds.

I became aware of poker on Facebook, just last month when the website invited me to play. Since then, the number of apps has increased to 28 and all are gaining adherents in astonishing numbers. Considering that there are an estimated1.4 billion users in Facebook, one site says that the potential market is 100 million in the site alone.

I have been asked to rate all the apps there and I am in the process of grading them as it is still increasing.

Hold ‘em is played in all the sites and poker clubs in Cebu--Metro, Red and All-in.

Players are dealt two cards called “holes” and five cards are laid on the table. These are called “community” cards and are used by all the players on the table. It is these two hole cards that have a lingo all its own.

Pocket A is called a “Monster,” while pocket K is called “Elvis Presley.” Pocket Q is called “Cowgirls,” while pocket J is called “Bachelors.” A KJ hand is “Kojak”and KQ card is called “ lovers.” An AK card is also called “Anna Kournikova” because of her strong sex appeal.

Pocket 9 is called “Meat Hooks” and pocket 8 is “Snowmen,” while Pocket 2 is “Ducks.” A 3 and 8 is nicknamed “Racquel Welch” because of her curvaceous body while a 5 and 9
is “Dolly Parton” after the film 5 to 9. Pocket 4 of clubs and spades is “Darth
Vader’ after “dark force” in Star Wars.

A 4 and 5 is called “Jesse James” because he was killed by a .45 while the “Dead Man’s Hand,” which consists of an ace of spades and eights was named after the hand that Wild Bill Hickok was holding at the time of his death. He was shot in the back of the head on Aug. 2, 1876 in Deadwood, South Dakota. Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979, despite being tagged as a lousy poker player by historians.

The most famous actress to win a World Series of Poker bracelet is Jennifer Tilly in 2005.The most famous actor to win a World Series of Poker bracelet is Ben Affleck in 2004.

President Obama plays the game and is reputed to be an excellent bluffer. President Richard Nixon was a keen poker player and his winnings from poker helped fund his first campaign for Congress. Nineteen US presidents play poker.

A deck of playing cards is called “Railroad Bible.”

A professional poker player is called a “Shark” while a beginner is called “fish.” “Rock” is a tight player while “Maniac” calls and raises on every bet. “White meat” is money won in poker.

BANKRUPT NCFP. During the Tromso Olympiad, Butch Pichay bluntly told Wesley So that the PSC will withhold its funding if Wesley will be released to the USCF. Richie Garcia has vehemently denied this and there was supposed to be a confrontation between him and Pichay. What happened?

The NCFP is apparently disorganized and bankrupt. There are no more tournaments and players’ prizes are not given. I was informed by a reliable source that the players are now planning to sue Pichay and executive director Jayson Gonzales for estafa. Our GMs and IMs have been leaving for abroad for some time now as “Wala na chess dito.”

(boypestano@gmail.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)