What does "cooler" mean? I know it has something to do with going all in and losing, its just I don't know exactly what it means when people say something like, "Well, we went all in and he sucked out on me. That's a cooler but no biggie." What does this mean?

Hands in which you feel you would win most times. (Don't know if that's the best definition)

But these are coolers:

Someone having AA when you have KK.
Full house against quads.

etc.

So a cooler is a hand in which you lose with an excellent hand (like a full house losing to quads for example)?

Coolers are very good hands that you and Villain would play exactly the same way if you switched hands. Basically hands that you're guarenteed to go broke with.

Getting sucked out on is different. A suck out is when you get your money in ahead and Villain gets his miracle card on the river and you break your monitor with your fist.

Does anyone know why a cooler is called a cooler? The only reason I can think of is because when you lose it cools you down which assumes you were "hot" (ie running well).

But you can get sucked out on with a cooler, right? Like if someone catches quads on the river and sucks out on your nut flush, your flush is a cooler, right?

i always thought a cooler was a turn or river card that freezes the betting

I've heard of that as well. And you are right, the word 'cooler' can be used to mean exactly what you said. Its a cooler card. But the word cooler can be used differently in a different context like the one we've been describing and its just a different meaning. If cooler were in the dictionary it would have the two definitions we just described in this thread.

Nah, if some idiot set miner gets all his money in against your nut flush and pulls off a one outer, that's just a suckout. Try not to break anything expensive.

Edit: Actually not a one outer, but you know what I mean.

It's also Willaim H. Macy

Here's a link to the urbandictionary's definitions, always a great reference (besides the FAQs for "what does this mean?'.

imo Shick's definition was the best.

I checked the FAQ first. No luck. I didn't think a poker specific term like cooler could be found in the urban dictionary. But I could be wrong.

etymology: when a cheater introduces a stacked deck into play, he'd call it a cooler, as in fresh from the refrigerator.

A classic, though obvious, cooler would be to deal KK to the mark, bring another king on the flop, but have him lose to an ace on the river, the cheater holding AA and winning with set-over-set. Lots of betting on every street, no matter if he decides to get tricky and slowplay somewhere.

So by extension, it's any situation where you can make unarguably correct plays, and lose a big pot anyway. Nobody really insinuates that somebody actually stacked the deck any more when they cry "cooler". Still, I wouldn't toss the phrase around lightly in a tough live game.

a completely alternate, though valid, definition is a card that kills the action.

That's a good definition gedan

here's a video of a much more artful cooler scam

Nice!! Thanks.

Shick pretty much nailed it.

Just a sick hand that you don't expect to run into the majority of the time.