Some great poker trivia,
poker stories, poker myths and poker
quotes.
The Nuts - where
did this come from?
Origin of "the nuts"
In poker, "the nuts" refers to an unbeatable
poker hand. According to some poker experts, the
term originated in the old west, where players
often bet their horse and wagon. When a player put
up his horse and wagon in a game, he would be
required to remove the nuts from his wagon wheels
and place them in the pot, so that he could not
flee if he lost the bet. Therefore, it was assumed
that anyone would bet "the nuts" with only with
the best possible poker hand.
When you hold the nuts in poker you have an
unbeatable hand. If a hold'em board shows
Ad-Td-Jc-2c-3s and you hold the Qs-Kh then you my
friend have the stone cold mortal nuts. This cool
poker term dates way back to the Wild West where
cowboys would gather round a table, preferably in
a saloon but alternatively around a campfire, and
play cards. Back then poker players would not
always bet with cash or chips. It was a more
rustic time, and men would often bet their horse
and wagon on a poker hand. Legend has it that when
a cowboy bet his wagon he would unscrew the nuts
from his wagon wheels and place them in the
pot.
The reason behind this gesture was
that in the event that he lost the pot he could
not leap up, hop into his wagon and ride away with
his wager. The fact that he was willing to put
those nuts in the pot as surety for the strength
of his hand resonated through the prairie, and
came to be synonymous with the best hand. A cowboy
would only bet "the nuts" when he was convinced
that his hand was the best out
there.
A far more likely
explanation is that "the nuts" originated from the
old English usage of "nuts", meaning "any source
of pleasure"[2].
