05:49
31 Oct

One of my favorite things about being part of a niche culture is the special language that develops around it. While we may not always think of it as such, poker most certainly has its own lexicon full of words and phrases that a layman would never understand. I honestly doubt my own mother would know what the “flop” was, much less a phrase like, “angle shooting.” However, there is one poker term that, among all others, has risen out of our game and into the common language at large, the “poker face.”

The phrase poker face is a phrase thrown around constantly to refer to keeping one’s emotions in check. Upon meeting someone with a stoic nature one might comment, “That’s quite a poker face you’ve got there.” In another instance one might say, “The boss can smell fear. If you go in there, You’d better have your poker face ready.” But where did the phrase come from? Has it existed since the dawn of poker or is it secretly a recent invention? I set out to track it down.

My first google searches were fruitless. I got all sorts of results defining the phrase and many more about the hit Lady Gaga song of the same name, but no one knew where it started. I started combing through encyclopedias looking for an entry on the phrase. “Poker” always had results, but no one had a story for the creation of “poker face.” Finally I resorted to a rare trick called using something I learned in college. I learned some years ago that the Oxford English Dictionary includes, among its vast wealth of information, a list of important places where a word or phrase has been quoted in publication. Usually, this includes the word’s first instance of publication. I searched for “poker face” and after following that trail for a bit, I finally came up with this:

It follows that the possession of a good poker face is an advantage. No one who has any pretensions to good play will betray the value of his hand by gesture, change of countenance, or any other symptom.'

Poker Face Idiom Examples Images

I'm not sure about amusement, but a person can have a poker face (showing no expression on their face) And just as someone with a poker face doesn't have to be playing poker (although showing no expression is a good idea in that context), a person can be said to 'be playing his/her cards close to his/her chest' although no playing cards are. More examples I can never have a poker face. Anybody looking at me can tell exactly what I'm thinking. The high bidder kept a poker face after being declared the winner.

Cavendish. Round Games at Cards. London: Thomas De La Rue & Co. 1875;

As far as I can tell, this quotation is the first ever published use of the phrase “poker face.” It comes from a book about card games and gambling that was originally published back in 1875! While it is possible that the phrase had some use before it was ever in printed form, there is no way to prove it, and we must give credit to Cavendish, whose first name I was unable to find.

Poker Face Idiom Examples Quotes

Frankly, the whole book is quite interesting as it teaches what, at the time, must have been quite new to a lot of people. Moreover, I got a kick out of some of the older terms used. For example, while the author never calls it “Blackjack,” He does go into great detail about a French game called “Vingt-Et-Un” which translates to “21.” It is played nearly identically to modern Blackjack except that you bet after receiving your first card. It also appears as though a “full house” used to just be called a “full hand.” If you enjoy the history of our sport and want to check it out, can find the free version here, thanks to Google Books.

As to the rest of my questions, it seems the idea of the poker face came around a significant time later than the game itself. While it is very hard to pin down exactly when “Poker” became popular, card games of skill and betting have existed for hundreds of years previous to 1875. While the word ”poker” itself entered the English language some time in the early 1800’s, games like Brag (English), Poque (French), and Pochen (German) are well evidenced back into the first half of the 1700’s. Each of these games revolve similarly around cards and gambling. They are likely the progenitors of the poker we know today. And of course, these games could not have been played without bluffing, so the idea of concealing your facial tells probably predates our popular phrase by a good 100-150 years.

Did you like this article?

+0

Let’s get started on our favorite poker idioms. Learn what they mean and where they come from as we count down. Which one will be your top pick?

In this guide, we’ll cover the following poker idioms:

1. Poker Face
2. Trump Card
3. Kitty
4. Chip in
5. Pass the Buck
6. Wildcard
7. A Card up Your Sleeve
8. Call Someone’s Bluff
9. Follow Suit
10. Bet Your Bottom Dollar
11. Above Board
12. Square Deal
13. House of Cards

Read on to find out what all of these poker idioms mean. If you have any other terms that you come across while playing cards, get in touch and we’ll get our researchers on the case to find out where they come from!

Poker Face

A poker face is expressionless, emotionless and gives away nothing. It is essential if want to keep your hand a secret or bluff your opponent in a game of cards.

The phrase is commonly used to describe someone who shields their motives by keeping a deadpan expression. From business deals to bad dates, poker faces are useful if you’re set on not giving the game away.

Most of you will also associate the saying with Lady Gaga’s earworm hit of the same name. The song is all about keeping a poker face in the bedroom, and not letting on about the fantasies in your head. If you think that you have a bad poker face, and so don’t want to play the game against opponents, you can check out popular casino poker sites instead.

Trump Card

A trump is a card that ranks higher than any other in the game, so it’s a winning card. A trump card isn’t usually the highest card in the deck normally though. It is a card that has had its rank elevated. In everyday life, if you’re about to play a trump card, you are about to beat someone else.

Having a trump card might mean you have some persuasive dirt on someone or that you know something they don’t know. It often implies a shady kind of victory, although not exclusively. The term has no relation to the president of the USA.

Kitty

This kitty is not the mewing kind. We’re actually talking about the slang term for a money pool. To cover the expenses of hosting a poker game, players will often put some money in a pot. It can also be used to refer to the money bet that contributes toward the winning cash. In everyday language, the term has become broader.

It can be used to talk about any kind of piggy bank or pot of cash that has been gathered for shared use. There is speculation about where this term really comes from. In cockney rhyming slang, a kitty cat is a hat. Could this be the hat that players collected money in? Or was it the prostitutes, collectively known as Kitty, who collected the money?

Is it just a coincidence that kitty can also be used as slang for prison? Prison is a kind of locked box, much like the one cash might go into. The word ‘kit’ has been around since the 1300s and refers to any kind of container. That’s the reason we have words like ‘toolkit’ and ‘first aid kit’.

Chip In

Following on from the kitty, this idiom describes how you might contribute towards something. Chipping in generally means, either giving some money towards something or joining in to help do something.

You can also chip in with an idea if you’re having a discussion. If everyone chips in, we can get the job done. In a gambling sense, to chip in is literally to put your chips in. You’re ready to bet your cash or chips. These will all eventually contribute to making a bigger stack of winnings, so the idea has stayed pretty constant.

Pass the Buck

If you’re passing the buck, you’re shirking responsibility and handing it over to somebody else. Chances are there’s something you don’t want to do, for instance, some annoying task at work. Persuading a colleague to do it instead would be passing the buck on it.

The origins of this common saying might not seem obvious at first, but they are rooted in poker. We all know a buck is a dollar, right? The original buck that the saying is referring to is a buck’s horn. To avoid cheating in poker back in the 1900s, players took it in turn to deal.

To keep track of who was dealing next, a marker was used – a knife. The knives used often had buckhorn handles on them, and so ‘passing the buck’ came into use. President Harry Truman popularized his own twist on the saying – the buck stops here!

Wildcard

It’s not hard to see the connection to card games here – but what does a wildcard have to do with poker? A wild card is a card that can be substituted as any other card. Wildcards can be used to improve your hand, but can also distort the game.

Wildcards are people that are little crazy or unpredictable – you can’t ever be sure what they’re going to do next. Life might deal you a wildcard in the form of a thunderstorm or a surprise proposal – they can be good and bad things.

According to Taylor Swift ‘love is the one wild card’, but what does she know about poker. She’s definitely thrown a few wild cards herself over the years. If you think that you could also do with some brushing up on the rules of poker before playing, check out our handy guide.

A Card Up Your Sleeve

This is a phrase that you might have heard in lots of different ways. Some people say you’ve got an ace up your sleeve, it could just as likely be a trick that’s up there. Whichever way you spell it, it’s clear you’ve got some secret advantage.

This is an old gambling phrase, although people are just as likely to do this today. Sneaking a trump card, like an ace, up your sleeve is an excellently deceitful way to cheat. It does require a little practice to get the card out unnoticed, but if successful it could be very lucrative. It’s still popular with the original truth-twisters in the game – magicians.

Call Your Bluff

Let’s get things straight – you can’t call your own bluff, whichever way your facing. A bluff is something that you can only call on someone else, although they might do it right back at you.

But what does it mean? Calling someone’s bluff is a way of challenging someone. The consequences are usually embarrassing for the other party, for instance catching them in a lie.

In poker, if you’re bluffing, you’re trying to pass your hand off as better than it is, in the hopes that someone else will fold. Calling another player’s bluff means that they have to show their hand, often exposing their lie.

Follow Suit

To follow suit essentially means that you’re copying someone else’s actions, probably because you see them in a good light. For example, when someone says ‘on Wednesdays we wear pink’; you turn up on Wednesday in a specially chosen pink outfit designed to impress.

Following suit is just a way of fitting in. In card games, following suit has a more literal meaning. It means playing a card that is the same suit as the one that preceded it. This could help you to win a game of poker if you get a flush.

Bet Your Bottom Dollar

If you’re betting your bottom dollar on something, then chances are it’s a sure thing. This is because, in poker, the bottom dollar is the very last dollar you have. Normally, you’d make your bets from the top of your pile of cash.

If you’re betting the dollar at the bottom of your stack, you’re so sure that you’re willing to stake your every last penny on it. This idiom really equates to saying that you’re all in.

Above Board

You’d be forgiven for thinking that this idiom has its origins at sea. Some people have said that above board are the sailors and below board are the hidden stowaways. This is actually a false rumor and it doesn’t mean board in the ship-faring sense at all.

Board actually signifies a table, specifically in a game of cards. If everything is above board, it is honest and out in the open. Everyone’s hands can be seen, so you can be sure that the game is fair. This is also where the idea of something dishonest being underhand comes from – hands cheating under the table.

Square Deal

A square deal is an honest and fair arrangement, which two parties can both benefit from equally. The word square indicates that it’s well-founded and strong. A square is equal on all sides so we can see why it infers that something is fair to all parties.

In poker, a square deal is a deal that hasn’t been tampered with. You could square up the cards to show that they were honest and hadn’t been tampered with. People also say fair shake to mean the same thing, as in a fair shake of the dice.

House of Cards

Much like the political theme of the TV show of the same name, a house of cards is something that can be easily destroyed. A house of cards is built by stacking up playing cards higher and higher.

Poker Face Idiom Examples Meaning

Much like the little pigs’ houses built from straw and sticks, a house of cards can easily be blown over. To describe something as a house of cards is to say that it has no foundation and will soon collapse. Most commonly, we describe political ideas as houses of cards – when they are ill-founded and don’t stand up to scrutiny.

All of the Poker Idioms and Their Meanings

Here are the meanings of the most popular poker idioms:

Poker Face Idiom Examples Words

• Poker face – a blank and unreadable facial expression
• Trump card – something that can bring you victory and beat all other options
• Kitty – a money pool or collection
• Chip in – to contribute to something, either financially or in conversation
• Pass the buck – to hand responsibility for something onto another
• Wildcard – someone or something that is unpredictable
• A card up your sleeve – a secret advantage
• Call someone’s bluff – to challenge someone’s claim
• Follow suit – to adopt the behavior of another
• Bet your bottom dollar – be sure of something
• Above board – legitimate and trustworthy
• Square deal – an honest and fair agreement
• House of cards – something without foundation

There we have it! That’s our list, which did you like best? This is only a selection of some of the poker idioms that we liked best. Now that all our cards are laid out on the table, do you think we missed any? Have fun sprinkling these into your conversations like a true poker pro. Check out our list of the best online poker sites if you are itching to get playing after reading this guide.