Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origin 74. The word origin today is
jackpot. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. The word jackpot is used to
mean a large amount of money won from a slot machine. So we always see it if you
went to a casino you know, you if you win one of the really big ones. They go ding
ding , ding. You could win a jackpot there. Or the
lottery. The lottery definitely uses the word for jackpot, for the big prize , the number
one prize. It is also used to mean a large amount of money in a card game or
other involving money, especially the number one prize. It can also refer to
any other big success or reward. So the meaning kind of stretched into other
areas too. Even if it's not gambling. All right. Let's continue. The origin of the
word jackpot comes directly from poker. Okay. Remember there is a picture card of
a male that is not the king and has a J on it. This is a jack. All right. So if you ever
played poker you know that there are three picture cards. There's the one with
the younger looking man and has a J on it. He's a jack. Technically I think he's
supposed to be a prince and then there is a female picture card with a Q on it.
She's the queen and the older looking guy with the K on it, he is supposed to
be the king. So those are the picture cards. Yeah. From the playing cards. Okay.
Let's continue. Okay. While playing poker all the players must put their money
into the center of the table called the pot. So here's where the word pot comes
in. One type of poker is called draw poker. Yeah. I've played poker before with
draw poker , usually each player is dealt five cards and you know, you look at your
cards and I think you can keep like ... you want to keep two of your best cards and
usually return three cards . I think there's a rule if you have an ace in
your hand you actually get four cards too. Okay. Let's
continue. Okay. Sometimes it is played in a way that at
least one player must have a hand with the value of a pair of jacks or better
to open that hand. Okay. So what does that mean. So that means that of all the
players and you're holding your cards you must have at least a pair of jacks.
So you can have higher you can have a pair of Queens or a pair kings or aces.
That would be okay or something like a straight or anything that's a higher value
than a pair of jacks. One of the main reasons they do this sometimes is it
helps to build up a pot. Because sometimes you might deal the cards out
three or four times and maybe nobody has jacks or better and each time you must
put in another bet. So if it happens a number of times, it;s a little bit like the
lottery. You know if nobody wins the lottery the next week. The lottery is
higher , so that's what happens. That's why they sometimes play that way. All right.
Let's continue here. So if no player has a hand of this value, the cards must be
returned. So you give them back. Reshuffle. They have to shuffle the deck again and
redealt until a player has a hand of at least this value of jacks or better. This
is where the term comes from. It was originally called a jackpot because a
pair of jacks was required to open the pot. Yeah. You know I played poker many
many times and I never really put this together. You know , when you hear the
word jackpot you always think why is it called the jackpot ? Why not a John pot? Or
a Tom pot ? You know, I didn't actually think that it came from the card. The the,
the playing card, the jack. So that's where it actually comes from. Anyway, I
hope you ... I hope you enjoyed this. I hope you thought it was informative and if
you've ever wondered now you know. Okay anyway, so long, bye-bye.