Cooler flop can often have fatal consequences
Do you know what a cooler is? I’m not talking about the kind that keep drinks cold, like Igloo or Yeti coolers. I’m referring to a certain hand of poker — or rather, what sometimes happens when two quality poker hands collide.
A “cooler” refers to an instance when you are dealt a very strong hand in poker, only to be up against an opponent with an even better hand. An easy example would be when pocket kings run into pocket aces. There are also cooler flops, meaning the flop improves both players to monster hands.
Usually, there’s no way you can avoid getting away from your hand in a cooler situation. Case in point: the largest poker tournament in Michigan state history.
The Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers $1,100 Main Event, which took place in May, drew 1,287 entries and offered a prize pool of more than $1.2 million. With a $221,323 prize awaiting the winner, competition was fierce. There were just seven players remaining when a bigtime cooler occurred.
It happened with the blinds at 80,000160,000 plus an ante of 20,000. Michael Reardon raised to 400,000 holding As Kd in the small blind. Justin Lee, who had the bigger stack, just called from the big blind with Qh Js. The flop came down Ad 10s Kh. As you can see, that flop was destined to set off fireworks. Reardon, who had flopped top two pair, continued for 800,000. Lee, who had flopped Broadway (the term for a 10-J- Q-K-A straight), just called.
When the 4c appeared on the turn, Reardon moved all in for 1.4 million, and Lee snap- called.
Reardon was surprised to see his opponent roll over the nuts, but all hope was not lost. He could still win if either an ace or king appeared on the river — a 9 percent chance.
The dealer burned a final card and put out the 4s It paired the board but wasn’t the card Reardon was looking for, and he had to settle for seventh place and $33,666 in prize money.
That hand was a prime example of a cooler flop. The only chance Reardon had of getting away from the hand was if Lee had raised the flop, and even then it would have been difficult.
Reardon would have had to put his opponent on exactly queen-jack to find a fold. That was well within Lee’s limping range, but so were hands such as A-10 and K-10. It’s a moot point though, as Lee did not raise. He slow-played the nuts, as he should have, and Reardon did all the betting.
Reardon’s position and the strength of his hand simply didn’t afford him the opportunity to fold, and it cost him his tournament life. It was a prime example of a cooler flop.