I haven't seen this anywhere on Youtube or otherwise yet, so I thought I'd share an insight that I learned myself from being inquisitive. Knowing this information can help you prevent those Bad Beats:

Nuts?
"Having the Nuts" or "Holding the Nuts" means that you have an unbeatable hand, so you can just bet to your hearts content (trying to milk as many chips as possible from your opponent).

But how can you know if you're unbeatable or not?


Royal Flush:
The biggest hand in poker is ALWAYS holding the nuts. Also, in Texas Hold'Em, no two players can simultaneously have a Royal Flush. No split possible.


Straight Flush:
You hold the nuts if neither opponent can possibly have cards that give them the higher Straight (or the Royal) Flush. E.g. You got T9 and the table shows KQJ. An Ace wouldn't help the opponent, since AKQJ are just four cards.

Note: the odds for both a Royal and Straight Flush (or two Straight Flushes) showing are so small that ANY bet you make will be "with the odds" - even All-in against 2 opponents.


Quads:
If it's not possible to create a Straight/Royal Flush on the table with any two hole cards AND no higher quad is possible (a pair or set on the table of greater value), you are holding the Nuts.


Full House:
If you hold BOTH the values of your full house in your hand, e.g. QJ and the table shows QJJ, AND the two remaining cards on the table are NOT a pair, then it is impossible for anyone to have Quads. If neither of the five table cards allows for a straight flush either AND you got the high end of the "Full House mirror" (e.g. QQQJJ against an opponent's QQJJJ), you got the nuts.


Flush:
You got the nuts if you hold the highest possible card for that flush (e.g. Ace, or a King if the Ace is on the table) and there are no paired cards on the table (which eliminates possibility of both Full House and Quads). If no Straight Flush draw is present, you're the winner.


Straight:
In order for the straight to be the Nuts, you need to have at most 2 cards per suit on the table (which eliminates BOTH flush and straight flush) AND all table cards must be of different values (no pairs on the table).


Set/Trips/Three of a Kind:
In order for your set to hold the nuts, two of those cards MUST be in your hand (pocket pair) AND you need to check the presence of both straight draws, flush draws and any paired table cards. If none are present, you hold the Nuts.


Pairs and Two Pairs:
You will never hold the absolute nuts with these hands, since there's always a chance for a Set - although Adv/Pro players can sometimes get a positive read on the opponent's hand, allowing them to take a calculated risk.

With these hands, BE SURE to follow the number one rule of Hand Strengths:

"Small Hands win small pots, Big hands win big pots."



I hope this helps y'all. It's basic information but I've found that it's one of those things that can easily be overlooked early on in your poker training.

Everything is relative to the board cards and your opponents range, including the nuts

Originally Posted by KnightofNarg

Everything is relative to the board cards and your opponents range, including the nuts

True, but what has that got to do with this thread?

I am adressing a specific fact, within that line of reasoning that you're talking about. My point was that, "if certain parameters are met, you are holding the absolute nuts" and your only concern should be how much money you can extract from your opponent. You're kinda stating the obvious, well maybe not too obvious to some players though. I guess any reply is a good one, to elaborate on the thread.

Of course, the amount your opponent is willing to depart with is also affected by the board and whether he's got something big, compared to how much he thinks you got something big. He might fold early if the flop shows big cards, or he might go all-in with a pocket ace set against your disguised 23 suited wheel straight from DB position:

Flop:
As 4d 5h

Then turn/river:
Kc 9c

If you got 2s 3s, especially against a slightly loose passive opponent, you could play it to try to steal his blinds and if he calls, then you can (and you did, in this case) get lucky on the flop. If you're the BB, then passive opponents can sometimes allow you to check your way into the flop, as well. (I've actually gotten a 72 full house once, by just checking to see the flop for free.)

Flop gives you a wheel straight, but a possible straight draw for your opponent as well, due to 4d 5h. But straight draws can easily be attacked with a proper bet, forcing him to bet against his odds. Since he's loose, he could be playing 67, but if he's passive and he still calls your raise, then it's less likely. He's probably got something big, in this case Ad Ac.

So, in this case, you are holding at least a split pot in your hand, because:

a) All board cards showing different values, makes FH or Quads impossible.

b) Only two cards (K9) are of the same suit, making any flush (including straight and royal) impossible.

c) A higher straight draw fails when K9 turns up = higher straight impossible.

d) A straight beats a set.

In other words, the opponent MUST have 23 in his hand, which is very unlikely. Even if he does have those, you're getting a split which is zero money lost. Just let him do the betting and on the river, either raise by a callable amount or go all-in.

Originally Posted by charlygod

To hold the nut is to have the best possible hand on that moment or it has to be on the river? For example, if im holding QQ and the flop is Q 7 4 im holding the nuts right?

Not really, but that's why I like to differentiate between "just the nuts" and "the absolute nuts".

The thing is that, if your flop hand is strong enough, you usually win unless you're getting a bad beat by the opponent's luck.

In your case, when you (1) got Queen trips, (2) Queen is the highest card on the flop and (3) the flop only allows sets (because no straight or flush draws are present (assuming you flopped a rainbow), and no pairs either - although even Q77 would be in your favor), then ANY bet you make would be with the odds - even an all-in. You are, odds-wise, "holding the nuts".

You can still lose to bad luck, however. That's why I point out the difference between "flop nuts" and the "absolute nuts" (typically only knowable post-river), the latter in which you're the absolute winner no matter what cards the opponent might have in his hands.

Never be afraid to go all-out on a flop like that. Pocket queens will win that flop's pot MANY more times than not. Going all-in ("infinite bet") only requires a >50% chance to win to be the correct play, anyways. In this case, it's even far above 50% so you even got some leverage.