The nuts
The single best possible five-card hand on the exact board in front of you, a property of the board itself rather than of any hand you hold.
Working out the nuts starts before you look at your own cards: what does the board already make, and which two hole cards push furthest past that? The answer is not fixed for the whole hand. A third card of one suit can turn a made set into second-best behind a flush, and a paired turn card can introduce full houses and quads that were not live a moment before, so each street deserves its own read rather than inheriting the flop's answer.
What it means to have the nuts
Having the nuts means no other two cards can beat you on the board as it stands. On the river that makes the hand unbeatable: the worst that can happen is a split pot with someone holding the same hand. Before the river it only means the best hand right now, because the next card can change the answer.
The nuts changes street by street
One hand, three streets, three different answers:
Flop: king of spades, nine of diamonds, four of clubs
Rainbow, unpaired and too spread out for a straight. The nuts is top set: a pair of kings in the hand, such as king of hearts, king of diamonds.
Turn: jack of spades
King, jack and nine now sit inside one five-rank window, so any queen with a ten makes a king-high straight, queen of hearts, ten of clubs for example. Top set, the nuts a card ago, is now second-best. Two spades put a flush draw on board, but no flush is possible yet.
River: nine of clubs
The board pairs, so full houses and four of a kind come into play. The nuts is four nines, and exactly one holding makes it: nine of spades, nine of hearts, the last two nines. The straight that was the nuts on the turn now loses to every full house.
The second nuts
The second nuts is the second-best possible hand, beaten only by the nuts itself. On that final board it is kings full of nines, made by any two kings. Players talk about the third nuts and so on in the same way. The distinction matters most on the river: the nuts can only win or split, while the second nuts loses to exactly the holdings above it, so the question becomes how often an opponent’s betting represents them.
The nut flush
The nut flush is the highest flush the board allows, usually the ace of the suit when the ace is not already showing. On queen of hearts, nine of hearts, four of hearts, two of clubs, seven of spades, the ace of hearts with any other heart makes an ace-high flush. Strictly, ace of hearts, king of hearts is the absolute nuts, because with exactly three hearts on the board both hole cards play. The nut flush is not always the nuts: a paired board allows full houses, and three suited cards close together allow a straight flush.
The nut straight
The nut straight is the highest straight the board allows. On a nine of spades, eight of diamonds, seven of clubs flop, jack-ten makes a jack-high straight, the nuts. Ten-six makes a ten-high straight and six-five a nine-high one, both beaten by jack-ten. Holding the low end of a straight like that is known as the “ignorant end”.
The nut low
In split-pot games such as Omaha hi-lo, half the pot goes to the best low hand: five unpaired cards of eight or lower, with aces counting low, so the best possible low is 5-4-3-2-A. A low is only possible when at least three different board cards are eight or lower. The nut low is the best low the board allows: on king of spades, seven of diamonds, five of clubs, three of hearts, two of spades, an ace and a four make 5-4-3-2-A. Every puzzle on this site is Texas hold’em, which has no low half, so the term only matters if you play split-pot games.
Test yourself
Name the nuts on each river, then check.
Board: queen of clubs, jack of diamonds, eight of spades, four of hearts, two of clubs. What is the nuts?
Show the answer
Any ten with a nine, for a queen-high straight from eight to queen. Only two clubs means no flush, and the board is unpaired, so nothing beats it.
Board: eight of spades, seven of spades, six of spades, king of diamonds, king of clubs. What is the nuts?
Show the answer
ten of spades, nine of spades, a ten-high straight flush. Four kings, the obvious answer, is only the fourth-best hand here, behind three different straight flushes.
Ten more boards like these, scored, are in the find-the-nuts drill.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the nuts in poker?
- The nuts is the best possible hand on the current board: the strongest hand any two hole cards could make with the community cards showing. It is a property of the board, not of your own cards, so it can change with every new card.
- What does it mean to have the nuts in poker?
- It means no other holding can beat you right now. On the river, having the nuts means you cannot lose the pot, only split it with someone holding the same hand. Before the river, a later card can still change which hand is best.
- How do you find the nuts poker hand on a given board?
- Work down the hand rankings and stop at the first category some two hole cards can complete: a straight flush if three suited cards sit close together, four of a kind or a full house if the board is paired, a flush if three cards share a suit, then a straight, then three of a kind. The highest hand in that category is the nuts.
- Nuts poker meaning: what does "nut" mean in nut flush or nut straight?
- It means the best possible hand of that type on the board: the nut flush is the highest possible flush and the nut straight the highest possible straight. Neither is guaranteed to be the overall nuts, since a paired board allows full houses, which beat both.
- What is the second nuts?
- The second-best possible hand on the board, beaten only by the nuts itself. On a K-9-4-J-9 board with no flush possible, the nuts is four nines and the second nuts is kings full of nines, made by any two kings.