If you have been playing poker for a long time, you have probably encountered a cooler at least once. A cooler is a hand that you have that is beaten by another player’s strong one. It is one of the most devastating hands that can happen to any poker player.
The term cooler has made its way into the poker vernacular, though it was originally used to refer to a cheater’s deck that was stacked to produce certain hands. The cheater would then introduce this prepared deck into the game and when dealt these specific cards, it would be “cooler” to the victim, as they would have a good chance of beating the victim’s hand with their own. This is a form of card manipulation and is illegal in many states.
A cooler in poker occurs when you have a strong hand and lose to an even stronger one. It can be very frustrating, especially if you played the hand perfectly. But remember, a cooler does not necessarily mean that you were wrong to play the hand. It may just be that you were unlucky and your opponent was lucky enough to catch a better hand.
The strength of the hand that you had will also determine how bad of a cooler it is. For example, a player can have a suited K-8 and lose to a AK on a wet board, which is a bad cooler. However, if the flop was QQK and you lost to a KK, it is not nearly as bad of a cooler.
You can try to avoid a cooler by studying your opponents’ tells and micro expressions. But in the end, it will almost always come down to gut feel. So it’s important to focus on improving your game and not just relying on luck.
If you have a good strategy and don’t deviate from it, your coolers will eventually even out. Just don’t let them affect your confidence in the short term. Instead, focus on what you can control and enjoy every pot that you win – cooler or no cooler. This will help you to keep your focus on the big picture, which is winning more pots than you lose. It’s a much more effective approach than lamenting the bad luck that you had in a particular hand.