Love them or hate them, coolers are an essential part of poker. Finding yourself on the wrong side of a cooler can be a very painful (and costly) experience, but if you want to play this exciting game, you have to learn to deal with it.

The ability to watch other players find themselves in cooler situations, on the other hand, is, in part, what attracts viewers to live poker streams. You get to experience all the drama and excitement that come with these situations without having to deal with the painful aftermath.

Over the course of 2024, Poker at the Lodge has treated us to a fair share of these hands (as regular viewers are certainly aware), and in this article we are bringing you our top three picks for the sickest coolers of the year we got to witness.

Three-Way Cooler Leads to a Pot of Over Quarter of a Million

There are some games where folding monsters before the flop is reasonable. If you’re in a Lodge live game, though, those types of decisions go out of a window. When the game is wild and players are unpredictable, you have to stick to your guns and brace for impact.

This is exactly the scenario that happened a few months back, when three of the Lodge’s regulars, Nick Airball, Taras, and Tesla, found themselves sitting with premium starting hands and not willing to back off.

With blinds at $100/$200 and the straddle going up all the way to $800, Taras opened the betting action from the button, bumping it up to $2,000 with no less than pocket aces!

Nick Airball in the small blind looked down at A♦K♣, and he wasted no time making it $10,000 to go. The action folded all the way to Tesla in the $800 straddle, and, as luck would have it, he found himself sitting with pocket queens.

With so much action ahead, Tesla tried to keep things somewhat under control and decided to just call. However, Taras and his pocket aces were having none of it, and he moved all-in for just $38,600.

Nick Airball is certainly not afraid of some action, so seeing this, he went for an isolation and moved all-in for his $112k, and it was back to Tesla and his ladies.

After a very short think, Tesla decided to match Nick’s wager, and all of a sudden, the three players found themselves in a massive three-way all-in with $283k in the middle!

They decided to run it just one time, and the flop brought a king to help Airball improve and win the side pot against Tesla, while Taras and his aces held all the way for a healthy triple-up.

Doug Polk Dishes Out Some Pain

Doug Polk tries to be a gracious host at his poker club, but once cards are in the air and those chips start flying, he’s not shy about winning the said chips off his guests in any way possible (coolers included and welcome).

In this particular hand, Polk got involved in a single-raised pot with pocket fours against 10♠9♠ of Hook and A♠9♥ of Action Dan. With $6,600 in the middle, the dealer proceeded to spread the action flop of 10♦9♣4♥.

When it checked to Polk, he proceed to bet $2,200, only to be met with a quick and big raise to $15,000 from Hook. Music to Doug’s ears, no doubt.

With some draws available on the flop, Polk proceeded to just call and see the turn of K♣, with $39,000 already in the pot. Now, Hook decided to slow down and check, and it was Doug’s turn to take the betting lead once again as he fired $24,000.

Hook taught about it for a little while and then made the call. With close to $87k in the middle, the river brought the 8♣, which also completed the backdoor flush draw.

Luckily, this was a scare card for both, so when Hook checked, Doug decided to check back and take his set to a showdown, winning about $45,000. An ugly cooler, but if the board ran out a bit differently, it could have been much more painful for Hook.

Brutal Turn Ruins the Day for Taras

Our third pick for the sickest cooler at the Lodge Poker live stream in 2024 is a hand dating back to February, once again featuring Taras – but this time he finds himself on the wrong side of things.

The hand started somewhat peacefully, with Bulldog limping for $800 with A♣3♣. Taras squeezed to $5,000 from the $800 straddle, and Bulldog made the call.

The flop came Q♥4♦2♥, giving Taras the top set. He decided to be sneaky with the nuts and checked, and Bulldog happily took the free card.

The turn was a disastrous 5♠, completing Bulldog’s straight. Unaware, Taras led out for $7,000, only to be met with a quick raise to $25,000.

Not convinced by this raise, Taras proceeded to 3-bet, making it $75,000, and Bulldog made an easy call in position.

The A♥ rolled on the river, completing the front-door flush draw and putting a four-liner to a straight on the board. This made Taras slow down and check, but Bulldog was not done betting just yet.

Looking to squeeze the last ounce of value, he moved all-in for Taras’s remaining $91,300. Taras thought about it for quite a while, but in the end, he couldn’t get away from it, and he ended up making the call to secure a $340k pot for his opponent.

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