When playing Texas Hold’em, have you ever caught yourself thinking:

“Damn, I thought I held the best poker hand! How can I be beat?”

or

“Wow, I totally didn’t recognize that a straight was possible…”

These mistakes can cost you money or knock you out of a tournament in no time!

That’s why it’s so important to always know what the best possible hand in a given betting situation is. Poker pros refer to the best poker hand also as Poker Nuts, The Nuts in Poker or simply The Nuts.

This website will teach you everything you need to know about Poker Nuts and how to recognize them, including:

• Understand what the Poker Nuts are and why it’s relevant
• Instantly identify which poker hands are possible and which are not
• Learn to recognize the nuts with a quick glance at the card board
• Test you knowledge with the Nuts Poker Trainer and get ready for playing live! (coming soon)

This is truly your first step to becoming an excellent poker player!

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I have come up with the following routine to do this and it has saved me some money, trust me!

The idea is to first check for the obvious (like pairs) and then gradually move down to the more complex issues (like straight potential)

Here’s an illustration of the routine:

Here’s the explanation:

0) Starting Point: Check whether the board shows one or more cards of the same rank. As you know, this enables four-of-a-kind or a full house.

1a) If there are any pairs or more, the next thing is to check for flush potential. Look for three or more cards of the same suit.

If you can’t find any, it’s easy: The nuts will be four-of-a-kind. If you happen to know that one card for that hand is not available (e.g. because you hold it), then the nuts will obviously be a full house.

1b) If there is flush potential, check whether the flush cards show straight potential. If you don’t know how, see my post on identifying the poker nuts for explanations.

If there’s no straight potential among the flush cards, then the poker nuts will be like above: four-of-a-kind or full house, depending on what you hold.

Otherwise, be very careful: someone might hold a straight flush!

2a) If you couldn’t find any pairs on the board, check whether a flush is possible. Remember: you need at least three cards of the same suit on the board.

If the answer is yes: the highest possible flush will be the poker nuts!

2b) Otherwise: Check whether a straight is possible. This is a bit tricky to do, so reread my posts on when a specific hand can become the poker nuts and also check out further examples for determining straight potential.

If there is straight potential, then the highest possible straight will be the poker nuts.

Otherwise, three-of-a-kind will be the poker nuts.

By using this routine, you will always be able to instantly understand whether somebody could technically beat you or whether you are ahead.

Technorati Tags: Best poker hand, Poker nuts, poker routine

Here are some examples to show you how to determine whether a straight is possible. Each example begins with a full Texas Hold’em board and is followed by an explanation.

Example 1a: Unpaired board, no ace

1) How many cards to form a straight?

There’s no pairs or more on the board and there is no ace. Hence exactly five cards on the board can be used to form a straight. We will need to use the rule for five possible straight cards.

2) Is a straight possible?

The board in plain numbers and sorted reads: 2 - 3 - 9 - 11 - 13

Following the rule, we need to calculate high card - middle card; middle card - low card, and the difference between the two remaining cards. That’s:

13-9=4; 9-2=7; 11-3=8

One of the numbers is indeed equal or smaller to four, hence a straight is possible.

3) What is the nut straight?

The only “range” (and therefore the highest) where a straight is possible is between the king and the nine (13-9=4). Since there are two gaps to fill in this range, we would need a queen and a 10 in our pocket to form the nut straight.

Example 1b: Unpaired board, no ace

1) How many cards to form a straight?

The board in plain numbers and sorted reads: 3 - 5 - 8 - 10 - 13

13-8=5; 8-3=5; 10-5=5

No number is smaller or equal to 4. It’s impossible to form a straight with this board.

3) What’s the nut straight?

N/A

Example 2: Unpaired board containing an ace

1) How many cards to form a straight?

Let’s use the same algorithm as above, counting the ace as 14.

14-9=5; 9-4=5; 13-5=8

That shows us that there will be no straight when the ace is counted high. Let’s check for the last possibility, i.e. the ace is counted low.

In this case, we need to take the second lowest card and deduct the ace counted as 1:

5-1=4

Result: A straight is possible when the ace is counted low.

3) What is the nut straight?

Example 3: Paired board, no ace

1) How many cards to form a straight?

There’s a pair of queens on the board, but no ace. We cannot use the queen twice to form a straight, hence we effectively only have four cards to form a straight plus our pocket cards.

2) Is a straight possible?

We need to use the algorithm for four straight cards.

The board in plain numbers and sorted reads: 7 - 8 - 12 - 13

We now need to calculate high card - second lowest card and second highest card - lowest card. That gives us:

13-8=5; 12-7=5

Both numbers are greater than 3, i.e. a straight is not possible with these cards.

3) What’s the nut straight?

N/A

So much for the examples. I hope this will help you to identify straights and ultimately recognizing the best poker hand, or poker nuts.

Technorati Tags: Best poker hand, Poker nuts, Straight potential

Not every poker hand is possible with every Texas Hold’em board and not every hand can become the poker nuts. Consider the following hand ranking to understand what conditions must be met so that someone can hold a specific hand that might be the nuts. Note that all descriptions refer to a full Texas Hold’em board, i.e. with all five cards from flop to river face up.

Straight flush and royal flush

Possible: Since a straight flush has the lowest probability and therefore the highest value, the conditions to get one are also very restrictive.

You can only have a straight flush if:

a) There are at least three cards of the same colour on the board

b) At least three of the cards with the same colour can be used to form a straight (see explanations for straight)

There can only be one type of flush. It’s impossible in Texas Hold’em that someone holds a straight flush of hearts and someone else holds a straight flush of diamonds.

Nuts potential: If a straight flush is possible, it will always be the poker nuts. It’s as simple as that. To determine whether you have the nut straight flush, you need to determine the highest ranking card that can be used to form a straight flush. If you have that card in your pocket, you cannot be beat. Even a split pot is impossible - you will definitely win the entire pot.

Note: A royal flush is only the highest ranking straight flush. This is why it is included in that explanation.

Four of a kind

Possible: Four of a kind is only possible if the community cards contain at least a pair.

Nuts potential: If you hold four of a kind it’s very unlikely that you can be beat but it is possible.

If there are at least three cards of the same colour on the board that can be used to form a straight, then you can lose to a straight flush. Highly unlikely, but possible nonetheless.

Of course you can also lose to a higher four of a kind, which is only possible when there are at least two pairs on the board.

The nut four of a kind will be the one with the higher rank.

Full House

Possible: Really simple: A full house is always possible if there is at least a pair on the board.

Nuts potential: This gets a little tricky. Usually, if you hold a full house, it will be the poker nuts, i.e. there is hardly a higher ranking hand that will beat you.

Watch out for those two cases when you don’t have the nuts with a full house:

a) If there is more than one pair on the board. If that is the case and you do not have the two cards in your pocket that match the same rank as both of the pairs, than someone might hold a four of a kind and could beat you. Watch out for this in particular when the board shows a full house itself.

b) If there are at least three cards of the same colour and they can form a straight (for details see explanations on straight and straight flush)

Even if you are sure that a full house will be the best poker hand, it needn’t be YOUR full house. The rank of the full house is determined by the three of a kind it contains. So don’t forget that someone might hold a pocket pair that could combine with one of the community cards to beat your full house!

You only have the nut full house if you hold the best three of a kind combination possible with the board. Still, you might end up with a split pot.

Flush

Possible: Finding out if a flush is possible is quite easy. If there are three or more cards of the same colour on the board, then a flush is possible. This tells you also that there will always be only one type of flush. I.e. it’s not possible that someone will have a flush of hearts and another player has a flush of clubs.

Nuts potential: Many people get so excited when they have a flush they sometimes forget that, although it is a strong hand, it can lose to other hands that might be possible at the same time. A flush will only be the poker nuts if

a) There is no more than one card of each type on the board (no pairs or more)

b) It is not possible to form a straight with the cards of the same colour (since then a flush could lose to a straight flush).

The nut flush is the flush with the highest possible pocket card. In other words, you need to determine the highest card of the flush colour that is NOT on the board. If you have that card within your private cards, you have the nut flush and you cannot be beat. Note further that in this case you will win a showdown no matter what - if you have a nut flush then a split pot is not possible.

Straight

Possible: Quickly determining straight potential is the trickiest part of board analysis. This is why people often tend to overlook a straight. Actually, it can be quite simple.

First of all, you need to number the cards. All cards with a number will count as their respective number. A jack equals 11, a queen is 12 and a king equals 13. An ace equals either 1 or 14 (see below).

Secondly, you must consider the number of cards that will help you form a straight. For example, if there’s a pair on the board, you can only use one card of that pair to form a straight, the other one is useless. Hence, out of five cards only four can be used for a straight.

Rule: Each pair on the board decreases the possible straight cards by 1.

Rule: Three of a kind on the board decreases the possible straight cards by 2.

You need at least three possible straight cards to make a straight.

Let’s first consider the case when there are five individual cards on the board (i.e. no pair or more of the same rank). This is also the most important one because it is the only time that a straight can be the nuts (see below):

Determine the highest card, the lowest card and the card “in the middle”. Calculate high card minus middle card and middle card minus low card. Next, take the two remaining cards and calculate the difference. If one of these numbers is smaller or equal to 4, then a straight is possible.

Special case: if the board contains an Ace, the number of possible straight cards actually INCREASES by 1. This makes a straight more likely, because it’s as if there were six cards on the board. In this case, do the same as before, always counting the Ace as 14 when you begin. If you haven’t found a straight potential by doing that, pick the second-lowest ranking card on the board (excluding the ace) and calculate the difference to the ace, this time counting the ace as 1. If that number is equal to or smaller than 4, a straight is possible.

Let’s now consider the case where we only have four possible straight cards, i.e. the board contains a pair. This case is less important, because a straight will not be the nuts in this case (see below). This is how it works:

Take the highest card and subtract the second-lowest card. Then take the second-highest card and subtract the lowest card. If one result is smaller or equal to 3, a straight is possible.

Now the last case: board shows three of a kind. Although you’re probably not worrying about a straight with such a board, here’s how you determine whether a straight is possible.

Take the highest card and subtract the lowest card. If the result is smaller than or equal to 4, a straight is possible.

Got confused? It’s actually quite simple once you get used to it. Check out these examples for clarification of straight possibilities.

Nuts potential: A straight can only be the best poker hand if there are five or more cards that can be used to form a straight, i.e. there must not be more than one card of each rank on the board. If there’s a pair on the board, a straight can lose to a full house or four of a kind. Same with three of a kind on the board.

The nut straight will be the straight with the highest possible card.

Three of a Kind

Possible: Three of a kind is the highest ranking hand that is ALWAYS possible no matter what the community cards are. Someone holding pocket pair can always make a set by combining his two cards with a fitting card from the board.

Nuts potential: Since three of a kind is the highest hand that is always possible independent of the board, it follows that is must be the nuts if (and only if) no higher ranked hand is possible with a specific board. Specifically, for three of a kind to be the nuts, there may be no more than one card of each rank on the board. The player with the nuts will hence hold a pocket pair that matches the highest ranking card on the board.

Practically speaking, if you have ruled out flush and straight potential and hold pocket pair that match the highest card among the community cards, you have the poker nuts. Conversely, if you hold one card that combines with a pair on the community board, you DO NOT have the nuts because a full house is possible.

Two pair

Possible: It’s always possible to hold two pair even if there are no two cards of the same rank among the community cards. For example, if the board shows (amongst others) a King and a Ten, a player holding another King and a Ten as his pocket cards will have two pair.

Nuts potential: Two pair can never be the poker nuts as they can be beaten by someone holding three of a kind, which is a hand that is possible with every Texas Hold’em board.

Single Pair

Possible: No matter what the community cards show, it is always possible to form a pair with them. A single pair can always be - and often is - a winning hand.

Nuts potential: A single pair can never be the best poker hand. Somebody might hold two pair, which is always possible no matter what the board shows.

High Card

Possible: Since the highest pocket card(s) determines the winner if nobody else holds a better hand, it is of course always a possible winning hand per definition.

Nuts potential: High cards can never be the poker nuts since they can be beaten by a pair which is possible in any given board. Recall that the nuts are the best possible poker hand. This means you must be sure that nobody can beat that specific hand. But a high card can ALWAYS be beaten.

Wow, that was a long post. The next post will incorporate all the information above to assemble a routine that I use to quickly scan the board for possible hands. Check it out!

Technorati Tags: Best poker hand, Poker nuts

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But what is it then and why is it important to you as a poker player?

Generally, Poker Nuts refers to the best possible hand in poker in a given betting situation. Simply put, if you have the nuts, nobody can beat you.

In their famous book “Gambling For a Living”, poker authorities David Slansky and Mason Malmuth give their no. 1 strategy tip for becoming an excellent Texas Hold’em player:

“Know what the best possible hand is and how likely it is to be out”

If you don’t know what the nuts are to begin with, you will not recognize when you actually HOLD the nuts. Do you think it could be useful to know when you can’t be beat and when it’s possible? I guess so…

Let me get more specific here:

Imagine you hold three of a kind on the river but fail to recognize that the board makes a flush possible. You happily call a substantial raise by your two opponents who have both made the flush and lose significant money in the process. You might even get blown out of a tournament if another player puts you all in.

Another case might be that you have the second highest pair on the river. Your opponent raises and you give him credit for the top pair. After careful consideration, you fold, but you failed to recognize that your cards and the board actually assembled the nut straight!

Both cases do cost you money. In the first case, you lose money because you thought you held the best poker hand possible when actually you didn’t. In the second case, you lose money because you believed you were beaten when actually you held the poker nuts!

Carefully examining the board to always recognize the poker nuts is therefore incredibly important. It sometimes even happens to experienced players that they fail to recognize the best poker hand, because they got all excited about flopping a set or hitting top pair.

The crucial thing is to be really quick in reading the board and determining the best poker hand possible. Especially when you’re playing poker in the internet, ticking clocks and rapidly decreasing status bars put pressure on you to act. Many new players don’t take the time to examine the board and identify the poker nuts. Don’t make that mistake!

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