Poker glossary

Cooler

A hand where two very strong holdings collide and a big loss is essentially unavoidable.

A cooler is a spot where you and your opponent both hold hands strong enough to get all the money in, and you happen to be on the losing end — set over set, or the second-nut flush against the nuts. The money going in is correct; you were simply beat.

Coolers are variance, not mistakes. The skill is in not turning an ordinary hand into a cooler for yourself — folding when the action screams you are against the top of a range — while accepting that true cooler spots will cost you chips no matter what.

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