What's in a Name? The Matching Game Quiz

Answer: Bullets

Pocket Rockets and Bullets are both pocket Aces. Almost all nicknames for pocket Aces refer to their looks or are alliterations. Other names are:

Alan Alda - famous actor
Albert Anastasia - first mob boss killed gangland style
Batteries - as in double A batteries
Snake Eyes or Eyes - referring to dice games where one pip is showing on each die
American Airlines - initials AA
Teepees - from their looks

One of the more inventive nicknames refers to two black Aces being Joe Louis. The idea is that you would get two black eyes if you ever fought him.

Pocket Aces are the best starting hand out of 169 possible starting hands but still only have a 31% chance to win against a ten handed table.

All odds for hands in this quiz come from the poker site: holdemtight.com

Answer: King Kong

Cowboys and King Kong are pocket Kings. Where exactly the use of Cowboy to refer to a King comes from is unknown. The four Kings actually have one of the more established historic pedigrees as each one is linked to a historic ruler. Here they are:

King of Spades - David, Biblical king
King of Hearts - Charles VII or Charlemagne
King of Diamonds - Caesar, most likely Julius Caesar
King of Clubs - Alexander the Great

Other names for pocket Kings are:

Ace Magnets - due to the seeming frequency with which they run into pocket Aces
Gorillas - based on the King Kong motif
Gorillas in the Mist - same as Gorillas, famous Sigourney Weaver movie
Krispy Kreme - alliteration based on the donut chain

Pockets Kings are the second best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 26% chance to win against a ten handed table.

Answer: Siegfried and Roy

Ladies and Siegfried and Roy both refer to pocket Queens. Ladies is based on the fact they are the only female face cards. In the case of Siegfried and Roy it is based on the use of queen to refer to a homosexual man. Because poker is a male dominated game many of the other nicknames for pockets Queens are even more derogatory. Some of the cleaner ones are:

Hilton Sisters - after heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton
Snowshoes - from their resemblance to them

Pocket Queens are the third best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 22% chance to win against a ten handed table.

Answer: The Two Jakes

Fishhooks and the Two Jakes both refer to pocket Jacks. Fishhooks because the J looks like a fish hook. The Two Jakes refers to the movie sequel to "Chinatown" of the same name. Other names for pocket Jacks are:

Jaybirds - because of the Js
Bowers - from Euchre
John Juanda - alliteration based on the famous Hall of Fame poker player
DY-NO-MITE - favorite saying of JJ on the TV show "Good Times"

Pocket Jacks are the fifth best starting hand out of 169. Pocket Aces, pocket Kings, pocket Queens, and Ace King suited all rank higher. Pocket Jacks have a 19.1% chance to win against a ten handed table.

Answer: TJ Hookers

Both Justin Timberlake and TJ Hookers refer to hands with a Jack and a Ten in them. Both play off the initials JT or TJ. Justin Timberlake is the famous singer and "T.J. Hooker" was a police drama starring William Shatner in the 80s.

If the Jack Ten is suited it is the 16th best starting hand out of 169 possible hands. If they are off-suit the ranking drops down to 47th. Jack Ten suited has a 15.8% chance to win against a ten handed table while Jack Ten off-suit has a 12.1% chance.

Answer: Wayne Gretzky

Barbara Feldon and Wayne Gretzky both refer to pockets Nines. Feldon was Agent 99 on the TV show "Get Smart" and Gretzky wore the number 99 in the NHL. Other names include:

Hitlers - based on the German word Nein for no
Phil Hellmuth - when they are two black nines because he won the 1989 WSOP Main Event holding this hand
Red Ballons - when they are two red nines based on the song 99 Red Balloons by Nena

Pocket Nines are 17th best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 15.3% chance to win against a ten handed table.

Answer: Snowmen

Piano Keys and Snowmen are both names for pocket Eights. Piano keys because there are 88 keys on a standard piano keyboard. Snowmen because an Eight resembles a snowman. Pockets Eights are also called:

Racetracks - because they look like a figure 8 track
Two Fat Ladies - taken from Bingo lingo
Pretzels - because they look like twisted pretzels
Time Traveler - based on the "Back to the Future" movie trilogy because the car had to reach 88 mph to time travel
Dale Jr - named after Dale Earnhardt Jr's car number

Pocket Eights are the 21st best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 14.2% chance to win against a ten handed table.

Answer: Hockey Sticks

Walking Sticks and Hockey Sticks are both pockets Sevens because of how they look. There are many other names for pocket Sevens including:

Candy canes - looks like them
Axes - looks like them
Mullets - hairstyle in the 70s and 80s that is short on top and long in the back like a seven
Sunset Strip - after the TV show "77 Sunset Strip"

Pocket Sevens are the 29th best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 13.4% chance to win against a ten handed table.

Answer: Ajax

Blackjack and Ajax are both names for Ace jack. Blackjack comes from the casino game Blackjack or 21. Ajax comes from the sound of saying Ace Jack fast. Other names are:
Armani Jeans - based on the acronym used by the brand AJ
Apple Jacks - a backronym
Foamy Cleanser - a take-off on the Ajax name

If the Ace Jack is suited it is the 8th best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 17.5% chance to win against a ten handed table. If it is off-suit the hand is ranked 27th with a 13.5% chance to win.

Answer: Fido

Canine and Fido both refer to King Nine. Canine comes from the police designation of K-9 for a dog unit. Fido is a play off of this. Other names include:

Bow-wow - from Canine
Dogs - from Canine
Mongrel (if offsuit) - from Canine
Mutt (if offsuit) - from Canine
Pedigree (if suited) - from Canine

If the King Nine is suited it is the 22nd best starting hand out of 169 possible hands with a 14.2% chance to win against a ten handed table. If it is off-suit the hand is ranked 81st with a 9.9% chance to win.