Poker Penalty Checking Nuts
Here, because Darvin held the Ace of Spades, he had a hand regarded as the ‘exclusive nuts’ – one which can’t be beaten in any scenario in accordance with the five community cards. Tournament rules state the player who holds an undisputed winning hand on the final round of betting, is last to act, and either checks or flat-calls (calling after one bet), will receive a penalty. This rule refers only to undisputed winning hands as opposed to a nut-straight which is a tied hand.
Why is Checking the Nuts Disallowed?
The disallowing of checking or flat-calling with the nuts is a rule usually only implemented in tournaments, and not cash games. The main reason behind ruling against this practice is to avoid any potential collusion between two or more players – in this sense, collusion would be a prior agreement between players to obtain an unfair advantage within the competition by deceiving or misleading other players.
In a tournament, if players sitting on the same table work together, then they can theoretically increase their chances of winning as they are no longer playing against each other, and using previously agreed upon tactics to garner information about other players, and attempt to both remain in the competition as long as possible.
As a rule, legitimate, safe gambling sites will offer comparatively small casino bonuses Poker Penalty Checking Nuts ($500-$3000) with rollovers of 15-25X. Sites to avoid will generally offer higher bonuses ($5000 and Poker Penalty Checking Nuts up) with rollover requirements in the 40X region, making payouts all but unobtainable. 1 This 1 Easy Reverse Tell Makes The Nuts Win More. 1.1 Discipline and patience in poker = success. 1.1.1 Extra patience is needed when you connect big time with the board; 1.2 The reverse tell: slow down and hesitate with your monster hands; 1.3 Example hand with the hesitation reverse tell. 1.3.1 The flop and the nut flush; 1.3.2 The turn. Flopping a flush or a similarly great hand and deceiving players all the way until the end is one of the joys of poker. It is perfectly legal to check the nuts on each street up until the river. However, the rule states that if you are last to act on a hand on the river and you are holding the nuts, you have to bet or raise.
An example of collusion when not betting with the best hand:
- Player A and player C are working in tandem.
- The turn comes and gives player C (acting last) the nut flush, obviously unbeknownst to his/her partner.
- Players A, B and C remain in the round.
- Player A lays down a relatively large bet with two-pair and Player B folds.
- Player C calls.
- The river comes, Player A checks followed by a check from Player C.
Player A and Player C have no reason to bet against each other on the final round because neither wants to kick the other out of the tournament. There can be many scenarios where if people have arranged beforehand to work together, that checking or flat-calling a nut hand would work to their benefit.
However, most cases where checking the nuts occurs is a result of a player misreading their hand or is unaware of the rule and wants to see what the other player had (as seen above), knowing their opponent would most likely fold to any potential bet and muck their hand. Sometimes, a player mightn’t want to eliminate another player for tactical reasons (not collusion) such as gaining more information about other players’ style.
Obviously, we do not condone collusion. If you find yourself in a position where it is you to act last and you hold the nuts, it is advisable to bet anyway, as you could end up winning a whole lot more than if you were to flat-call or do nothing.
Why does the rule not apply in cash games?
In cash games, if a player remains in the game after being checked to by someone with the nuts, it doesn’t really impact anyone else at the table. However, in a tournament, if that same player remains in the game courtesy of some slow-play from their opponent with the nuts, it can have a significant impact.
Despite most poker players having a fair idea about the rules of the game and knowing what to do in certain situations, there are still a few regulations that go under the radar and are only known by long-term players. One thing that you may not be aware of is that, in live poker tournaments, checking the nuts can be a breach of the rules. Let’s delve into the subject in more detail so you are clear on how and why this occurs.
Before getting into the specifics of this rule, it is important to clarify that it mainly exists in live poker. When playing at online poker sites real money, players are usually able to check the nuts if they wish to do so. It may differ in certain tournaments online, however, so it is important to check the rules before you start playing. When you have got to a sufficient ability level at poker online, you may want to test your skills in a live scenario. This is when you need to know rules such as this one.
Just in case you are unfamiliar with the term, the “nuts” refers to the best possible hand on the table in a game of Texas Hold’em. Every player at the table can work out what the nuts would be based on the five community cards in the middle. For example, if there was a pair on the table, the nuts would be four of a kind. If there were three hearts on the table and all the cards were of different denominations and not running sequentially, the nuts would be a flush.
Now, you may be thinking about all those times you’ve slow played a monster hand and milked everyone on the river. Flopping a flush or a similarly great hand and deceiving players all the way until the end is one of the joys of poker. It is perfectly legal to check the nuts on each street up until the river. However, the rule states that if you are last to act on a hand on the river and you are holding the nuts, you have to bet or raise. The reason for this is because the tournament organizers want to make sure there is always as much action as possible.
Making this mistake in poker doesn’t necessarily result in the player losing the chips they just won. They may face a warning or a penalty from the event organizer, though. This could mean something like missing a round of play. If you’re deep into a tournament and on a good run, the last thing you want to happen is a break as it could disrupt your flow.
Poker Penalty Checking Nuts Allowed
Poker Penalty Checking Nuts Bad
In a home poker game or at most online poker sites, checking the nuts is fine. But, if you are in a live tournament, be careful as other players will call you out if you do it. Even some of the best in the business have done it on occasion, though, so don’t let it get you down too much if it ever happens to you.