[gmunny]

I've been thinking about adding either a Kill or a 1/2 Kill to our split pot games, especially since I just got a cool Palms Kill button. I've only played Omaha with a Kill twice at the Mirage a few years ago. Does any one else use a Kill at home?

My memory isn't so good, so here's what I think happens:

1) Pot is deemed a kill pot if high/low is scooped and is at least $X.
2) The next hand, the blinds/bets are doubled (so if we were at $2/$4 it is now $4/$. The winner of the previous kill pot posts a 3rd blind? This part i'm foggy on. Is the 3rd blind 2x the size of the big blind and I assume they can't get the last option since that player's position can be anywhere or do they?
3) Once hand is over, game goes back to normal pre-kill betting.

Please let me know how you guys are doing it or if I have it completely wrong. Also, what are the pluses/minuses of using a Kill? Or did you try it and it killed the action instead of spurring it? We usually pay $2/$4 or $3/$6 fixed limit split-pot games and want to spice it up a little.

Thanks,
Greg

[abby99]

Originally Posted by gmunny

I've been thinking about adding either a Kill or a 1/2 Kill to our split pot games, especially since I just got a cool Palms Kill button. I've only played Omaha with a Kill twice at the Mirage a few years ago. Does any one else use a Kill at home?

My memory isn't so good, so here's what I think happens:

1) Pot is deemed a kill pot if high/low is scooped and is at least $X.
2) The next hand, the blinds/bets are doubled (so if we were at $2/$4 it is now $4/$. The winner of the previous kill pot posts a 3rd blind? This part i'm foggy on. Is the 3rd blind 2x the size of the big blind and I assume they can't get the last option since that player's position can be anywhere or do they?
3) Once hand is over, game goes back to normal pre-kill betting.

Please let me know how you guys are doing it or if I have it completely wrong. Also, what are the pluses/minuses of using a Kill? Or did you try it and it killed the action instead of spurring it? We usually pay $2/$4 or $3/$6 fixed limit split-pot games and want to spice it up a little.

Thanks,
Greg

I haven't played with a kill or half kill in a home game, but I have in a casino. IMO there shouldn't be any difference.

Point #1 is correct. In a high/low split game, a scoop triggers a kill on the next hand provided that the pot is at least the casino's minimum.

Point #2 isn't quite right. The blinds on the kill hand are exactly the same as if it weren't a kill. The killer posts a live blind equal to 2x the big blind. Betting levels on all streets are 2x regular. If UTG is not the killer, his choices are to call 2x the BB (the killer's blind) or raise to 4x the BB (2x the killer's blind). If the killer is one of the blinds, he posts only the kill blind.

In limit HE, a kill is triggered when one player wins two successive pots and both are at least the casino's minimum for a kill pot.

With a half kill, everything is 1.5 times instead of 2x (i.e., $2/$4 becomes $3/$6).

[schimmel]

pretty interesting stuff.

i`ve never heard about this kill thing. i always wondered what those kill buttons were for. i thought they were used for tournaments...

[gmunny]

That's great.. Thanks Abby!

[LarryJ]

Another variation to think about:

At the Mirage, the Kill acts in turn pre-flop.

There's a 4-8 half-kill O8 game at the Orleans where the Kill always gets the last act pre-flop, no matter what seat he's in.

Personally, I prefer the Mirage variation, but both variations are fun.

LarryJ

[LarryJ]

Forgot to mention that at the Orleans and the Mirage as, the Kill is triggered by pot that's 8x big blind (before any rake is taken). When we play O8 at Motor City, $73 is the magic number....$10 big blind x 8 minus $7 rake.

LarryJ

[2_hotty]

I used to love the 4/8 LHE 1/2 Kill game at Mandelay Bay. They still have that? Last time I went to Vegas a few months ago, I only played 1/2 NLHE there.

[bmwguy525]

Yeah Abby's dead on. And for the most part I've rarely seen the kill blind preflop play as last-act. In almost every kill game I've played it's been a live blind only.

[abby99]

So why play with a kill? Depends. Playing some of the hands are at higher stakes (1.5x or 2x) is attractive to players who would like to mix some higher stakes play into the game without actually playing a higher-stakes game, and it adds excitement and variety. For others, it's the only game available but they're clearly out of their comfort zone when a kill pot is in effect. (I speak from experience on that one, but I've since expanded my comfort zone.)

A strategic pre-flop rule of thumb, similar to playing with straddlers, is either to raise or fold. This tends to drive out the weaker hands, puts pressure on the killer, and increases the amount of dead money in the pot.

I'd like to hear more thoughts on why players like kill games.

[bmwguy525]

When I first started playing I played the kill games because...that's all there were Now a few years later when I only play for fun, and when I have a choice, I'll play the kill games to mix it up and to catch people out of their comfort zone.

I love to play for fun so it's fun for me to try to chase that little elusive red kill button too, and it's even more fun when I have a friend or two at the table and we battle each other to dead-end of our stacks to try be on the kill. Then when the button comes it's like a right of passage and a reason to play harder against each other.

Obviously in that instance it would be annoying to whoever isn't a friend at the table, but at a home game it would add just an excuse to really drill into your friends and vice versa. I like that idea