The 'Stone Cold Nuts'

Whilst the reality of enjoying Stone Cold Nuts might mean a fast track to the dentist, in poker terms it very often means winning the money to pay for a trip to the dentist... or two. It refers to the best possible hand that can be made in any one hand, given the cards that are in play. It doesn't necessarily guarantee you get a nice pay day but it all but ensures you will win the hand and take down the pot. The amount you're able to extract from your opponents will be down to you!

This differs to the 'nuts' which is the best possible hand at a point in the hand. With cards still to come, things could change and the an opponent could make a better hand. The Stone Cold is a hand in which there are no cards that could come to overturn your hand; the best hand possible. It's a great position to be in in the knowledge that you will win the pot and your attention will be focused on how to extract the most amount of chips from your opponents.

Let's look at an example. You hold the snowmen, 88 and the flop comes 6-8-3. At this point you have the nuts. It's the best possible hand at this point in the hand. It's not the Stone Cold as things could change on the turn, The turn comes A. At this point you no longer have the nuts as an opponent with AA in hand would have you beat. It's also not the Stone Cold as there are straight possibilities. A player holding 5-7 or 4-5 or 9-10 has outs to hit his straight. If the turn came another 8 - you have an unbeatable hand - quad 8's and the Stone Cold Nuts!