So let’s imagine you are a beginner and go to the casino for the first time or one of the first times. The players at your table discuss the game and periodically use strange terms that seem to have nothing to do with poker, but definitely mean something.
The fact is that a lot of starting hands have their own name and players often use these names in dialogues, but you, as a beginner, may not understand what they are talking about.
The same thing can happen when playing online poker. Someone may ask to show the cards, and another will answer: Tarantino.
And you think… WTF…
What does Tarantino have to do with it!?
Perhaps you won’t describe them that way, but at least you will understand what the players are talking about at the table.
Let’s run through the pocket pairs:
AA - American Airlines or Rockets or Bullets
KK - Cowboys or King Kong or Ace Magnets
QQ - Ladies or Sisters or 4 Tits🙈
JJ - Hooks or Jay Birds or Jokers
TT - Dimes or Audi
99 - Meat hooks or Wayne Gretzk or Balloons
88 - Snowmen or Octopuses or Fat Ladies or Piano
77 - Hockey Sticks or Walking Sticks or Saturn or Sunset or Hatchets
66 - Route 66 or Cherries
55 - Nickels or Presto or Speed Limit
44 - Sailboats or Magnum
33 - Crabs
22 - Ducks
As you can see, most of the names are associated with similarities with certain things. But there are other names, many of which you will never be able to guess if you don’t know for sure. Let’s look at some.
Starting hands named after famous people:
AK - there are other names, but sometimes this starting hand is called Anna Kournikova
AQ - Doyle Brunson’s Unloved Hand, named after Him (RIP)
AT - in honor of the legendary player Johnny Moss (RIP)
A8 - Dead Man’s Hand. Named after James Butler Hickok (Wild Bill Hickok), shot during a poker game (RIP)
KK (again🙂) - Sometimes this hand is called Elvis Presley (RIP)
KJ - Sometimes this hand is called Jacqueline Kennedy, after her initials (RIP)
QJ - the hand was named “Maverick”, thanks to a line from a song in the TV series of the same name in the late 50s, where the main character was called Bart Maverick
QT - the hand is named after the American director, screenwriter, producer and actor Quentin Tarantino (by initials)
JT - the hand is named after the initials of the legendary player T. J. Cloutier
J9 - the hand is named after the legendary player T. J. Cloutier, because he managed to collect flush-straight three times in one year with this starting hand.
J7 - Despite the fact that the hand is named after whiskey Jack Daniels Old No. 7, let’s not forget that the name belonged to an American businessman who is the founder of this brand (RIP)
J5 - the hand is named “Jacksons Five” in honor of the American family pop group of the XX century, which existed for half a century.
T2 - “Doyle Brunson’s hand”, so named because 2 years in a row he won the Main Event WSOP with it (RIP)
99 (again😜) - this hand has many names, but it is also called the Phil Hellmuth hand, because it was with this hand that he played the Main Event WSOP for the first time. This starting hand is rich in names and it is also sometimes called “Wayne Gretzk” - in honor of the legendary American hockey player of the XX century, who played under this number.
95 - this hand is often called Dolly Parton - in honor of the American country singer, thanks to her song “9 to 5”.
32 - the hand was named after the legendary basketball player, Michael Jordan, who played under this number.
22 (again😜) - Sometimes this hand is called Nixon because of the photo where the president shows a victory sign with both hands (RIP)
Well, there are a huge number of starting hands in poker, depending on the value of the cards and their suit, and almost every starting hand has its own name. I tried to find the most popular and interesting ones for you.
and J-7 named after the man behind the famous drink from tennessee - never heard before i have to say!!!
I see potential for misleading players with the starting hands’ nicknames. Once terms are learn and are used commonly, what prevents them from being used as a bluff or make it seem like a bluff. 
I did, however, enjoy reading this thread. Can’t be all that bad to know.