The "purpose" of a kill game. . . well, I guess there's a few different answers depending upon your viewpoint:
The Poker Room: So why would a poker room spread a kill game vs. a straight limit? I'm thinking that a kill pot pretty much guarantees that the hand will qualify for the maximum rake. So maybe it incrementally increases the table's earning.
Players-in-General: It probably is attractive to people with a bit more "gamble" in them. The variation breaks up some of the monotony if the table's a rock garden. It also adds a bit more excitement when every so often you see some ginormous pot being dragged.
I personally like playing kill games in casinos because it seems that players are a bit uncomfortable with the doubled stakes and are less apt to go fishing in a kill pot. So I can bluff more and also make drawing hands think a little about calling two cold on the turn.
At home, if we're playing limit I like spreading a 50¢/$1 kill game. The limit is low enough to not scare the newbies, and the occasional $1/$2 hand makes it not so boring (hey, it's almost like "real" poker!) for the more seasoned players.
I think the casinos also employ kill games to make it easier for low limit players to at least get some brief experience with the next level up. Many people will sit down at $4/8 (sometimes that's the lowest), but wouldn't dare sign up for $6/12. A $4/8 game with a 1/2 kill gives the player a taste of what it would be like to move up. Higher limits = higher rake for the house.
Another thing regarding a kill pot. If the person who killed the pot is in the small blind - at Caesars Indiana (and maybe elsewhere I dont know) - the player must post a small blind plus the Kill - the BB posts the normal BB and action begins as normal. If the person is in the big blind he post the kill, and the small blind is normal.
We often play a Mississippi Stradle to throw another confusion into the mix. Any player may stradle, but the first option begins with the button. The advantage of straddling on the button is, that person gets to act last pre-flop as well. Because a stradle is live and action begins after the stradle.
Linear Mode
