Why is a Full House Called a Boat?

A full house is one of the strongest hands you can make in a game of poker.

You make a full house when you hold three of a kind and a pair in the same five-card hand. For instance, if you have A♠A♥A♦7♠7♥, you have a full house. That particular full house is known as “aces full of sevens” or just “aces full”.

The full house is often referred to as a “full boat” or just a “boat”. If you’ve played poker for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly heard the terms used interchangeably.

What is the origin of the term “full boat” and why is it still used today? Let’s take a look.

Where Does the Term “Full Boat” Come From?

If you research the term “full boat” you’ll find several different possible origins for the term.

Perhaps the most well-known theory is that the term comes from riverboat gambling venues where poker boomed in popularity in the 19th century. When looked at through that perspective, it does make sense for players on a boat (particularly a very “full” boat) to start using “full boat” in place of “full house.”

Another theory speculates that the “boat” terminology comes from the way the cards themselves look when you arrange them with the pair on top and the three-of-a-kind on the bottom:

 

It does (kind of) resemble a boat.

One more theory states that a gambler named Thomas Winslow lost his riverboat to a man named John Stinson in a poker game in 1906. Winslow’s nut flush was beaten by Stinson’s full house in the hand where Winslow’s riverboat was on the line.

Stinson subsequently used the boat for tours and even poker games on the Mississippi River, and the “full boat” term came forth from there. This legend comes from a now-deleted TwoPlusTwo post, which is referenced in this Reddit post.

We’ll likely never get a consensus on where the term “full boat” really came from, but linking the term to riverboat gambling in some way seems very logicial.