Four flusher

Posted by ESC on March 12, 2004

In Reply to: Four flusher posted by Brian from Shawnee on March 12, 2004

: : : Does any one here know where the term four flusher came from and what it refers to?

: : : I thought that perhaps it referred to cheating at poker?

: : Merriam-Webster online:

: : Main Entry: four-flush
: : Function: intransitive verb
: : : to bluff in poker holding a four flush; broadly : to make a false claim : BLUFF

: An actual Flush in poker consists of 5 cards of the same suit. If you have 5 consecutive cards of the same suit, it's a Straight Flush, and if those 5 cards run from 10 thru Ace, it's called a Royal Flush.

: A cheating Four Flusher will show his hand, with only four cards of the same suit, and the 5th card obscured in such a way that anyone taking only a quick glance will think it's a true 5-card flush.

: That's the meaning I've always understood, but in looking around on the internet, including the M-W.com definition posted by ESC, it seems that four-flushing can mean "bluff". That's funny, because bluffing in poker is not illegal, but cheating is. I had always thought of a Four Flusher as a cheater.

More of a chiseler than a cheater.

Four-flusher, fourflusher, four flusher - noun. One who bluffs; a pretender; especially one who pretends to have money while living off or borrowing from others; one who does not pay his debts. Colloquial. Fourflushing, adjective, living off or supported by others; borrowing from others. From "The Pocket Dictionary of American Slang" by Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner (Pocket Books, New York, 1960, 1967)

• Four flusher Smokey Stover 13/March/04