Online Screen Names Are the New Nicknames
November 13th, 2007
Thirty and forty years ago, you acquired a nickname at the poker tables based on your geographic location. Slim Preston was known on the poker circuit as Amarillo Slim because Amarillo, TX was his hometown. Oklahoma Johnny Hale got his moniker based upon his home state of… you guessed it, Oklahoma. You can see a pattern developing here and can now understand how pros like Texas Dolly, Minneapolis Jim Meehan and Miami John Cernuto got their nicknames.
These days, poker pros are being referred by their online poker screen names, particularly the new generation of online pros who are venturing out onto the live tournament circuit for the first time. Online screen names are the easiest way for these players to be identified.
When Annette Obrestad won the main event at the World Series of Poker Europe, headlines around the world in different media outlets read something to the effect of “Annette_15 Wins WSOPE.” Not too many people are familiar with the name Annette Obrestad, but everyone related to the poker industry surely knows about Annette_15.
Not too many people are familiar with the name Annette Obrestad, but everyone related to the poker industry surely knows about Annette_15.
That’s why you have to be careful when picking an online screen name. If you do manage to win a big tournament, the press will start referring to you by your screen name and before you know it, your real name will cease to exist and people will be screaming your screen name while you’re walking down the street or interrupting your dinner to asking you for an autograph. Andy Warhol said that everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame. When it happens within the poker realm, your online screen and not your birth name will be what you see in the headlines.
Most of my friends don’t give much thought into their online poker screen names. Some of them use their real life nicknames but more often than not, those are already taken, so they have to get a variation. A friend of mine started calling me Dr. Pauly and that stuck. When I signed up for my last couple of online poker accounts, I used “DrPauly.” Almost everyone I know in poker calls me that now.
If you chose something childish or if you picked anything out of sheer laziness, that poor decision might come back to haunt you if you happen to be thrust into the limelight. That’s why it’s important to carefully select a screen name, because thirty years from now, you don’t want your grandkids asking about the magazine cover that reads, “SmellyFeet Wins EPT Championship.”
…thirty years from now, you don’t want your grandkids asking about the magazine cover that reads, “SmellyFeet Wins EPT Championship.”
When Greg “Fossilman” Raymer won the 2004 WSOP, the final table announcers were referring to him as “Fossilman” not just for the fossils that he used as his card capper, but because it was also his online screen name.
Not too many people are familiar with the names of Erik Sagström, Jon Turner, Shane Schleger, Steve Billarakis, Jimmy Fricke, Dustin Woolf, Jeff Garza, Darrell Dicken, Brett Jungblut, or Sorel Mizzi. But if you mention Erik123, Pearljammer, Shaniac, MrSmokey1, Gobboboy, Neverwin, ActionJeff, Gigabet, Gank, and Imper1um, then most people know who you are talking about.
If you are newbie to online poker and are in the process of setting up your first account, I encourage you to strongly consider the options of your account name. I play a lot of online poker and I have come across many clever names and a lot of bad ones.
Here are a few suggestions.
Geography: Pick a name based on your hometown or pick a random city and add it to your real name, like OsloSigge or ColoradoPete.
Drugs and Sex: Those half-baked marijuana crazed screen names make me chuckle like DankNugs, Smokeout420, UPay4MyWeed, and WheresMyBong. The sexual innuendos are clever as well such as BentOver, DonkeyPuncher, KingDong, and my favorite… LawrenceofaLabia.
Music: Taylor Caby’s favorite band is Radiohead and his screen name is “Green Plastic.” Choose one of your favorite songs from your favorite bands and use that as a screen name. When I first played online poker, I used a screen name that was a variation of a song from the band Phish. You’d be surprised how many Phish fans there were out there who commented on my screen name.
The Simpsons: Any sort of Simpsons reference gets bonus points in my book, especially anything involving Ralph Wiggum or Disco Stu.
Film and Literature: Again, dig deep into your favorite film archives or flip through one of your favorite books and pick out an obscure character’s name. Over the last year or so, I’ve seen a lot of Harry Potter inspired screen names. Four years ago, I played under “DirkDiggler” which was the main character in the flick Boogie Nights. Whatever you do, don’t use a reference from the movie Rounders. They have all been used already. A thousand times before!
Any sort of Simpsons reference gets bonus points in my book
A couple of friends of mine have a different philosophy with online poker names. They are playing online because of the benefits of anonymity and therefore they go out of their way to stay anonymous which means avoiding flashy or catchy online screen names. If you want to fly under the radar, then I suggest you pick the most bland name or most common screen name as possible. That way, you’ll be hard to pick out of the crowd.
I’m fortunate because I have the best of both worlds. I play under a noticeable online poker screen name and I also have accounts on different sites with anonymous names that not even my friends know about.
Obviously, anonymity has its advantages in poker. However, if you want all of the accolades that come along with the prestige of winning a major poker tournament, then you need to come up with a strong online poker name. And if you have one that you don’t like, it’s not too late to change it up.
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January 16th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
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