One of the best feelings in poker is when a player flops the nuts. This windfall opens up a range of betting and money-making strategies. Every player wants the nuts.
To a person completely unfamiliar with poker, flopping the nuts probably doesn’t sound appealing. It always catches new players by surprise when someone says it at the poker table.
However, for poker players, the nuts (or the “nut hand”) is the strongest possible hand in a particular situation. The nuts is an unbeatable hand. It means that no other player could have a better hand, considering the cards dealt to each player and the community cards on the board at a given time.
Players in high-low split card games, as in Omaha, use a version of the term as well. The nut low is the best possible low hand in a certain situation, and the nut high is the best high hand. Things can go even further with a nut-nut hand, which is a collection of cards that makes the best low and high hand at the same time.
History of the nuts
It would be easy to believe that men came up with the term “the nuts” in poker, as poker has long been a male-dominated game. While women may not always be comfortable using such poker terms as the nuts or nut-straight, the origins show that the terms actually have no gender connotations.
Poker in the Wild West
In the history of poker in America, poker was often associated with the Wild West. As a game that was actually played frequently in bars, saloons, and taverns, that correlation made sense. And in this historical context, poker players were known to bet anything in poker games. Cash was the best form of currency, but serious games often prompted players to bet other things like jewelry, property, and anything else of value.
A person had to be confident in his hand if he bet property and other items of great value. But since bluffing is a central part of the game, it could be tough to tell if a player truly had the best hand.
Proving the win
According to folklore, a player who wanted to bet big and convince other players that he had the best possible hand would have to prove it. So, he would go to his wagon and remove the nuts that held the wagon wheel in place. He would put those nuts into the pot to show that he believed in his bet. And if he lost the hand or the bet, the nuts on the table represented a promise not to leave without paying that bet.
If the game happened to take place in the winter, those nuts would be cold. Therefore, they were the stone-cold nuts.
What cards are the nuts in poker?
Any cards can be the nuts in a poker hand. It all depends on the cards dealt to the players preflop and the community cards.
The best possible hand in all of poker is the royal flush. But players rarely make a royal flush in a poker game. The nuts, therefore, is the best combination of cards in a particular hand.
For example, a player holds the Ace-Ten of spades. The flop comes King-Nine-Four, all spades. That player flopped the nuts, as no other starting hand could beat the top-ranking ace-high flush. Another example would be if a player holds pocket fours, and the dealer puts out Ten-Four-Four on the flop. No hand can beat the quads on the flop; therefore, it is the nuts.
Nuts in flux
Keep in mind that a player can flop the nuts, but that hand may not remain the nuts after the turn and river appear. An opponent can river a full house or straight flush, for example, and become the nuts.
Returning to the first example of the flopped nut flush, the player had Ace-Ten of spades, and the flop was King-Nine-Four of spades. If the turn card brings another King and the river card another King, the Ace-Ten is no longer the nuts. The nuts would be a player who holds the other King.
Any two hole cards in Texas Hold’em can make the nuts on the flop, turn, or river. And those hole cards are often not the pocket aces that players want to see preflop.
Checking the nuts — is it legal?
In short, it is legal to check the nuts. In cash games, in particular, a player can check the nuts.
Most people view checking the nuts as unethical behavior or soft-play. It’s considered disingenuous if a person holds the nuts and checks. While not technically illegal in most cases, it is almost always considered wrong. Most players frown upon another person checking the nuts in live or online poker.
WSOP nuts rules
In poker tournaments, the rules vary. Some tournament rules, like those at the World Series of Poker, put the decisions at the feet of tournament staff. There is no mention of the nuts in the official WSOP rules. But it’s considered soft play to check the nuts, and at the WSOP, soft play is not allowed. The WSOP rule regarding ethical play states, “Soft play will result in penalties that may include forfeiture of chips and/or disqualification.”
Checking the nuts may also be considered a violation of poker etiquette. The WSOP etiquette rule leaves those violations up to tournament staff. It doesn’t mention checking the nuts, but that action can be considered a violation. Checking the nuts wouldn’t likely result in ejection from a tournament but could warrant a one-hand or one-round penalty.
PokerStars Live nuts rules
In a PokerStars Live tournament, etiquette rules mention checking the exclusive nuts, noting that it is not an automatic soft-play violation. The tournament director makes the call.
There is an exception. If a player is relatively new to the game or genuinely did not realize that he or she held the nuts, there need not be a penalty.
What are the pot odds for betting the nuts?
In a loose sense, pot odds is the ratio of the size of the pot to the size of the bet. This concept is an integral part of poker strategy.
For example, the pot is $100. Player A bets $50, increasing the pot to $150. Player B can calculate the pot odds as the size of the pot ($150) to the call required to stay in the hand ($50). That is 150:50, which reduces down to 3:1. If Player B has the best hand at least 25% of the time, Player B should call.
Betting the nuts
A player who flops the nuts has a 100% chance of winning the pot at that point. Therefore, a bet is always the right move. The size of the bet may vary, depending upon a variety of factors that could allow that player to build a bigger pot.
Betting becomes trickier, however, when betting the second-nut or third-nut hand.
Figuring the odds
Also consider the chances of the turn or river to change the odds. A player must be realistic about the pot odds post-flop. If the turn or river gives other players outs, you must consider those outs, along with the “image” of the opponent (that is, the way you view the opponent’s skills and playing style). You also have to think about the “texture” of the board (that’s the relationship between the visible cards), and their potential odds.
The most important rule of the nuts is to bet strategically. And for a hand in which another player could turn or river the absolute nuts, it’s just as important to adjust the poker odds for those chances.
Final thoughts on nuts in poker
There are many betting strategies regarding flopping the nuts and drawing to the nuts. Each requires the player to calculate the pot odds but also combine that with other players’ betting history. You also have to consider the outs another player could have to turn or river a better hand, and the amount of money at stake.
In a tournament, it’s vitally important to assess the hand for the nuts and bet appropriately. A wrong calculation could mean an exit from the tournament. However, in no-limit cash games, a player can play the nuts more liberally depending on the stakes.
Most importantly, a player must be able to recognize the nuts, know their strength or vulnerability, and be able to bet (and adjust the betting) accordingly.
Featured image source: Flickr by Jason Pratt used under CC license
