If you are playing a Texas hold’em cash game, then it is likely you will encounter a very strong hand or two. In some cases, a player might be holding a straight flush, full houses, or a royal flush. You may be able to weave your magic, which in turn, can pay dividends and you can win more when playing in card rooms.
Let’s dive into the world of the cooler in poker and explain the significance of them.
WHAT IS COOLER IN POKER?
In essence, a cooler may see you hold a very good hand, perhaps even an unbeatable hand. However, you could be in store for bad luck as your opponent could show an even stronger hand, and so they could clinch the big pot at your expense.
However, this should be put into some context. Your opponent may have gone all in and they end up being the chip leader. Fortune favours the brave as the old saying goes. If anything, the notion of a cooler in poker is somewhat open-ended.
Below is an example of how you might use cooler in a sentence: “There is no way we could have folded our top full house, it’s just a cooler when the villain shows up with quad aces”.
WHY IS IT CALLED A COOLER IN POKER?
At this point, you might wonder why does poker have coolers? The nature of poker means that at some point, players will be dealt varying hands.
For example, it is unlikely that someone will have pocket aces when you have dealt pocket kings, but it’s not entirely impossible.
DO POKER COOLERS MATTER – EXAMPLES
Yes, poker coolers matter when playing poker. To simplify things for you, we have outlined a few examples:
A player might have a set of 10s after you have flopped on a pair of eights. Such hands are quite common in the game.
Folding pocket kings shouldn’t happen before the flop, but if you decide to go all in and your opponent shows pocket rockets, you should be devoid of blame as you had a strong gut feeling you would win.
Or you could have the nut flush on an unpaired board and run into a two-card straight flush and your opponent ends up grabbing all the money.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO AVOID POKER COOLERS?
Of course, being on the wrong side of a cooler can really hurt. Poker is a game of statistical anomalies and sometimes it is very tricky and you can get a bad beat. However, you have to learn to take any bad beat in your stride and ride the luck when you have it.
Ultimately, it’s about playing the odds and not overplaying with the same hand. For example, the 7 is the ultimate river card, so if you can use this to your advantage, you can reap the dividends. Always keep me in mind opponents who re raise to come out with an even better hand.
Remember, not all coolers are created equally. There are simply spots on the board that are unavoidable and some players will be quick to justify or defend any bad players as coolers to deflect attention away from a misjudgment on their part. However, coolers can help some players to improve their early technique and pick up a full house more regularly.
HOW DO YOU GET OVER A COOLER IN POKER?
Being on the wrong side of the cooler in the short period can hurt. The only way it can be detrimental is if you let it affect you, and before you know it, things can quickly spiral out of control.
A small percentage of players will recognise that coolers can affect their win rate, however, if you are able to play enough hands over time, then you will be able to pocket aces and scoop the maximum amount from the pot.
SUMMARY
Coolers, as we have seen, can suck and so, the onus is on you to make sure you stay on the right side of them. In most games, coolers are unavoidable, so instead of being passive, you should tackle any challenges on the board head-on so that you can win more money. After all, one player might be overplaying a hand that is worse than yours. Like with anything else, you can create your own luck in poker.