Halifax Gentlemen's Poker Association 
Common Poker Jargon (Part III)
Third in a series of posts defining some poker jargon that regularly does, or should, show up at H.G.P.A. events. These are terms in addition to the basic glossary available on Neil's HGPA site. A related series of H.G.P.A.-coined jargon may follow. Previous entries: Part I, Part II
This entry will focus on "flop slang", or special terms used to refer to the initial flop in Hold 'Em (or Omaha).
If the flop is composed of cards with three different suits, the flop is referred to as "rainbow".
If the flop is composed of cards with two different suites, the flop is referred to as "two-toned".
If the flop is three low cards, the flop is referred to as "rags" or a "ragged flop". This can be combined with the suit designation. For instance, a flop of three low cards of three different suits might be referred to as "rainbow rags". (One possibly homophobic HGPA wit was heard to quip that this could also be referred to as a "pride flag". There's probably also a "motley" joke in there somewhere.)
If the flop is three face cards, this is referred to as "paint", or a "painted flop". A more fun term common for this is a "Picasso Flop". (Of course, this begs the question of what a "Dali Flop" would look like. I guess if King-King-Queen is an example of a Picasso Flop, then a Dali Flop would be something like Six-King-Sheep.) This can also be combined with suit designations, so you could have a "two-toned Picasso flop".
There doesn't seem to be any common term for the single-suited flop. Seems like a place for a new HGPA term.
And now, a couple of bonus non-flop terms:
immortal: Unbeatable; often said of a hand that a player knows cannot be beaten under the circumstances of play. Also "lock", "nuts".
outrun: To beat another hand, usually by being dealt extra cards after the initial deal.
This entry will focus on "flop slang", or special terms used to refer to the initial flop in Hold 'Em (or Omaha).
If the flop is composed of cards with three different suits, the flop is referred to as "rainbow".
If the flop is composed of cards with two different suites, the flop is referred to as "two-toned".
If the flop is three low cards, the flop is referred to as "rags" or a "ragged flop". This can be combined with the suit designation. For instance, a flop of three low cards of three different suits might be referred to as "rainbow rags". (One possibly homophobic HGPA wit was heard to quip that this could also be referred to as a "pride flag". There's probably also a "motley" joke in there somewhere.)
If the flop is three face cards, this is referred to as "paint", or a "painted flop". A more fun term common for this is a "Picasso Flop". (Of course, this begs the question of what a "Dali Flop" would look like. I guess if King-King-Queen is an example of a Picasso Flop, then a Dali Flop would be something like Six-King-Sheep.) This can also be combined with suit designations, so you could have a "two-toned Picasso flop".
There doesn't seem to be any common term for the single-suited flop. Seems like a place for a new HGPA term.
And now, a couple of bonus non-flop terms:
immortal: Unbeatable; often said of a hand that a player knows cannot be beaten under the circumstances of play. Also "lock", "nuts".
Smiley's four tens were pretty much immortal unless Bob hit runner-runner kings. Even a river rat like Bob couldn't pull that off, though.
outrun: To beat another hand, usually by being dealt extra cards after the initial deal.
Drake was dominating pre-flop, but after that two-toned flop of rags, Chris suddenly had a draw to outrun him with a flush.
posted by Chris McLaren | 11:56 AM
6 Comments:
A short sidebar about the origin of the term 'nuts':
As gamblers were (and are) not the most gentlemanly of sorts, a standing rule in poker developed where you couldn't bet anything that you couldn't put on the table. That stopped players from reneging on the terms of a lost pot. So while you couldn't put your house on the table, if you could produce the deed and shove it in with your chips, you were good to go.
If a player was sure his hand was the best out there, he could elect to bet his horse and cart he had outside. As he couldn't very well throw a ton of animal, wood and stone onto the table, he would remove the nuts from his cart's wheels and push them into the pot. Eventually, pulling the nuts off your wheels became synonymous with having the best hand.
Who the fuck let this Wikipedia plagarizing jagoff in here?
Oh yeah, sorry - my bad.
I wouldn't know about Wikipedia, some 60 year old bum imparted that nugget, along with some of his hooch, in a tournament of mine months ago. I frankly don't know anyone who would bother to scour an online encyclopedia for poker nollij...
Oh yeah, sorry - my bad.
Having seen you play poker - and more importantly, seen you down booze like a man dying of thirst while you do so - I find it unlikely that you would happen to have near perfect clarity regarding this recollection of the tale some dude told you nine months ago. But, since you're wrong about the origin of the term anyways, I guess I'll let it slide.
At for your snide remark about my trolling the interweb for facts, at least I credited everything I lifted. Unlike *some* people.
For someone whose first "website" was a mishmash of unattributed gems like a chain mail about why Santa Clause would burn up in the stratosphere, the Dancing Shatners animated gif and multiple stick figure movies, you looking down your nose about acceditation is pretty rich.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find out if I should split these face cards, and I'm sure the answer lies in these series of tubes.
Since I don't remember your first website, I guess that speaks volumes. I'm guessing it was a lot of photoshopping people's faces onto pornographic pictures or party invites churned out using FlashMX Template A4, but that's just a wild guess.
And how many times do I have to tell you - Always split face cards. Always always always. The upside is that you always* win, but the better upside is that even if you lose, people who lose after you will subsquently blame you for "ruining" the hand. So you really cannot lose.
* - may not mean always
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