no-brainer

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has been used since the 1970s as an informal term meaning 'an idea or choice that involves hardly any mental effort':

If this was the first Christmas it would be a no-brainer as to what the three kings would turn up with at the manger. Forget the gold, frankincense and myrrh. It would be iPods, Play Stations and MP3s, or similar technomiracles—Irish News, 2006.

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term used to describe a market the direction of which has become obvious, and therefore requires little or no analysis. This means that most of the stocks will go up in a strong bull market and fall in a bear market, so that it does not matter very much which stock investors buy or sell.

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A player who holds a hand so strong it cannot be beat. As a result any way that player plays cannot be incorrect because they can't lose. No matter how unexperienced the player is, the hand they hold is unbeatable.

SoundPoker Says: In a game of hold'em if your hole cards were pocket aces, and two aces came on the flop you would hold the nuts with quad aces. If you bet, then everyone would probably fold. Or you could check it all the way through to the river and if another player bet you could just call them until the last round of betting then raise, the result you make some more money and still win.

See Also: Check, Check Raise, Lock, Nuts

n. an easy question that takes no thinking to answer; a simple problem that requires no intellect to solve; a dilemma that requires no pondering to resolve.  His proposal of marriage was a no-brainer. She turned him down flat on the spot.

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For a list of words related to no-brainer, see:

• Intelligence or Aptitude

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