Where Did The Poker Term The Nuts Come From

The card game “Poker” first was called such around the early 19th century. Despite this happening fairly recently, it isn’t directly known how Poker got its name, but there are two leading theories that more or less coalesce into one very probable origin. The first theory is that it came from the name of a French card game that resembled Poker somewhat called “Poque”.

There was also a German card game that is similar to Poker called “Pochspiel”, which in turn got its name from the German word “pochen” (which is also where the French “Poque” got its name). “Pochen” at the time meant “to brag or bluff”. It should also be noted here that even after Poker got its name, it was also sometimes called “bluff”.

Terms. Nuts; Nuts. Having the 'Nuts' in poker is having the best hand you can have in the game. No matter what hand other players may have, the nuts cannot be beaten. 'I had pocket jacks on a board with Jack of spades, 4 of spades, 6 of hearts, 9 of spades and Jack of Diamonds. Some players might have had flushes, but with Quad jacks, I. A common and certainlycitation needed apocryphal folk etymology is that the term originated from the historical poker games in the colonial west of America, where if a player bet everything he possessed, he would place the nuts of his wagon wheels on the table to ensure that, should he lose, he would be unable to flee and would have to make good on the bet. Aug 22, 2012 It should also be noted here that even after Poker got its name, it was also sometimes called “bluff”. Most Poker historians tend to lean towards the French “Poque” origin, in terms of where the game directly got its name, because Poker seems to have first popped up and spread from New Orleans in the very early 19th century.

Most Poker historians tend to lean towards the French “Poque” origin, in terms of where the game directly got its name, because Poker seems to have first popped up and spread from New Orleans in the very early 19th century. Not too surprisingly from the location, the French game of Poque was commonly played here, lending credence to the “Poque” origin. Whether that’s the case or the alternate “Pochspiel” derivation, it would seem very plausible and probable that the ultimate origin was from the German “pochen”, which meant “brag/bluff”.

And just for fun, here are a two other origins of other common Poker game terms:

Bluff: First popped up in this context around the mid-19th century in American English either from “bluffen”, meaning “to brag or boast”, or “verbluffen”, meaning “to mislead”.
Ante: from the Latin “ante”, meaning “before”, which in turn came from the Proto-Indo-European “*anti”, meaning “facing opposite, before, or in front of”.

*Note: This article is written in cooperation with PokerListings.com; which is the world’s largest online Poker guide featuring breaking Poker news, and detailed Poker strategy articles and videos.

Bonus Poker Facts:

There are two main kinds of bluffing in Poker, a “pure bluff”, meaning that the only hope of winning is if all others in the game fold, then a “semi-bluff” where the cards held don’t have much hope of winning, but may improve significantly after exchanging or acquiring other cards, depending on the rules of the particular type of Poker.
Up until the late 20th century, the generally accepted view of the origin of Poker was that it came from the 16th century Persian game “As Nas”, which was played with 25 cards and strongly resembled “Five Card Stud”. It also featured similar “hands” to Poker. This has changed recently with gaming historians noting that the French game “Poque” was commonly played in the regions Poker seems to have first showed up in, and the rules are somewhat similar to Poker, as is even the name. However, it should be noted that there were numerous card games with similar such rules, so the exact origin of Poker is still debated and it may well have derived from rules of multiple existing card games at the time of its inception. One somewhat unique thing about Poker, that set it apart from many other types of card games of the day and drastically bolstered its popularity, was the betting elements incorporated into the game itself.
One of the earliest documented instances of Poker being played was from 1829 by English actor Joseph Crowell. He stated he played the game in New Orleans that year using a deck of 20 cards and four players, each getting five cards, with bets placed after the cards were dealt. In the early days of Poker, it was common to use fewer cards the fewer people were playing. The game is thought to have spread from New Orleans up the Mississippi on river boats where gambling was extremely popular.
The ability to draw new cards in certain types of Poker games was introduced sometime before 1850. The ability to have a “wild card” was introduced around 1875.
One trick as to when to bluff and when not (to optimize one’s chance of coming out ahead over many hands) is to use a randomizing agent to help you determine whether to bluff or not, such as deriving a randomizing method off of the exact time when the hand is dealt or some mental randomizer using the number of cards of a certain color in your hand or the like. When using these tricks, you should also factor in the general odds of winning the bluff, partially based on how many people are in the game and how much you have to put in vs. how much the pot is worth.
In the sense of “vertical cliff, or flat front”, “bluff” originated from the Dutch “blaf”, meaning “flat, broad”, particularly referencing the flat vertical bows of ships, then later the definition was broadened to refer to certain features of landscape.
At the time of the game Poker beginning to be called such, the word “poker” had already been around for about three centuries, first popping up in the early 16th century meaning “metal rod”, derived from the word “poke”. “Poke” first turned up in English around the 14th century, probably from the Middle Dutch “poken”, which just meant “to poke”, which in turn came from the Proto-Germanic root “*puk-“.

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In poker, the nut hand is the strongest possible hand in a given situation. The second-nut hand or third-nut hand (and so on) may refer to the second and third best possible hands. The term applies mostly to community card poker games where the individual holding the strongest possible hand, with the given board of community cards, is capable of knowing that they have the nut hand.

Usage in context[edit]

Where did the term nuts come from in poker

In Texas hold 'em, if the board is 5♠ 6♠ A♣ 9♠ 5♥, a player holding 7♠ 8♠ has the nut hand because those hole cards complete a 9-high straight flush of spades, which cannot be beaten by any other possible combination of hole cards and community cards. On the same board, the hand 5♣ 5♦ would be the second-nut hand, four of a kind fives; the third-nut hand would be any pair of the remaining three aces, making a full house, aces full of fives.

It is important to note that the actual nut hand may not be the same as the absolute nut hand; for example, if the board is 7♥ 2♣ K♠ K♥ 3♦ a player with K♣ K♦ has the absolute nut hand. However, any player with K-7 knows that he has the nut hand as it is impossible for another player to have two kings. The phrase may also refer to a hand in progress with cards yet to be dealt, as the player can be said to have the nuts at that time. For example if a player holds 7♠ 8♠ on a board of 5♣ 6♠ 9♥ he can be said to have the nuts, however if the next card comes 7♥ then 8-10 becomes the nuts. This makes some nut hands very vulnerable in nine-card games, such as Omaha hold 'em.

In high-low split games one often speaks of 'nut-low' and 'nut-high' hands separately. In Omaha hold 'em, if the board is, 5♠ 6♠ A♣ 9♠ 5♥, any player with 2-3 makes the nut-low hand, 6-5-3-2-A, while a player with 2-4 makes the second-nut-low hand, 6-5-4-2-A (the nut-high hands remain the same as in Texas hold 'em, in this case 7♠ 8♠ to make a straight flush, although one can go as low as aces full by introducing quads and straight flush blockers). Similarly, one can sometimes hear the term 'nut-nut', which refers to a hand that makes both the best possible high and low. In Omaha, with the same board as above, a player holding 7♠ 8♠ plus 2-3 of any suit has the nut-nut and is guaranteed no worse than a split of the low pot plus a win of the high pot.

Origins[edit]

A common and certainly apocryphal folk etymology is that the term originated from the historical poker games in the colonial west of America, where if a player bet everything he possessed, he would place the nuts of his wagon wheels on the table to ensure that, should he lose, he would be unable to flee and would have to make good on the bet. Since it would be expected that a player would only make such a bet when he had the best possible hand, the folk lore says that this is how the best possible hand came to be known as the nuts. It is also rumored^{[by whom?]} that these historical games were played only in the winter, and therefore, the nuts that were placed on the table were 'stone cold', hence coining the term 'stone-cold-nuts'.^[1]

Another explanation^{[citation needed]} is that 'the nuts' originated from the old English usage of 'nuts', meaning 'any source of pleasure'.^[2]

Another seemingly fitting explanation is that the term was derived from the UK English slang 'the dog's bollocks' or 'the mutt's nuts', meaning 'the absolute best'. However, this phrase originated around 1949,^[3] and the term 'the nuts' pre-dates it.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

^DD Poker Glossary
^Etymology Dictionary's entry for 'nuts'
^The Phrase Finder's entry for 'dog's bollocks'