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Nuts (Poker)
The nuts is the best hand that can be made based on the cards that are visible to all the players in the hand. For instance, the board reads 10 
J 9 . The best possible hand, in a game of Holdem, that could be made is the Q K to make the straight flush.
Being able to read the board to work out what the best hand is and how your hand ranks by comparison is a key skill. Without knowing this, you will not be able to tell how strong your hand is.
The term is also given to drawing hands, for instance if you hold A K and the board reads 2 6 10 
, you have the 'nut flush draw', meaning that any heart that didn't pair the board would give you the best flush possible (the ace high flush). When to the straight, it would be called the 'nut straight'. The reason i included not pairing the board is that as soon as the board pairs, the nut hand would probably improve. For instance, the turn card is the 10 
and the board now reads 2 6 10 10 . You still need a heart to make an ace high flush but if you held a 10 in your hand, the best possible hand is four of a kind (another 10 hits on the river). If you hit another 10, you would know that no other cards in your opponents hands could make them a better hand - you have the nuts.
When you hit the nuts, you know that this is the best possible hand that can be made - .i.e. you know you can't be beaten by any other hand, it is a guaranteed winner.
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