River

River is the poker nickname for Raye Crews.

Origin

Raye's nickname among the USS Khai Tam had been "Blackjack", but as a poker nickname, the name Blackjack was somehow not working -- especially since Raye never seemed to win when playing under that monicker. In search of a new nickname, Raye observed that more often than not, if she waited until the last community card (known as the "river" in poker parlance) was turned, something good would happen for her. At about the same time she had also developed an affinity for the short-lived science fiction show Firefly which had a character named River who, it turned out, could "kick butt" (to use Raye's words). So "The River" seemed like a good poker name to her. She notes that after changing her poker nickname, her luck at poker seemed to change as well.