The beginnings of the phrase "poker nuts" are unclear even though it really is thought to have been dirived from old jargon meaning "delightful thing, practice or experience". It is often a "delightful thing" naturally, because in Texas hold’em the poker nuts may be the best possible hands that you can have at any stage in the game.
If you’ve got the nuts, you can’t be beaten…at that level in the hand. This is the essential factor that plenty of inexperienced players fail to take account of, the nuts can move from one gambler to another and your side which was the nuts previous on can end up being smashed!
The following example ought to demonstrate the fickle nature of the cards in Hold’em poker and how your nuts can swiftly turn to pulp!
You’re betting a side of Hold’em poker and there are 3 players nevertheless in the game at the flop. You acquire dealt 5 of clubs, 8 of diamonds; Amy has 5 of spades, five of clubs and Mike’s hand is King, 9 of hearts.
The flop is dealt and the cards are 9 of hearts, 6 of hearts and 5 of diamonds. This is a fantastic flop for you – you’ve got the poker nuts! At this stage you’ve got a straight – 5, six, 7, 8, nine – which can’t be defeated by any other combination of cards.
Now you determine to "slow play" your palm and try to draw a bet from somebody that has a good pair who will like this flop, so you merely check. Amy likes the look of her hands now as she has flopped 3 5 spades so she makes a bet which is called by Mike as he now has a pair of nines using a King kicker. You like the way it’s going so you call the wager.
The turn card is Ace of hearts. Mike is now grinning to himself as he has just been able to generate the poker nuts using a flush, his 2 hearts in his hands plus the 3 on the table with Ace King good now give him an unbeatable hand. Mike bets as he knows he has got the nuts but he wants to draw out the max cash from the table so he maintains his bet low enough to obtain called. You even now think you are winning with all the directly, in fact the Ace has heightened that belief as you now think Mike probably has an Ace in his hand and maybe even two pairs.
He has dropped into your trap! Or so you think.
The river is dealt and it is the 5 of hearts. This can be a blow to you as you can find now 4 hearts on view, so anyone using a heart is beating you with a flush. Mike is happy with all the five as he nevertheless feels he’s succeeding with the top flush, although his competitors may possibly also have made a flush and think they are winning. Amy needless to say could be the real winner as she has just created the nuts with four 5s, her four of the sort can only be defeated by a straight flush or a much better 4 of the kind. There aren’t enough connected hearts displaying around the table to produce a directly flush and there is not an additional pair displaying so it truly is impossible to produce four of a kind.
Amy wins the pot while you and Mike reflect on what ought to have been.
Both of you held the poker nuts at one stage in the game but failed to realise that the poker nuts – along with your fortunes – in Texas holdem can change completely with 1 turn of a card.