On the official list of poker hands, a Straight ranks at position #5. This poker hand is made up of 5 different cards, in sequential order. The word ‘Straight’ makes it easy to understand what a Straight is all about. This poker hand references 5 cards in consecutive order. The Broadway term to indicate high cards and the highest possible straight comes from the famous Broadway in Manhattan, New York. The reference alludes to the length and popularity of the New York.

Royal Flush

Ace high Straight Flush.

Ace of Spades King of Spades Queen of Spades Jack of Spades 10 of Spades in a single suit. Also frequently referred to as 'Broadway'.

Straight Flush

Five consecutive cards of the same suit.

Five sequential cards in the same suit. The highest type of Straight Flush is a Royal Flush, and the lowest is an A-2-3-4-5 hand (if Aces are low or high/low). This type of hand is referred to as a 'Steel Wheel'. Other Straight Flushes with special names include:

• King of Clubs Queen of Clubs Jack of Clubs 10 of Clubs 9 of Clubs - Off Broadway (because it's shifted down one rank from a Royal Flush, or 'Broadway').

Four of a Kind

One of each suit in a single rank.

Also known as Quads. Many of the Four of a Kind hands have their own nicknames:

• King of Clubs King of Diamonds King of Hearts King of Spades - Four Horsemen (of the Apocalypse)
• Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds Queen of Hearts Queen of Spades - Village People (four Queens)
• 10 of Clubs 10 of Diamonds 10 of Hearts 10 of Spades - Larry, after Larry Fortensky (four-ten-sky), Elizabeth Taylor's eighth husband
• 4 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts 4 of Spades - Yacht Club (because the 4 resembles a sail)
• 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds 3 of Hearts 3 of Spades - Forest (four 'trees')
• 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts 2 of Spades - Mighty Ducks (because the 2 resembles a duck)

Full House

Three of a Kind and One Pair.

A Full House is called as 'X over Y' where X is the Three of a Kind and Y is the Pair (e.g., in a A-A-A-Q-Q hand, you would call it as 'Full House, Aces over Queens').

A Full House is sometimes called a boat or a full boat. When called a Boat/Full Boat, the hand is announced as 'X full of Y' (e.g., the same A-A-A-Q-Q hand would be called a 'Full Boat, Aces full of Queens'). Some Full House hands have special nicknames:

• Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts - Marksman (bows and arrows)
• 7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds 7 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts - Sailing rednecks
• 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds 3 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts - Nits and Lice, Mites and Lice

Flush

Five cards of the same suit.

Poker Straight Hand

Any five cards, all of which are in the same suit. A Flush all in hearts is referred to as 'Valentine's' while a flush all in clubs is known as a 'Golf Bag'.

Straight

Five consecutive cards.

Five cards in sequential order (but not all in the same suit, or it would be a Straight Flush). Also known as a Run (in many melding/counting games, such as gin and its variants, cribbage, and canasta, a Straight is referred to as a Run, and the name has carried over into poker).

• 6 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts 3 of Spades 2 of Clubs - Rabbit (the lowest Straight Flush if Aces are high)
• 5 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 3 of Hearts 2 of Spades Ace of Clubs - Wheel, Bicycle, Bike, Spike, First Street, Little Wheel (the lowest run if Aces are low or high/low)

Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank. Also known as Trips, a Set, or Triplets. Three-card combinations that have special names include:

• Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds Ace of Hearts - Beatles reunion
• King of Clubs King of Diamonds King of Hearts - Three Wise Men, Christmas Special (both references to 'Three Kings'), Alabama Night Riders, Ku Klux Klan (KKK is an abbreviation for the Ku Klux Klan, and 'Alabama Night Riders' is a colloquial term used to refer to this group, which has a history of carrying out their acts at night in rural ateas)
• Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds Queen of Hearts - Six Tits
• Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds Jack of Hearts - Hart, Schaffner, and Marx (Three Jacks)
• 10 of Clubs 10 of Diamonds 10 of Hearts - Dallas to Fort Worth (the I-10 connects these two Texas Cities), San Jose to Gilroy, Gilroy, Thirty Miles of bad road (the distance between San Jose and Gilroy, California, used to be 30 miles, although the two cities are now adjoining)
• 7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds 7 of Hearts - 21, Slot Machine, Jackpot (all named after results in other casino games like Blackjack and Slots)
• 6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds 6 of Hearts - The Devil, The Beast, Lucifer, Devil's Area Code
• 5 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds 5 of Hearts - Washington Monument, Pork Chop Sandwiches
• 4 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts - Grand Jury
• 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts - Huey, Dewey, and Louie (three ducks)

Two Pairs

Two pairs, each with two cards of the same rank. Notable named two pair combinations include:

How To Play Straight Poker

• Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds 8 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Dead Man's Hand (Arrows and Nooses)
• King of Clubs King of Diamonds Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds - Mommas and Poppas
• King of Clubs King of Diamonds 9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds - Pair of Dogs (because it's K9K9-- two canines)
• Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - San Francisco Waiters (Queens with Trays/Treys)
• Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds 5 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds - Jackson Five (Jacks and Fives), Motown, Rock and Roll
• Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - Hookers with Crabs (because the Jacks hook and the 3 is like a sideways crab)
• 9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds 8 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Oldsmobile
• 9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds 6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds - Dinner for Four
• 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds - Socks and Shoes, Mites and Lice, Mits and Mites, Nits and Lice

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank. The poker hand that contains a single pair that is the most worth noting is the Princess Leia (an A-A-2-3), so called because the room in which Leia was imprisoned in Star Wars was room A-A-2-3. The best known names given to (pocket) pairs include:

• Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds - Pocket Rockets, Bullets, American Airlines
• King of Clubs King of Diamonds - Cowboys, King Kong
• Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds - Bitches, Double date, Canadian Aces, Siegfried and Roy
• Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds - Fish Hooks
• 9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds - German Virgin (no, we don't know why.)
• 8 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Snowmen
• 7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds - Sunset Strip, Hockey Sticks
• 6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds - Route 66
• 5 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds - Speed limit
• 4 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds - Magnum, Sail Boat
• 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - Crabs
• 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds - Ducks

High Card

While the high card is the lowest possible hand in poker (every poker hand automatically has a 'high card' in it-- the card with the greatest value), it comes into play in some poker variants more than others. Poker rookies often underestimate the value of the high card.

Texas Hold'em, for instance, is frequently referred to as a game of high cards because a player with higher cards always has an advantage. If player 1 holds K-Q and player 2 holds J-10, there are three possible outcomes:

1. The flop makes player 1's hand, and player 1 wins.
2. The flop makes player 2's hand, and player 2 wins.
3. The flop doesn't make either player's hand, and player 1 wins again.

The player with high cards has a statistical advantage and will win 63% of the time.

Well known nicknames given to pocket hands are:

• Ace of Clubs King of Diamonds - Big Slick, Anna Kournikova (looks great, never wins!)
• Ace of Clubs Queen of Diamonds - Big Chick
• Ace of Clubs Jack of Diamonds - Black Jack, Jack-Ass
• King of Clubs Queen of Diamonds - Royalty, Marriage
• King of Clubs Jack of Diamonds - Kojak
• Jack of Clubs 5 of Diamonds - Jackson Five
• Queen of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - Gay Waiter
• 9 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds - Dolly Parton
• Ace of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Dead Man's Hand (player Wild Bill Hickok was shot in 1876 after winning with it!)
• King of Clubs 9 of Diamonds - Canine
• Jack of Clubs 4 of Diamonds - Flat Tire

Broadway - An ace high straight, AKQJT.
An ace high straight is nicknamed “Broadway,” and is also sometimes referred to as “Main Street.” This term can be used to describe an ace high straight made in any game, but it is most commonly used in the discussion and analysis of Omaha games.
In an Omaha game, players are typically dealt a four card starting hand. Omaha is a flop game, which means community cards are used. These community cards consist of a three card flop, followed by a turn card and a river card. Players are required to form their best five card hand by using exactly two cards from their four card starting hand and exactly three cards from the community cards on the board. The game can be played either as a high-lo game or as a high only game, and may be either Limit or Pot-Limit (or occasionally No-Limit).

What Is A Straight In Poker

Given that in an Omaha game, each player has nine cards from which to form his hand, both made hands and draws tend to run very big. It is not uncommon for more than one player to make a full house on the same hand, and four of a kind is much more common than it is in a Hold’em or Stud Game. Despite this fact, much of Omaha strategy and game theory revolves around the straight draw. This is especially true for Pot-Limit play and the high only version of the game. There are several reasons for this.

Broadway Poker Term

In a Hold’em game, the object is of the game is to make a hand that is likely to be stronger than those of your opponents. It is nice to make the nuts, but most of the time it is not necessary to win the pot. Sometimes you will make the nuts and end up losing to a player who outdraws you, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Omaha is different. If you make a habit of drawing to non-nut hands, you will get crushed. In fact, many nut draws that you would be happy to take in a Hold’em game should be thrown away in Omaha. One reason for this is because in an Omaha game, you are in danger of being freerolled against.
In an Omaha game, it is not uncommon for multiple players to hold or draw at the same nut straight. If you hold the nut straight but do not have any outs to make a bigger hand, like a flush, a full house, or a higher straight, your opponent who also holds the nut straight may be freerolling against you. This means that even if you hold the nuts, you may be in grave danger. If you are playing Pot-Limit, getting freerolled can cost you your entire stack. Your concern about getting freerolled shouldn’t start when you make the nuts. It’s also a consideration for your hand selection and your draw selection.
When you play Hold'em, your straight draws usually have either four or eight outs. In Omaha, four and eight out straight draws are considered weak. Having a four card hand allows you to “wrap” around straight draws, by covering a run of cards. If a card that falls within your wrap hits the board, you will have made a straight. In Omaha, a wrap on an ace high straight draw is called a “Broadway Wrap.” If you held A ♠ K ♠ T♣ 9♣, and the flop was Q♣ J♠ 6♦, you would have flopped a Broadway wrap with two back door flush draws. You can see how well this hand would fare against an eight out straight draw, for example T♠ 9♦ 7♣ 7♥. It is the possibility for huge wraps, which can have a better probability of hitting than missing, that make straight draws so powerful in Omaha. Imagine that you held Q♥ J♥ 8♠ 7♣, and the flop came T♣ 9♦ 5♠. You would have flopped a twenty card wrap with two cards to come. In this situation, you make a straight with any K– Q–J –8 -7-6. This is a huge draw.
Straight draws play such a prominent role in Omaha games, not only because of the sheer power they possess, but also because they often can be a favorite in situations where large pots are built. This is especially true for Pot-Limit play, where drawing hands have enormous value. The classic example of a straight draw being a favorite in a big pot situation would be when you have a full wrap against a dry top set on the flop.
Another reason straight draws can win big pots is because they are almost always present, and can be difficult to read and defend against. In Pot-Limit play, when a flush draw appears on the flop, or the board pairs, it can kill the action. The nut flush draw is a very powerful draw to flop, and players are wary about putting money in the pot when there is a distinct possibility it is out there. Players are also wary of the nut full house when the board pairs. But the straight wrap is almost always present. You only need to have two cards within two ranks of each other on the board to produce the possibility for a strong wrap. For example imagine that the board contains an 8 and a 6. If a player held T-9-5-7, they would have an extremely strong straight draw. Even a four card gap on the board can produce a nine card wrap. So long as the board does not pair and the flush draw is not made, the straight draw is powerful and ever present.

Poker Broadway Cards

Usage: I Made Broadway, 13 Card Broadway Wrap, 16 Card Broadway Wrap
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