Poker Terminology The Nuts
One of the most misunderstood and debatable terms in Poker is “Checking the nuts”. This term came into lime light in 2009 during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main event. A female poker player (who had apparently won a contest to get entry into the event) was taken aside and was penalized & patronized for “Checking the nuts”. What is the definition of the term 'flop the nuts' in poker? In poker, 'flopping the nuts' refers to when a player flops the absolute best hand. For instance - let's say that you are playing in an online cash game. A player raises from early position. The Nuts in poker means the best possible hand. It is often referred to as the stone cold nuts for emphasis. While the nuts in Hold’em is technically the royal flush, the term nuts is used to describe the strongest possible holding given the situation. Books on poker will often refer to the second most valuable hand as the second-nut hand, to the third as the third-nut hand and so on. The nuts and related terms are mostly commonly used in community card poker, such as Omaha and Texas hold 'em, because the board is what provides the information that lets a player know that he or she has the nuts. The best possible straight, given the community cards, is referred to as the 'nut straight.' Similarly, the best possible flush is the 'nut flush.' The nuts are almost never determined until the river, but the term is commonly used to describe the best possible hand at any given point during play.
// Misc, NewsYears ago, I researched the origins of various poker terms for a now-defunct website. It wasn’t always the most thrilling work, but once in a while, I would come across an entertaining story that would prompt me to say in my Dana Carvey-as-Johnny Carson voice, “I did not know that.” In a fun change of pace, I thought I would share a few of my favorite poker term origins with you on this fine Wednesday.
Button
Definition: the dealer in the hand, or if there is a permanent dealer, the last person to act in a hand. Specifically for the purposes of this article, the button to which I will be referring is the actual physical marker that indicates which player is the button.
We are all used to that ubiquitous piece of poker equipment, the white disc with the word “DEALER” engraved on it in black, that sits in front of the player on the button in a poker game. The button has the button. But why is it called the button?
It goes back to the mid-1800’s, when most gamblers took every opportunity they could to cheat. Think stereotypical Wild West saloon poker games where all the prospectors and cowboys are eyeing each other suspiciously and have one hand on their six-shooters underneath the table. To prevent cheating, the players would take turns dealing. And to keep track of whose turn it was to deal, a marker would be placed in front of the dealer, just like it is today.
Some of the first markers were knives, often with handles carved from buck’s horn, which is why the button is sometimes called the “buck.” This is where the term “pass the buck” comes from, as players who did not wish to deal would literally pass the buck to the next player. Naturally, the phrase “the buck stops here” is derived from this, as well.
As time went on and people weren’t carrying around knives all the time, small discs were often used to mark the dealer. Those discs eventually began to be called “buttons,” for obvious reasons.
River
Definition: the final card dealt in a poker hand.
The exact origin of the term “river” is unknown, but one story I read is totally silly, so will proclaim it the official origin story. In the 1800’s, Mississippi riverboats were popular venues for poker games. Despite efforts to curtail cheating, it was an inevitable part of the game. As one might guess (hopefully you have to guess and have not experienced it), a common way to cheat was for the dealer to purposely deal a final community card that would help his own hand. Legend has it that when the cheater was caught, he would be thrown overboard into the Mississippi River, hence the final card earning the name the “river” card.
Nuts
Definition: the best possible hand anyone can have at the current point in the game, based on the community cards that have been dealt.
This is my favorite. First of all, who doesn’t have fun saying the word “nuts?” But the story behind the term is much more than it just being a silly word to use.
Similar to “river,” there is no definitive story, but the most widely accepted one goes back to, you guessed it, the Wild West. You’ve seen all the movies with ridiculous poker games – the ones with cowboys raising and re-raising each other. In our more civilized games today, if someone is out of money and wants to stay in the hand, he is just all-in and the other players create a side pot. But you know how it goes in those movies: a guy runs out of chips, so he puts his pocket watch in the pot. Then his gun. Then the deed to his ranch. Then his wife. And for some reason, he always has the actual deed in his pocket.
These things did actually happen. Poker players would put up something of great value, perhaps a horse or yes, even property, to continue in a game. There was some fear, though, especially with an unknown player, that the person might try to bolt if he lost and welch on the bet. In order to prevent this, players would sometimes be required to remove the nuts from the wheels of their wagon (remember this was the Wild West) and put them on the table so that their possible escape was made that much more difficult. A wagon with no wheels isn’t much of a getaway vehicle.
Thus, the term “nuts” was adopted to indicate a hand that a player had so much confidence in that he didn’t hesitate to cripple his chances of fleeing. If someone literally put his wagon’s nuts on the table, you knew he meant business and probably had the best hand. Either that, he had one gigantic…pair.
COMMENTS
Leave a Comment
LATEST NEWS
filter by
Dan Katz
29th February 2020 // UncategorisedIs the Coronavirus a Threat to the 2020 WSOP?
This has been one hell of a week. The coronavirus (COVID-19) is picking up steam globally. World financial markets have...
Dan Katz
Poker Terminology The Nuts Fasteners
26th February 2020 // UncategorisedSide Bets Available at PokerStars Poker Tables
Poker is gambling. We like to say that it is a game of skill – and it is – but it is also gambling. And that’s...
Dan Katz
17th February 2020 // News, Online Poker Action, Poker TournamentsWorld Series of Poker Expands Online Bracelet Schedule to 14 Events
On Thursday, the World Series of Poker released the schedule for this summer’s online bracelet events, to be hosted...
Dan Katz
8th February 2020 // Gossip, News, Online Poker ActionPhil Galfond Down €750,000 to VeniVidi1993 in Galfond Challenge
Look, I don’t typically make a habit of feeling bad when people of means lose money, but oh man, I am starting to get...
Dan Katz
2nd February 2020 // News, Online Poker ActionPokerStars, partypoker Launching Dueling Bounty Tourney Series on Super Bowl Sunday
The year 2020 is already one-twelfth gone. It seems like just yesterday that Larry David was arguing that it was too...
Haley Hintze
31st January 2020 // Misc, News, Poker TournamentsCoronavirus Outbreak Forces Postponement of Triton Jeju Series
The Triton Super High Roller Series scheduled for mid-Februry in Jeju, South Korea has become the first poker event...
TOP POKER SITES
- PokerStars
- $600
- 888 Poker
- $400
- William Hill
- £1,200
- Betsafe Poker
- $1,000
- Bet-at-Home
- €1,500
- Guts Poker
- $/€/£300
view all
POKER IN YOUR COUNTRY
- US POKER SITES
- CANADIAN POKER SITES
- UK POKER SITES
- EUROPEAN POKER SITES
- SOUTH AFRICAN POKER SITES
DEVICE COMPATIBILITY
Mobile Poker Sites
Linux Poker
Android Poker Sites
Mac Poker
GUIDES
Deposit Methods
Poker Networks
SPORTS BETTING GUIDE
When a player makes the best hand possible it is commonly referred to as “the nuts.” When a player makes the nuts, the term “nut” is often used as an adjective to describe the hand that was made. For example, if the unbeatable hand was a flush, that player would hold “the nut flush,” and if it were a straight, that player would hold “the nut straight.” In certain situations, a set can be the nuts.
Holding the nuts is an enviable spot to be in, but it is important to recognize that all nut hands are not created equal. If you make a nut hand that nobody else can even tie, you have “the exclusive nuts.” An example of this would be if you were playing Hold’em and held A♣ J♣, and the board read T♣ 4♣ 3♣ Q♦ K♦. In this situation, your ace high flush would be the exclusive nuts, because you cannot be beaten or even tied, given the board. In the alternative, it is also possible to make the nuts in a non exclusive fashion, depending upon the layout of the cards. For example, if the board read T ♥ 4♥ 3♣ Q♦ K♦, instead of T♣ 4♣ 3♣ Q♦ K♦, you would still have made the nuts with A♣ J♣, which completes an Ace high straight. You still have the nuts, but you do not have the exclusive nuts, because any other ace-jack can tie your hand, resulting in a chopped pot. This happens relatively infrequently in Hold’em games, and the non-exclusive nuts is still a monster hand that you can raise and reraise with.
Poker Terminology The Nuts Bolts
This is not necessarily the case for all nut hands in all poker games. If you play hi/lo split games, like Omaha Eight or Better (O8), you will have to take a different approach to low nut hands than you do with high nut hands. One reason for this is that Omaha High/Low players must use exactly two of their hole cards when they form their hands, but they each hold four hole cards yielding six possible combinations. This often leads to multiple players making the same nut low during the same hand. Since Omaha High/Low is a split pot game, when this occurs, all eligible nut low hands must share the low side of the pot equally. This means that each player who holds the nut low could realistically get only 1/4th, 1/6th, or even 1/8th of the pot, depending upon how many other players are also holding the nut low. As the fraction of the pot you are entitled to shrinks, so does the return on the money you’ve invested into the pot. When multiple players make the same low, the return on investment (ROI) can frequently be negative. This means that you can end up putting in more in bets than you receive in winnings at the conclusion of the hand, and so you lose money. When you cannot win the high side of the pot, and you have to share the low side with another player, it is called “getting quartered.”Poker Terminology The Nuts Nut
Because the risk of getting quartered is so high in Omaha High/Low, you need to be careful about how aggressively you bet nut low hands, especially if you do not have much of a chance to win the high side. Costing yourself bets by overbetting or raising a nut low hand when you are getting quartered is a frequent rookie mistake, and making it is almost guaranteed to annoy the other person who has made the nut low. In many situations, the nut low is often weak enough in Omaha High/Llow that you should opt to check and call rather than bet or raise. In Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better (PLO8) the dry nut low is often so weak that it should be mucked outright when facing a strong bet.Usage: Nut Full House, Nut Straight, Nut Flush, Nuts On The Flop, Nut high, Nut Low