To have the “nuts” means to have the best possible hand on the table, and when that happens, you want to extract as much profit as you can. In a recent hand, I had KQ of clubs, and the flop came up A75—all clubs. That meant I had the flush, and nothing could beat it…and nothing was likely to, regardless of the turn and river. Instead of going all-in or making some huge bet, I just checked, then called a small bet. I kept doing that through the turn, at which point another player made a large bet that caused everyone but me to fold. I waited 20 seconds, as though I were struggling deep in thought, before calling. Then came the river, which didn’t change my status as the best possible hand (no full house possibility, no straight flush). I checked, and another big bet came. This time, I raised all-in, and suddenly the other player had to reckon with the fact that he’d bet a ton of chips already. He had to decide if he thought I was bluffing, and if so, whether it was worth it to call to find out. There was some psychology at play on his end—the sunk cost fallacy (“I’ve spent this many chips already, so…”), ego-related defiance (“I have good cards, can I let him bully me?”), and the looming thrill of calling a big bluff. He couldn’t resist calling, and he walked straight into my flush. I got all his money, and it was more by far than I could have hoped for if I played the best hand aggressively from the start. It sounds paradoxical, but put aggression aside when you’re a sure winner.