The nut is the term for the best hand in online poker. If you flop the nut hand, it might seem wonderful, but it isn’t as great as it looks. Or, rather, it’s great, but you still need to know how to play it properly. Otherwise, it won’t get you the most chips.
You see, having the nut hand is all about chip extraction. Individuals don’t want everyone to fold to you. You want them to stay in the pot and make it grow. The idea is to extract as many chips as you can from them, as the hand progresses.
Of course, a lot depends on how much of a nut hand you have. What I mean by that is that you may have the best possible hand in poker online after the flop, but your hand may be beatable on the turn or river. On the other hand, you might flop the absolute nuts, such as an ace high flush, which cannot be beaten, even if your opponent sees the last two cards.
If your hand is vulnerable, the best thing to do is usually make a bet that’s just under the size of the pot. That will give your opponents bad odds to call. So, they should fold to you. Some of them may all in to you, though. In which case, you should obviously call them, since you have the nut hand.
If your hand is not vulnerable at all, though, you should take a different approach. You don’t want to scare people into folding. You want to bet just enough to make them call you and stay in the pot, instead.
For example, let’s say that you’re holding two hearts and one of them is the ace of hearts. If the flop comes and there are three hearts, you have the nut flush. That would be the best possible hand, no matter what the turn and river cards were. So, your hand is invulnerable.
The idea, when you have a hand like that, is to slow play the hand by only making small bets. Another thing you could try is betting small after the flop and a little more after the turn. Then, at the river, you may be able to get a person or two all in. They could fold to you. Even if they do, though, you win the hand. It just may not be as many chips as you hoped for.
The truth is, sometimes you just aren’t going to see any action at all with the nut hand. It’s going to be too obvious to those around you that you’ve gotten the nuts. Or, as you have the nuts, nobody else catches cards they want, so they aren’t willing to play the hand. In either case, there are just going to be times that your nut hand is not going to rake in the chips. Knowing how to play a nut hand can minimize those times, though.
The idea, when you have a hand like that, is to slow play the hand by only making small bets. Another thing you could try is betting small after the flop and a little more after the turn.
Happy playing poker!