Poker Nuts Identification Routine
Once you understand what conditions need to be met for a specific hand to become the poker nuts, the question is: How can you use this knowledge to identify the poker nuts in a live playing situation?
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.
Tags: Best poker hand, Poker nuts, poker routine
