To answer seriously:
4-- “cater”
5 – “cinque”
Ed
Because the shape of the number 2 looks like a swimming duck. (Well, more a swan, I suppose).
I’ve heard clubs called “puppy feet”.
Kinda jarring when your grizzled Wild West poker sharp snarls “Flush … Puppy feet” as he reaches to rake in the pot.
An ace is an ace, a deuce is a deuce, and a trey is a trey. Those are not nicknames, they are the names of the cards. Those other words are nicknames.
It’s one way to distinguish the pros from the amateurs; a professional poker player will never say he had “seven two” … he will always say “seven deuce.”
No, they aren’t. Those names are actually dicing terms which were borrowed for playing cards.
I didn’t know that … but I don’t see how it changes anything. Doesn’t matter where the words came from, it matters that those are the names.
I’ll also mention that I worked in dice pits in Las Vegas for 22 years and never heard that before today.
There’s also “little Joe”, which is a 4 dice roll of a 1 and a 3. I know I’ve used the term when dealing poker, but I don’t think it’s common.
Right, that’s what I meant. The name of the 4 is “cater”, and the name of the 5 is “cinque”. Those are names, not nicknames, equivalent to “ace, deuce, trey”, but they are rarely used. On dice, the name of the 6 is “sice”, but it seems to not have made the transition to cards, or at least I have seen no evidence of that.
Large, unabridged dictionaries will show these words.
Ed
Not to belabor the obvious, but all of those names (except for “ace”) are either French words, or a bastardization of French words, meaning 2,3,4,5,6 (deuce=deux, trey=tres, cater=quatre, cinque=cinq, and sice=six). Perhaps they came from French riverboat gamblers on the Mississippi, but that’s just a guess.
Cite? (Unless this was a joke.) Isn’t “ducks” just a bastardization of “deuces”? (deuces–>duces–>ducks)
Couldn’t both be true? After all, clubs do resemble puppy feet, clover and other things, and 8’s do look like snowmen. Clever names for things do tend to catch on and expand in scope as nicknames gain usage. I’m always looking for new names for stuff and wouldn’t bog myself down with authentication issues if the name was cute or funny or weird.
I’m not saying that “twos” can’t have multiple names. I was questioning the claimed etymology of one particular name: “ducks”.
I understood that you wanted authentication, but I’m just saying that nicknames for cards (and anything else where nicknames become the norm) don’t necessarily have etymologies that make it into some place where a cite is possible. I personally have no issue with the idea that a 2 can resemble a swan and that that could morph in some wag’s eyes to a duck. The deuce to duck connection makes equally good sense. I could also see some popular card player deciding to call them dunks or dinks and having that catch on as a nickname, at least locally, without a dictionary or the like ever catching wind of it.
Whenever we get into regionalisms and localized slang, all it takes is a trip to Urban Dictionary to see what weird roots some expressions have. It’s also educational to see the rating system there where thumbs up and thumbs down indicate to what degree that usage is bought in general.
Cite for a nickname is like chastising somebody for spelling Antoine Antwan or Antowan or any of the dozens of ways you’ll see it on a Sunday afternoon NFL broadcast.
But, by the same token, merely making up a possible etymology has no place in a thread asking for the Straight Dope. That’s why a citation is requested. Absent some hard evidence that deuces are called ducks because of their shape, it sounds very much like something that you, or someone you know, made up on the spur of the moment.
As for the names of the cards:
The OP asked for true names, not nicknames. The list given in Wikipedia, cited by MC$E, does not show that the cards other than the Ace-deuce-trey have a name. The citation to Dictionary.reference.com for cater and cinque is interesting, but I’d be surprised if those terms had widespread use, or necessarily followed along with the Ace, deuce, trey combination. Can either suranyi, or the ever-so-helpful (:D) Q.E.D. offer any information about the derivation of these terms (especially the issue of dice v. cards)?
From here: Cater Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
Ca"ter, n. [F. quatre four.] The four of cards or dice.
From here: Cinque Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
Cinque
Cinque, n. [F. cinq, fr. L. quinque five. See Five.] Five; the number five in dice or cards.
From here: Sice Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
Sice
Sice, n. [F. six, fr. L. sex six. See Six.] The number six at dice.
All definitions are originally from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary.
Ed
According to The Cassell Dictionary of Slang, the gambling usage of duck does indeed originate from deuce. So when it comes to cards, I was wrong.
That said, the same volume has this:
two duck/little ducks phr. [late 19C+] (bingo) the number 22. [the supposedly similar shapes]
Slang terms for cards are common knowledge amongst evening poker party folks.
2: duck
5: fever in a fuckhouse (don’t ask me, no idea)
8: eighter from Decatur
J: jake
Q: lady or whore
K: cowboy
A: bullet
These are slang terms that I’ve heard wherever a bunch of guys play for fun, regardless of which part of the world it’s been. Absence from an online dictionary or Wikipedia is irrelevant, and I have no idea as to the etymology of any of them.
I’ve heard them called “puppy toes”.
Interesting … where else would such a simple question about colorful gambling lingo get such a great response.
Looks like the origin / derivation / etymology is getting covered and I have nothing to add there. I can, however speak with some authority on common usage among those who use this language on a daily basis, having spent a good many years working in the dice pits of casinos followed by an almost equal number of years as a professional poker player.
On craps tables you do hear the ace, deuce, trey usage, mostly by old-timers who learned the game during the 40s and 50s in the heyday of the Steubenville area and mostly while making hop bets; e.g., “six ace on the hop.” It is not at all uncommon to hear either “six three” or “six trey” used by casino employees in the dice pit. Never once do I recall hearing cater, cinque, or sice.
You do hear “pair of ducks” frequently. One place I worked even had a pair of ducks printed on the layout on the Hard 4 section for a while. Whether the usage came first from cards or dice I do not know.
As for ace, deuce, and trey when it comes to cards, specifically in regards to poker, poker professionals, including those who work in card rooms, will always use those terms, never “two” or “three” (you might sometimes hear “pair of ones” made as a ‘clever’ remark.) Anyone who says “pair of twos” or “ace three” is quite likely to be corrected on the spot, therefore the usage becomes ingrained in those who spend time in the environment.
So there you have it. If you want to fit in in the casinos and card rooms you can say “ace” “deuce” or “trey” on the craps table if you like but in poker there are no twos or threes, only deuces and treys.
You rarely hear “pocket twos” but “pocket threes” you hear all the time. 23 = deuce three. At the casino I work at you’ll rarely hear “trey.”
Can’t have a ducks discussion without Backgammon and Poker pro Paul Magriel (X-22).