Editing Nut hand

{{Short description|Poker hand}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2011}}
In [[poker]], the '''nut hand''' (or '''the nuts''') is the strongest possible hand in a given situation. The '''second-nut hand''' or '''third-nut hand''' (and so on) may refer to the second and third best possible hands. The term applies mostly to [[community card poker]] games where the individual holding the strongest possible hand, with the given board of community cards, is capable of knowing that they have the nut hand.

== Usage in context ==
In [[Texas hold 'em]], if the board is '''5♠ 6♠ A♣ 9♠ <span style="color:red;">5♥</span>''', a player holding '''7♠ 8♠''' has the nut hand because those [[Texas hold 'em starting hands|hole cards]] complete a '''9'''-high [[Rank of hands (poker)#Straight flush|straight flush]] of spades, which cannot be beaten by any other possible combination of hole cards and community cards. On the same board, the hand '''5♣ <span style="color:red;">5♦</span>''' would be the second-nut hand, [[Rank of hands (poker)#Four of a kind|four of a kind]] fives; the third-nut hand would be any pair of the remaining three aces, making a [[Rank of hands (poker)#Full house|full house]], aces full of fives.

It is important to note that the ''actual'' nut hand may not be the same as the ''absolute'' nut hand; for example, if the board is '''<span style="color:red;">7♥</span> 2♣ K♠ <span style="color:red;">K♥ 3♦</span>''' a player with '''K♣ <span style="color:red;">K♦</span>''' has the absolute nut hand. However, any player with '''K-7''' knows that he has the nut hand as it is impossible for another player to have two kings. The phrase may also refer to a hand in progress with cards yet to be dealt, as the player can be said to have the nuts at that time. For example, if a player holds '''7♠ 8♠''' on a board of '''5♣ 6♠ <span style="color:red;">9♥</span>''' he can be said to have the nuts, however if the next card comes '''<span style="color:red;">7♥</span>''' then 8-10 becomes the nuts. This makes some nut hands very vulnerable in nine-card games, such as [[Omaha hold 'em]].

In [[high-low split]] games one often speaks of "nut-low" and "nut-high" hands separately.  In Omaha hold 'em, if the board is '''5♠ 6♠ A♣ 9♠ <span style="color:red;">5♥</span>''', any player with '''2-3''' makes the nut-low hand, '''6-5-3-2-A''', while a player with '''2-4''' makes the second-nut-low hand, '''6-5-4-2-A''' (the nut-high hands remain the same as in Texas hold 'em, in this case '''7♠ 8♠''' to make a straight flush, although one can go as low as aces full by introducing quads and straight flush blockers). Similarly, one can sometimes hear the term "nut-nut", which refers to a hand that makes both the best possible high and low. In Omaha, with the same board as above, a player holding '''7♠ 8♠''' plus '''2-3''' of any suit has the nut-nut and is guaranteed no worse than a split of the low pot plus a win of the high pot.

== Origins ==
A common and certainly apocryphal [[folk etymology]] is that the term originated from the historical poker games in the colonial west of America, where if a player bet everything he possessed, he would place the nuts of his wagon wheels on the table to ensure that, should he lose, he would be unable to flee and would have to make good on the bet.  Since it would be expected that a player would only make such a bet when he had the best possible hand, the folk lore says that this is how the best possible hand came to be known as the nuts.  It is also rumored{{By whom|date=September 2011}} that these historical games were played only in the winter, and therefore, the nuts  that were placed on the table were "stone cold", hence coining the term "stone-cold-nuts".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ddpoker.com/gamehelp/help/glossary.html| title = DD Poker Glossary}}</ref>

Another explanation{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} is that "the nuts" originated from the old English usage of "nuts", meaning "any source of pleasure".<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=nuts&searchmode=none|Online Etymology Dictionary's entry for "nuts"]</ref>

Another seemingly fitting explanation is that the term was derived from the UK English slang "the dog's bollocks" or "the mutt's nuts", meaning "the absolute best".  However, this phrase originated around 1949,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/dog's%20bollocks.html| title = The Phrase Finder's entry for "dog's bollocks"}}</ref> and the term "the nuts" pre-dates it.{{citation needed|reason = "and so's [so does] your old man", my guess is; by which i mean "Personally trusted sources provide personal comfort rather than verification."|date=April 2018}}

== See also ==

* [[Poker]]
* [[Poker jargon]]
* [[List of playing card nicknames]]

== References ==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nut Hand}}
[[Category:Poker hands]]