Poker Beginners Guide: What's the Nuts?

In poker, the best possible hand for any arrangement of cards is known as the ‘nuts’. Sometimes you will be fortunate enough to hold the nut hand after all the cards have been dealt. In that case you would be in a completely unbeatable position. However, it is sometimes possible that someone else may have the same hand as you, in which case you will split the pot.

Let’s take a look at some examples of the nut hand.

Hole Cards	Board Cards

Here you would hold the nuts if you had the K in your hand together with any other spade. The nut hand is A-K-9-3-X, where ‘X’ denotes another spade.

Hole Cards	Board Cards

This board is very similar to the previous one. However, now a straight flush is possible! Anyone holding 5-4 in their hand will have made a Five-high straight flush: 5-4-3-2-A.

Hole Cards	Board Cards

This time the nuts hand is specifically 4-4 for quad fours. The best possible five-card hand is 4-4-4-4-A.