Nuts
also called the nut hand
The nuts is the best hand possible on a given board, the one no other two cards can beat.
It is defined by the board, not by your cards. Every board has a nut hand, and it changes with every card that comes: the nuts on the flop is often no longer the nuts on the river.
Working out what the nuts is takes a moment and saves money. If the best possible hand is available and you do not have it, the size of your own hand matters much less than whether the opponent can hold that one.
an example
your cards
board
The board is unpaired and has only two hearts, so no full house and no flush is possible. The best hand available is a queen high straight, and queen jack is the only holding that makes it. Nothing beats it here.
This example is made up. The real one is in your own hand history: find nuts in your own hands and see how often it came up and what it cost you.
related terms
Drawing dead
You are drawing dead when no card still to come can give you the winning hand, so every chip you put in from that point ...
Blocker
A blocker is a card in your own hand that reduces the number of strong hands your opponent can hold, because you are hol ...
Set
A set is three of a kind made with a pocket pair in your hand and one matching card on the board.
next
Knowing the word is not the same as seeing it.
All ten hands in order, with how often each one turns up.