The roots of the phrase "poker nuts" are unclear although it truly is thought to have come from old jargon meaning "delightful thing, practice or experience". It is really a "delightful thing" of course, because in Hold’em the poker nuts may be the ideal achievable hands that you may have at any level in the game.
If you’ve the nuts, you can’t be defeated…at that point in the hand. This is the crucial factor that plenty of inexperienced players fail to take account of, the nuts can move from one gambler to an additional and your palm which was the nuts earlier on can end up being crushed!
The following example must show the fickle nature of the cards in Hold’em poker and how your nuts can quickly turn to pulp!
You might be playing a palm of Holdem poker and there are 3 players even now in the casino game at the flop. You get dealt 7 of clubs, 8 of diamonds; Amy has five of spades, five of clubs and Mike’s side is King, 9 of hearts.
The flop is dealt and the cards are 9 of hearts, 6 of hearts and 5 of diamonds. It is a excellent flop for you – you have got the poker nuts! At this point you might have a straight – five, six, 7, eight, 9 – which can not be defeated by any other combination of cards.
Now you decide to "slow play" your hand and attempt to draw a wager from somebody that has a high pair who will like this flop, so you merely check. Amy likes the look of her palm now as she has flopped three five-s so she makes a wager which is called by Mike as he now has a pair of 9s which has a King kicker. You prefer the way it’s going so you call the wager.
The turn card is Ace of hearts. Mike is now smiling to himself as he has just managed to make the poker nuts having a flush, his two hearts in his palm plus the 3 around the table with Ace King great now give him an unequalled hand. Mike bets as he knows he’s got the nuts except he wants to draw out the maximum cash from the table so he keeps his wager low adequate to acquire called. You nevertheless think you’re succeeding using the directly, in fact the Ace has heightened that belief as you now reckon Mike most likely has an Ace in his hand and maybe even two pairs.
He’s fallen into your trap! Or so you believe.
The river is dealt and it is the 5 of hearts. This can be a blow to you as there are now four hearts on view, so anyone having a heart is defeating you having a flush. Mike is happy using the five as he even now feels he’s winning with the top flush, even though his opponents may well also have manufactured a flush and believe they are winning. Amy naturally would be the real winner as she has just made the nuts with four 5s, her 4 of the variety can only be defeated by a straight flush or a much better four of a kind. There are not sufficient connected hearts displaying on the table to produce a straight flush and there is not a different pair displaying so it can be impossible to generate four of the kind.
Amy wins the pot while you and Mike reflect on what need to have been.
Both of you held the poker nuts at one stage in the casino game but failed to realise that the poker nuts – and your fortunes – in Hold’em can change totally with 1 turn of the card.