There are some iconic tracks out in the wider music industry which have been heavily influenced by the classic card game of poker. Lada Gaga’s 'Poker Face' and Kenny Rogers’ legendary song 'The Gambler' are two prime examples of songs which broach the subject of Texas Hold’em poker.

Admittedly, neither Gaga nor Rogers are metalheads, but there are instances of rock bands being inspired to litter their lyrics with poker references. Poker is one of the most accessible card games, which has no doubt made it easy for rock stars to enjoy a game together through the years.

All that’s needed on the tour bus is just a single 52-card deck and a basic set of poker chips. Today, groups of friends don’t even need that. In fact, they don’t even need to be in the same room, with the option to use software to build private communities of poker-loving friends online. These platforms can run all sorts of ‘home’ games online, from Hold’em and Stud to HORSE and Omaha.

With poker still very much part of popular culture, let’s celebrate a quartet of heavy rock and metal songs with a distinct poker flavour.

“Ace of Spades”, Motörhead

The track title is something of a giveaway, but Motörhead’s 'Ace of Spades' is very much a poker-themed song. Released in 1980, 'Ace of Spades' is still one of the most iconic Motörhead sounds. It shot back into the UK top 10 after the passing of frontman Lemmy in 2016. Then, in 2019, it was voted the best poker-themed track in history and Rolling Stone ranked it 442nd in their list of the “Top 500 Songs of All Time”.

There are several references to poker gaming within the lyrics too. “Read ‘em and weep” is a classic phrase some poker players used to say at the table when they revealed the nuts to their unwitting opponents. “Pushing up the ante” is another phrase with poker connotations as it refers to the small fee every player pays into the pot before each hand begins. The higher the ante, the quicker players bleed away their chip stacks.

“Queen of Hearts”, Saxon

This 2015 song from Saxon, who recently announced Paul Quinn’s exit from the band, may not be directly influenced by poker but there are themes which run throughout the track. First and foremost, the song title is named after a playing card, which happens to be one of the more valuable face cards in a poker deck.

The song itself is loosely inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. However, the use of lyrics such as “trapped inside the player’s web of cunning and deceit” has connotations of the mental application needed to outthink and outsmart poker opponents at the table, whether you have the strongest hand or the weakest hand.

“The Jack”, AC/DC

One of the best hard rock tracks with poker infused lyrics is AC/DC’s 'The Jack'. This song is almost 50 years old now but contains a string of slang terms used by online and live poker players even today. The most popular being “she was holding a pair, but I had to try, her deuce was wild, but my ace was high”. In poker games like Texas Hold’em, an ace can be high or low.

'The Jack' is on the second studio album released by AC/DC, T.N.T. It was the first record to feature bass player Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd. 'The Jack' is the third song on side one of the album and is one of the lesser-known songs among listeners unfamiliar with AC/DC’s full oeuvre. The album opener 'It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)' is the undisputed champion of this LP.

“Aces and Eights”, Uncle Kracker

Uncle Kracker’s track titled 'Aces and Eights' describes a two-pair poker hand when a player has a pair of aces and a pair of eights. Uncle Kracker, more commonly known as Matt Shafer, is not historically considered a conventional metal rocker but he tried hard to weave in the style in Kid Rock’s trucker band Twisted Brown.

Aces and eights of black suits (either spades or clubs) is also known as “The Dead Man’s Hand”. Legend has it that Wild Bull Hickock was holding aces and eights before being shot dead.