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A Poker Rules Question?

I was watching Poker After Dark. There was a conflict at the table which was never answered- Texas Holdem- If a player throws his hand in the muck after the river card is turned, does the other person who is going to take down the pot have to show his hand at that point? Also-what does the term "cooler" mean in poker?

Public Comments

1. The simple answer is "no". If one player folds, the other player is not obligated to show their cards. The term "cooler" is used to describe a person who's own luck is so bad, that they seem to negatively effect the luck of people around them. Though there is no scientific evidence of this that I'm aware of, there was a pretty good movie with William H Macy called "The Cooler" which did a good job of showing you what a cooler does.
2. Your answer would be "NO", once a player mucks there hand they are giving up the pot and the other player does not have to show there cards.
3. no, you don't have to show your hand in a take down situation. Only if you want to. I'm not sure what cooler refers to.
4. A player must show two cards to be awarded the pot. A cooler is a hand that you get which is an awesome hand (a pair of kings before the flop in holdem) where another player happens to have an even greater hand (a pair of aces.).
5. For your first question... NO - the winning player does NOT have to show their hand. Once the other players have folded, and if the final other player has thrown his/her hand into the muck and it touches the other cards - their hand is DEAD ! The winner CAN show if they want, but it is not required. As for the term "cooler". It can have several meanings. The most common is a player that is running vey cold. It is also called "cold decked". It means that they are getting a statistically bad run of cards. This (for most players) over time can cause a player to come off their game and sometimes play less than premium hands because they figure "these are the best I've seen in 2 hours, so I'll play 'em". Then when they loose the hand with their marginal hand, they either tighten up beyond belief, or they go on tilt and play terrible.... They have been "coolered". It can also refer to someone who has been having a great run of cards, but then gets one hand that they get beat down big time (and in the process give back most if not all of their winnings in that one hand). That hand would be a huge "cooler" for them. It cools them down quickly !
6. nope. only if he stays do they have to show their hands
7. since this has been answered already and Marc L gave you the best answer, i would have to go along and agree with him.
8. No he doesnt
9. No, you don't have to show your hand. No matter what you have, it is the best hand, because the other player has no hand. Also, a cooler is a big hand that loses to a bigger hand, or also a big, unsuspected outdraw.
10. I saw the PAD episode. It was Helmuth vs. Jean-Robert Bellande. Both players check, and Helmuth had squat and knew he was beaten. However he did NOT muck his hand. He told Bellande "you're good" and waited for Bellande to prove it. After a couple minutes of arguing, the producers stepped in and told Bellande that Helmuth was right and in order to win he had to show his cards. Had Helmuth thrown his cards into the muck, he wouldn't have had to show them, but since he hadn't, he had to show them. Plus Helmuth did end up showing his cards, which forced Bellande into showing anyway. Basically Bellande didn't want to show his hand and give the other players any info on his hand selection. IIRC he had either bottom pair or the next to bottom pair and Helmuth missed a draw. I'm including a link to pokertube with the episode in question. Also, I think a cooler can also be a person paid by a casino to play at the table games and cool downa hot player, but I might be wrong.
11. About the term "cooler" I see that there are many definitions but I will tell you the most usual definition of this term when used by pros. A cooler is when a very good hand face another very good hand. Its a "cooler" because you cant get away from it... for exemple a KKK99 full house facing a KKKJJ full house... nobody will lay down Kings Full so he suffered a cooler. Some people would call that a bad beat but its not the case.. a bad beat is when a weak hand manage to outdraw a favorite hand. And about your question about mucking... whenever someone fold his hand and its not the showdown, the opponent never have to show his hand. Once at showdown however, the last person who bet (or raise) show his hand first, then if the others doesnt beat that hand he can muck them. There is a rule though that would permit the guy with the winning hand to request the dealer to show the losing hand. It doesnt happen often but he can do that.