- Poker Nicknames Generator
- Poker Nicknames
- Prominence Poker Nicknames
- Poker Nicknames Generator
- Poker Nicknames List
- Poker Nicknames For Hands
13 Mar
What are the most famous poker nicknames? Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson. To begin with the obvious one, there is Doyle ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson, also called ‘The Godfather of Poker’. Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu. Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Classic nicknames. Some poker players are worthy of a gold star thank to sticking with their well-known nicknames despite having the chance to create a completely new alias. Poker players have Texas Holdem nicknames for many hands, and it is good to know them. It is not a bad thing to hear someone say, “I have a spare tire” and has no. Nicknames for Texas Hold’em Poker Hands The worst statistical starting hand in Hold’em with its tongue-in-cheek nickname of “The Hammer” With the literal poker explosion in the last several years and millions of new players flocking the the game, poker hand nicknames.
When it comes to nicknames, everybody hopes that they’ll get one that sounds cool, or dangerous, or – at the very least – one that's not offensive, negative, or just plain crap! Because nicknames stick with you, and become part of your life whether you like them or not!
Just ask basketball legend Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson (as cool a name as any) or heavyweight boxer Audley ‘Fraudley’ Harrison (hardly how a fighter wants to be seen) or soccer player Nicolas ‘The Incredible Sulk’ Anelka (yet another reason for the Frenchman to be unhappy!).
When it comes to poker nicknames, there are very few players who don’t sport at least one. It kind of goes with the territory, harking back to the days when smoky back-rooms and small-time hoods were part and parcel of the game.
Jimmy ‘The Greek’ is a name just as likely to be found in a gangster movie as it is in a poker tournament, and it has an ‘edgy’ ring to it – much more so than James George Snyder Senior as he was known formally (not to mention his original Greek name of Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos!).
Where are you from?
There are plenty of poker pros who have nicknames taken from their country of birth, and generally it’s a safe bet with few negative connotations, but although ‘The Flying Dutchman’ (Marcel Luske) and ‘The Great Dane’ (Gus Hansen) can be satisfied, Patrick Antonius’ nom de plume of ‘the Finn’ is about as dull as it gets! Johnny Chan gets a good one though – ‘The Orient Express’, although most of the Far East nicknames have a certain attractive mystique to them, such as David ‘The Dragon’ Pham, whose rail are prone to shout ‘You on fire!’ whenever he wins a big hand.
Of course, towns and cities can give names a certain little boost, and even though ‘Grand Rapids Tom’ (Tom McEvoy) isn’t too great, nor is John ‘Miami’ Cernuto, where would we be without ‘Amarillo Slim’ (the poker equivalent of ‘Minnesota Fats') or ‘Texas Dolly’ (Doyle Brunson, whose famous pseudonym was given by Jimmy The Greek nonetheless, who struggled to pronounce the ‘Grandfather of Poker’s’ name back in the day).
Looks can kill
This is always a dubious area for nicknames, unless you’re born from good genetic stock! Still, being named ‘the Bald Eagle’(Steve Zolotow) has a decent ring to it, even though resembling the actual bird itself is a mixed blessing at best.
Jack ‘Treetop’ Straus gained his name from his towering 6’ 6” frame, which had allegedly seen him play college basketball, although no records can be found to confirm this. What we do know, though, is that the famous poker saying ‘a chip and a chair’ probably came about as a result of his 1982 WSOP Main Event win. Down to one chip (a $25 or a $500 chip, depending on whose account you believe) Straus fought his way back to take the title and $520,000.
Poker Hall of Famer Crandell Addington, one of the founding fathers of the WSOP, was always referred to as ‘Dandy’ on account of his impeccable dress-sense: a suit and tie at the table reflecting the millionaire businessman’s sense of propriety.
Another nickname based on looks is Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, although kicking the money-lenders out probably isn’t top of the legendary poker pro’s to-do list! And as the original Jesus likely wasn’t a cowboy, it’s really just the long hair, long face combo which christened him for poker eternity.
Youth has always had a big influence on nicknames, with the most famous from the old-school being Stu ‘The Kid’ Ungar, although 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada also sports this name. Unless, however, Cada is Ungar’s kid, then I suggest he change his nickname – there is definitely only one Ungar in the poker world! Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu has found a way around this copycat-naming, however.
Actions speak louder than words
Or at least, they reflect them in the poker community. Speaking of actions, Dan ‘Action Dan’ Harrington only deserves his nickname in the ironic sense, his very safe and responsible approach to the game being a source of mirth for those who named him.
‘Mister Cool’, aka Ihsan ‘Sammy’ Farha, fully deserves his title – always dressing well and sitting unperturbed at the table. The unlit cigarette he has perpetually hanging from his lips, however, is now only cool in the retro world of 60’s film stars – but it’s as much a part of him as his ‘cool’ demeanor.
Being known as the ‘Robin Hood of Poker’ must be a great feeling – it’s hard for people to dislike you if, as Barry Greenstein has done for years, you donate your tournament winnings to charity. Although perhaps this Robin has had to tighten his belt as the last 10 years has seen only his net earnings given to good causes. Or perhaps it’s the Sheriff of Nottingham’s taxes to blame for this newer approach?).
Never lose it
Although nicknames tend to stay with a player throughout their career, some have come from a time before they made it to the green felt.
There are plenty of poker pros who have nicknames taken from their country of birth, and generally it’s a safe bet with few negative connotations, but although ‘The Flying Dutchman’ (Marcel Luske) and ‘The Great Dane’ (Gus Hansen) can be satisfied, Patrick Antonius’ nom de plume of ‘the Finn’ is about as dull as it gets! Johnny Chan gets a good one though – ‘The Orient Express’, although most of the Far East nicknames have a certain attractive mystique to them, such as David ‘The Dragon’ Pham, whose rail are prone to shout ‘You on fire!’ whenever he wins a big hand.
Of course, towns and cities can give names a certain little boost, and even though ‘Grand Rapids Tom’ (Tom McEvoy) isn’t too great, nor is John ‘Miami’ Cernuto, where would we be without ‘Amarillo Slim’ (the poker equivalent of ‘Minnesota Fats') or ‘Texas Dolly’ (Doyle Brunson, whose famous pseudonym was given by Jimmy The Greek nonetheless, who struggled to pronounce the ‘Grandfather of Poker’s’ name back in the day).
Looks can kill
This is always a dubious area for nicknames, unless you’re born from good genetic stock! Still, being named ‘the Bald Eagle’(Steve Zolotow) has a decent ring to it, even though resembling the actual bird itself is a mixed blessing at best.
Jack ‘Treetop’ Straus gained his name from his towering 6’ 6” frame, which had allegedly seen him play college basketball, although no records can be found to confirm this. What we do know, though, is that the famous poker saying ‘a chip and a chair’ probably came about as a result of his 1982 WSOP Main Event win. Down to one chip (a $25 or a $500 chip, depending on whose account you believe) Straus fought his way back to take the title and $520,000.
Poker Hall of Famer Crandell Addington, one of the founding fathers of the WSOP, was always referred to as ‘Dandy’ on account of his impeccable dress-sense: a suit and tie at the table reflecting the millionaire businessman’s sense of propriety.
Another nickname based on looks is Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, although kicking the money-lenders out probably isn’t top of the legendary poker pro’s to-do list! And as the original Jesus likely wasn’t a cowboy, it’s really just the long hair, long face combo which christened him for poker eternity.
Youth has always had a big influence on nicknames, with the most famous from the old-school being Stu ‘The Kid’ Ungar, although 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada also sports this name. Unless, however, Cada is Ungar’s kid, then I suggest he change his nickname – there is definitely only one Ungar in the poker world! Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu has found a way around this copycat-naming, however.
Actions speak louder than words
Or at least, they reflect them in the poker community. Speaking of actions, Dan ‘Action Dan’ Harrington only deserves his nickname in the ironic sense, his very safe and responsible approach to the game being a source of mirth for those who named him.
‘Mister Cool’, aka Ihsan ‘Sammy’ Farha, fully deserves his title – always dressing well and sitting unperturbed at the table. The unlit cigarette he has perpetually hanging from his lips, however, is now only cool in the retro world of 60’s film stars – but it’s as much a part of him as his ‘cool’ demeanor.
Being known as the ‘Robin Hood of Poker’ must be a great feeling – it’s hard for people to dislike you if, as Barry Greenstein has done for years, you donate your tournament winnings to charity. Although perhaps this Robin has had to tighten his belt as the last 10 years has seen only his net earnings given to good causes. Or perhaps it’s the Sheriff of Nottingham’s taxes to blame for this newer approach?).
Never lose it
Although nicknames tend to stay with a player throughout their career, some have come from a time before they made it to the green felt.
ElkY, for example, is the well-known moniker for Bertrand Grospelier, but if you have no idea (like me) where this nickname came from, you might be surprised to learn that it’s from his younger days when he was a top WarCraft and StarCraft player. ElkY in fact being the short version of his RPG character ‘Elkantar’. So now you know.
Jennifer Leigh is another to have carried her old nickname over into poker, ‘Jennicide’ being her online alias from the bulletin boards of her youth. 1973 Main Event winner Walter ‘Puggy’ Pearson had a childhood accident to blame for his canine nickname, although Puggy is somewhat better than the ‘Puggy-Wuggy’ some used for him.
Todd Brunson’s ‘DarkHorse’ name, from when he won an early event as an outside be,t has stuck with him all through his career, as has Rafe ‘FurstOut’ Furst’s after his memorable (though he probably hates being reminded of it) early bust out back in the 2003 WSOP Main Event.
Poker Nicknames Generator
What’s in a Name?
Some fortunate poker players have ended up with nicknames which would make most jealous, such as the recently-departed Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott, fellow Englishman Ram ‘CrazyHorse’ Vaswami or Carlos ‘El Matador’ Mortensen - names which convey an aggression and fearless attitude, both very positive poker characteristics.
Somewhat less intimidating are the likes of Allen ‘Clever Piggy’ Cunninham, Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer or Bobby ‘The Owl’ Baldwin – they just don’t compare to the likes of Erik ‘Seiborg’ Seidel or Jerry ‘The Shadow’ Yang in the scary-named opponents stakes!
Names which could or should have been…
As mentioned previously, poker players don’t often get to choose their nicknames – Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow might be happy with his on occasion, but it’s come back to bite him more often than not, even if it has helped pay his way through sponsorship.
If we could re-name players, Matusow would likely become ‘PottyMouth Mike’, Phil ‘The Tiger Woods of Poker’ Ivey might fancy Phil ’EdgeSorter’ Ivey and Howard ‘The Professor’ Lederer would sound just fine as Howard ‘Unforgiven’ Lederer to most fans of the game.
The Unabomber? The Shark? The Monk? Have a guess at who these guys really are - the first at least ought to be simple for any poker buff worth his salt!
The Magician, The Master and The Mad Genius? Look’em up if you don’t know, and give them alternative nicknames if you can.
Poker Nicknames
My own nickname? Well, Andy ‘winninghorse’ Burnett works for me, but perhaps Andy ‘raisefoldlose’ Burnett is more appropriate!
Table Of Contents
What went through your mind when you chose your GGPoker nickname? Did you choose an alias that reflects your personality? Perhaps your moniker is what you’re known as on other sites.
There are some weird and wonderful poker nicknames floating around the online poker world and plenty of different aliases have shown up during the 2020 WSOP Online. We’ve categorized them into eight different types. Which do you fall under?
Hard to Write
Everyone likes to be liked so if you want the PokerNews Live Reporting team to love you please stop creating hard to write nicknames! We’re talking to you Juan '4!8!15!16!23' Vecino and Tang 'tommmmmmm' Jing-In.
Writing a wide variety of player names from countries around the world is a difficult enough task without having to worry about typing Eduards 'IlIlIlIliIIl' Kudrjavcevs’ barcode nickname out.
We have to give (dis)honorable mentions to the likes of Stefan 'C3H5N3O6' Lehner, Mark 'Fe1ixFe1icis' Wong, and Mateus 'p7p7p7p7' Pimenta. Stop it, please!
Classic nicknames
Some poker players are worthy of a gold star thank to sticking with their well-known nicknames despite having the chance to create a completely new alias. We’re not allowed favorites here at PokerNews as we try to remain impartial, but we doff our cap to the likes of Brandon 'DrOctagon' Adams, Ludovic 'Gr4vyB04t' Geilich, Evan 'GRIPSED_com' Jarvis, and Dara 'OriginalDoke' O'Kearney.
These heroes lead us on nicely to…..
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Oh come on
Online poker allows you to become anyone you feel like being, even other poker players. Imagine our delight to see Phil Ivey in the hunt for a WSOP Online bracelet at GGPoker. It wasn’t Ivey though, was it? Nope. It was British star Ben 'Phil Ivey' Farrell.
Funnily enough, Farrell’s name is taken by fellow Brit Adam 'Ben Farrell' Owen. Even Max Silver is getting in one the alias spoofing, choosing the GGPoker nickname of Max 'Liv Boeree' Silver. We wonder is Boeree is known as “Max Silver”?
Ivey names
A handful of players were thinking along the same lines as Ben Farrell when they chose their nicknames because they went with variations of the legendary figure of Phil Ivey.
Ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Ivey is an extremely popular figure. Here’s hoping, Roberto 'GhostingIvey' Firmino, Edward 'IVEYJR' Swales, Praz 'PhiLiveysNan' Bansi manage to enjoy even a fraction of the success of the man whose name they’re using.
Naughty nicknames
Prominence Poker Nicknames
We’re all adults here so we don’t mind some slightly naughty aliases adorning our reporting pages. We’ve bumped into the likes of Valerii 'BigusDickus' Kutepov, Alex 'rubbherducky' Difelice, and Yurek 'PatFenis' Jarnevic over the past few weeks.
Harry 'Vulvasore' Lodge, Kathy 'YouMakeMeWet' Sathaphan, and Anna 'iLovePorn' Piaskowska are another trio of grinders with suggestive nicknames, but another came to our attention recently, a nickname that has the chance of becoming the best-known in the world.
Bryan “smbdySUCKme” Piccioli is the chip leader in the WSOP Online Main Event, online poker’s largest (in terms of prize pool) tournament ever. Picciloi is 37 eliminations from winning more than $3.9 million.
Always vs Never
Nicknames with always and never are much more common than you’d think. Perhaps they’re trying to use some basic low-level psychology to help them during their grinds?
How’s working out for you Kamal Preet 'Always AA' Singh, Cesar Pastor 'ALWAYS3BET' Suarez Torres, and Jeremy 'AlwaysGTO' Wien. Is there any evidence to suggest Zhanhui 'alwayspush' Zheng is always jamming his stack into the middle of the felt? We know for a fact Artur 'AlwaysWithNuts' Martirosian is prepared to get his stack in without holding the nuts; that in itself could be a naughty nickname!
Never is the opposite of always and these crop up all the time. You’ve got to feel sorry for Zidong 'Never_Lucky' Zhao who never gets lucky at the tables. Poker must be quite boring for Gediminas 'NeverGambol' Uselis, but equally as fun for Dmitriy 'NeverLoseGuy' Sokyrko. Never losing would be a pretty cool attribute for a poker player to have.
Poker Nicknames Generator
Mortal enemies
There are some pretty fierce rivalries in the poker world, not least GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu and his nemesis Shaun Deeb. We’re going to start a petition to have the following GGPoker players start a rivalry with one another, what do you think?
- Arikaran '[email protected][email protected]' Kunaratnam v Andrii 'BabyShark19' Kozlenko
- Jacek 'EasyMoney21' Pustula vs Maksim 'EasyMoney88' Murzich
- Yohay 'donkeycalls' Bullkich vs Edward 'DonkeyTrap' Leblanc
- David 'Gingerdog' Greene vs Liwei 'GingerFish' Ou
- Ramon 'Weeeeeeeee' Limberger vs Camilo 'weeeeeeeeee' Salazar Gomez
Plan of attack
It’s important to have a plan of attack when it comes to playing poker. Going into battle without a game plan is often a recipe for disaster. Terence '4betfold' Woon, Marco '5betforinfo' Conti, and Ka Ming 'ForeverRunGd' Chan have their plans in place. Chan, in particular, seems to be onto a good thing.
Some players, including Niklas 'SpeedyDouble' Astedt, prefer playing with a big stack so go out of their way to accumulate chips early on in a tournament. Getting aggressive like Karamvir 'allinpre' Mangat and Frida 'BetRaiseJam' Villanueva is one way to do this.
Super-loose calls aren’t recommended by many players but Miha 'call6high' Gantar didn’t receive that memo by the looks of things.
Patrice 'GGPokerPOY' Brandt has set his stall out and is aiming high if his alias is anything to go by.
Poker Nicknames List
Favourite hands
We’ve all got a favorite hand that we love being dealt (mine’s Ts-7s) but have you noticed these favorites are never pocket aces? Gianmarco 'K6Allin' Benincasa and Darien 'Queendeuce' Doolin like to mix things up by the sounds of things, while Wai Lun William '27oALLIN' Lam loves nothing more than getting involved in the seven-deuce game, obviously.
We wouldn’t advise following in the footsteps of Thomas 'any2' McEvoy and Rodney 'BadCards' Lawrence unless you fancy yourself as the next Gus Hansen!
Poker Nicknames For Hands
Related Room
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