10 Poker Expressions that need to be retired Part 2
If you’ve been around the poker world for any period of time you know that the game has its own language. A new player walking into a poker room and sitting down at a table will likely think they are in a foreign country as the other players communicate using a minimal number words, many of which bastardized to the point that they are no longer actual words, or acronyms. This feeling of not belonging is even worse if you are visitor to an online poker forum! In this column I’m going to take a look at a few of these terms that are so played out that they need to be retired from the game.
My advice is this; if you find yourself getting ready to utter these words or terms, STOP, stop now, and just talk normally. Here is a look at the final five entries on my list [Read Part 1 HERE]:
Bink
Both of my kids used binks and they were among their first words; I never thought I would see a resurgence of this term at a poker table though. You didn’t bink anything you won. Of all the synonyms for winning (triumph, victory, glorious conquest, prevail, succeed) how did poker players start using the most childish?
I can’t believe I’m going to…
Call or Fold, doesn’t matter which one you end this sentence with they are both equally as dumb. Guess what? Everyone at the table can believe you were going to call (or fold) and since you’re doing it right now you’ll either need to accept it or disregard reality.
Grind/Grinding/Grinder
We get it; you play a lot of poker. The problem is you play so much damn poker that you grind every day; most people simply call this work.
Click-it-back
Of all the words/terms on this list this is by far the one I loathe the most. When I heard Joe Cheong use this to describe his WSOP bustout hand I nearly threw my mouse across the room like I used to in 2005 when I played online poker and used the dumbass precursors to phrases like “click-it-back”.
Cute Hand Nicknames
Snowmen, Pocket Rockets, American Airlines, Walking Sticks, and even the wittier and abstract Gay Waiter and Jacking-Off, need to go. No more shouts of Presto from 40 year-old men, no more Ducks, just say what your hand is. The nicknames are not there for brevity and 99% of the “cutesy names” aren’t even worth a chuckle.
