Table and rules
Nuts in poker
Definition
The best possible hand on the current board; no other combination of hole cards can beat it.
What counts as the nuts depends on the board. On a flop of K♥7♥2♠ the best possible hand is a set of kings; once more cards come, a better hand can become possible, so the nuts changes from street to street.
Playing the nuts is simple in theory: bet for value and try to get called. The hard part is knowing when your hand is no longer the nuts, for example when a flush or a straight becomes possible on the turn or river.
Example
On a board of A♥A♦7♣7♦2♠ the nuts is four aces with A♣A♠; four sevens with 7♥7♠ is very strong but is not the nuts.
Related terms
- BoardThe community cards dealt face up in the middle of the table, shared by all players.
- ShowdownThe final stage of a hand when the remaining players reveal their cards to decide who wins the pot.
- Value betA bet made with a hand that is likely best, intended to be called by worse hands.
- SetThree of a kind made with a pocket pair and one matching card on the board.