• San Francisco Busboy – Another name for the old , with the same etymology. Just as funny if…
• zombie – Someone showing no emotion or behaviour. A good poker face. “He’s a total zombie, but only when he actually has a hand, which is kind of ironic.”
• Upstairs! – another way to say “I raise”.
• philosopher – slang for a card cheat in England, apparently. I like this one.
• No vacancy! – another way to announce that you hit the boat.
• foot – A terrible hand. As in,”my hand’s so bad, it might as well be a foot”

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.

throwing a party: A player who is playing like a fool and gambling all of their money away is said to be throwing a party.

I’m going to miss Eboc–that guy always threw a party later in the night.

Not like Cal.

Oh, yeah. His party goes to eleven.

stuck: Having lost money. I’m stuck $300 right now.

Bob ended the night up $50, and Drake broke even. I think Neil was stuck his rent.

speeding: To play very loose with no identifiable pattern, or to bluff frequently. Also known as speeding around.

Man, Neil was really speeding last night.

I know! I hate it when I can’t tell if he’s being crazy, or if he actually has the hand.

river rat: A player whose hand was dominated from the start, but improves his hand on the river to win the pot.

I had that straight from the flop, but then Bob went all river rat on me with a runner-runner flush draw.

post oak bluff: To bluff by making a small bet, when you want the other players to think that your small bet is a “here kitty kitty” bet from a strong hand. You want the other players to think you are trying to trap them, so they will fold.

Every now and then I change up my position play with a post oak bluff. Once the table is trained for position play, it can be especially effective.

all day: The total current posted bet. Used to indicate that the speaker is referring to the total bet, versus the difference the acting player would need to post. Equivalent to “the total amount is”.

Action is on Neil; two bucks all day.

back into: To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw “backs into” winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw. Also to make a backdoor draw, for example, a player who starts a hand with three of a kind, but makes a runner-runner flush, can be said to back into the flush.

I can’t believe I backed into the pot with that pair of queens last night.

berry patch: A game with many unskilled or “live” players; a lucrative opportunity for profit.

One of the starting tables at that last tournament was a real berry patch.

dry pot: A side pot with no money. Created when a player goes all in and is called by more than one opponent, but not raised. Bluffing into a dry pot is a play that cannot possibly earn a profit, so doing so is considered foolish. It may also be unethical, because it serves to protect the all-in player at the expense of the bettor and the other players, and so is a form of collusion.

Considering the number of all-ins we get, it’s funny that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dry pot in weekly play.

idiot end: The bottom end of a straight.

I was on the idiot end, but my read on the table was that no one else had straightened. My read was wrong.