Twitter Handles: The Poker Way

Twitter is abuzz this week. And the reason was, Rajinikanth had finally arrived on Twitter. We can safely say that the Twitter universe will not remain the same.  His one tweet created a wave in the world of tweets; within 24 hours he had 226k followers. Everyone from Narendra Modi to news channels welcomed him. Infact, besides Rajnikanth, ‘Welcome to Twitter’ trended that day.

Besides his entry to Twitter, we were also completely impressed with his twitter handle. @superstarrajini – simple, apt and to the point.The three key elements in a social networking site, which revolves around the premise that you should say a lot in just 140 characters.  Moreover, the social network identity on Twitter is partially based on your handle because that is how the twitterati world will address you.

This inspired us to revisit Twitter and look at twitter handles of some prominent Poker Players with a big following. While some players tend to play it safe (it could also be that their fame is enough to distinguish them from the crowd) and stick to their names like Phil Ivey(@philivey), Some use their poker nicknames like Daniel Negreanu(@realkidpoker). Then there are others who experiment and create witty and innovative handles. In this article, we will talk about a few of our favorite Twitter handles.

1. @philbort

This is how Philipp Gruissem, a poker player from London is identified in the twitter world. If you look at his handle carefully, it reads ‘phil’+’bort’ or ‘full’+’boat’. In poker terminology, ‘Full boat’ is slang for ‘Full House’ which are any three cards of the same number or face value, plus any other two cards of the same number or face value. His creative use of twisting his own name to create a poker term is ingenious.

         2. @TheGrinder44

Michael Mizrachi is better known as ‘TheGrinder44’. ‘Grinder’ comes from ‘Grinding’ which is playing poker in a style with minimal risk and modest gains over a long period of time. His description on Twitter is also along the same lines – “I chose the nickname of my own accord because it signifies my determination and fiercely competitive spirit at the poker table.” This handle exemplifies both his poker style and him.

         3. @PhilNoLimits

Another name for Phil Gordon on Twitter is ‘PhilNoLimits’. No Limit is a familiar poker term. It is a type of poker game where players can bet as much as they like (as long as they have it in front of them) on any round of betting. This completely describes Phil’s playing style leaving us in no-doubt about his preferred game or his appetite for risk. It will be a very aggressive poker player who will go against him

         4. @DonkeyBomber

Tom Schneider is the one who goes with this name. A weak poker player is generally called a ‘Donkey’ and the word ‘Bomber’ is used to describe a person who annihilates. Together, they can be considered as a warning sign for weaker players to even think about playing against Tom.

These are just a handful of outstanding examples but there are more in the Twitter world. Explore them. Hopefully these handles helped you to come up with some innovative username/handles of your own.