The nuts is the best possible hand at a given moment, based on the community cards. If you hold the nuts, no other player can beat you — at most they can tie.
How to find the nuts
Go down the hand rankings from the top and ask whether each hand is possible on the board:
- Is a straight flush possible? (three cards of one suit that are close in rank)
- Is four of a kind or a full house possible? (only if the board is paired)
- Is a flush possible? (three or more cards of one suit)
- Is a straight possible? (three cards within a five-card window)
- If none of these, the nuts is the best set or trips.
Examples
- Board K♠ 9♠ 4♦ 2♣ 7♥: no flush, no straight, no pair on board. The nuts is a set of kings.
- Board Q♥ J♥ 5♥ 8♣ 2♠: a flush is possible. The nuts is the ace-high flush (A♥ with any heart).
- Board T♦ T♣ 7♠ 3♥ 2♦: the board is paired. The nuts is four tens.
Related phrases
- Second nuts: the second-best possible hand.
- Nut flush draw: a draw to the ace-high flush.
- Stone-cold nuts: the nuts with no way to be beaten on later cards.
- Effective nuts: a hand that is not technically the nuts but almost never loses in this spot.
See the full poker glossary for more terms.
Related terms
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