[RR] “At least a couple of your poker player taglines, like Hachem’s ‘Pass the sugar!’, are also catchphrases”, Roderick the Rock remarked, “Do you have a list of those?”
[SS] “Of course I do”, Stan the Stat confirmed, “albeit with a wide range of catchiness.”
[RR] “Hold ‘Em is full of catches. You can catch a couple cards on the turn and river to catch up and catch your opponent off guard. Catch fire by doing that a few times, catch the chip leaders, and you can catch your big break by making the final table of the WSOP Main Event. That would certainly catch the eye of the poker world, but the break before the November Nine will let you catch your breath, catch forty winks, catch a plane home, and catch up with your life.”
[SS] “Sure. But if you win, don’t catch flak1 by stiffing your partner, like Jamie Gold in 2006,2 or the IRS, whose army can catch tax evaders like Jerry Yang the next year.”3
Poker Player Catchphrases
Player | Catchphrase | Notes |
Mattias Andersson | “Jaaaa!” | Screamed this every time he won a big pot on his way to finishing in 8th place in the 2004 WSOP Main Event |
Jean Robert Bellande | “Excellent laydown” | Whenever an opponent folds to his bet/raise; also “Good laydown” |
Chris Bigler | “Yeah, baby!” | His yell could be heard at the beginning of World Poker Tour episodes |
Doyle Brunson | “May the flop be with you!” | His sign-off/signature; also “We’re playing poker, not solitaire!” and “You only live once. If you work it right, once is enough.” |
Norman Chad | “He’s got squadoosh!” | Also, “Mazel Tov!” after someone says “Nice hand”, “Whamboozled!”, “Pay the man, Shirley!”, and “The 4 of clubs on the turn has never changed anything.” |
Johnny Chan | “What’s yours is yours.” | After losing a decent-sized pot; He said it after folding to Mike McDermott in Rounders, but the line didn’t make the movie’s final cut. |
Sammy Farha | “Raisy daisy” | Also, “Foldy moldy”, “Are you serious?”, and “You gotta gamble to win” |
Tony G | “On Yer Bike” | When sending someone to the rail; also “Bring on the Russians”, “I have the heeeaarrt”, “I played it like a set”, and “I am qualified” |
Joe Hachem | “Pass the sugar!” | After Hachem won the 2005 Main Event, WSOP commentator Norman Chad declared, “Hachem turned 7-3 offsuit into $7.5 million. Pass the sugar!”; Became the name of his autobiography with Peter Ralph in 2009 |
Phil Hellmuth | “I can dodge bullets, baby!” | After avoiding busting out during the 2005 WSOP Main Event; also “Do you know who I am?”, “The guy can’t even spell poker”, etc. |
Cliff Josephy | “Fwaatchaaaa!” | “JohnnyBax”, the #1 ranked online player in 2006, says this repeatedly for all-ins in his PokerXFactor training videos |
Mike Matusow | “The Kiddie Game is down the street” | After showing a successful bluff during the 2005 WSOP Main Event |
Tom McEvoy | “I get no respect” | The 1993 WSOP Main Event winner’s line is similar to comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s “I don’t get no respect” |
Jim Meehan | “We’re all God’s children” | Ironic, as “Minneapolis Jim” was given a timeout during Ultimate Poker Challenge first season championship for foul language, he drinks alcohol at the poker table, and keeps an unlit cigarette in his mouth |
Men Nguyen | “All you can eat, baby!” | I.e., “I’m all-in”; when a waitress brings his Corona, he may say, “All you can drink, baby”; also “Good laydown, sir” |
Scotty Nguyen | “That’s poker, baby” | After a bad beat; also, “What’s up, baby?”, “You call, it’s all over, baby!”, and pretty much any phrase ending in “baby” |
Rob Salaburu | “Huevos Rancheros” | Instead of saying the “nuts”, he references Mexican breakfast food; also, “You lost, bro” when David Balkin thought he’d beaten Gaelle Baumann at showdown but his flopped set of Tens had actually lost to a rivered flush during the 2012 WSOP Main Event. |
Marat Sharafutdinov | “I wont million” | The Russian cab driver “maratik” typed this in the chat box while heads up for the 2012 WCOOP Main Event for $1,000,907, which he won |
Kenny Smith | “Whatta Player!” | Also his nickname, which he earned by yelling the phrase repeatedly while finishing sixth in the 1978 WSOP Main Event and 4th in 1981 |
Amir Vahedi | “In order to live, you must be willing to die” | The Iranian pro, with over $3 million in tournament earnings, also says “pull the trigger” instead of “die” |
Cory Waaland | “GL myself” | The young pro, whose nickname “MJ23STYLEz” honors Michael Jordan, is probably a lot more honest than most of the players who type “gl” for “good luck” in the chat box |
Footnotes:
- Or, if you prefer, “H-E-double hockey sticks”, as long as we’re channeling M*A*S*H today.
- Gold had promised half of his winnings, tried to renege, but eventually conceded an unknown amount, but probably the intended $6 million.
- Yang’s championship bracelet was put up for auction to help pay his taxes.
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