Kill Pot

[waznis]

Can someone please explain the "kill pot" and what exactly it is. Thanks for any help!

[that_pope]

Sure thing...

In limit hold'em games of 3/6, 4/8, 6/12, and 8/16, this refers to a pot where someone won the last two hands that saw a flop in a row, and where the 2nd pot was atleast 10X the big blind.  So the 2nd pot would have to be atleast $30 for a 3/6 game, and $80 for an 8/16 game, after the rake is taken out.  If this happens, the player who won these two pots is now refered to as the 'killer', and has to post the equivalent of double the big blind, as a third blind for the next hand.  So in a 4/8 game, someone wins two pots in a row, both pots saw a flop, and the second pot had atleast $40 in it after the rake was taken out.  He now has to post $8, and the stakes effectively double.  Now any bet preflop or on the flop must be in $8 increments, and the turn and river $16 increments.

For limit hold'em games of 20/40 and 40/80, it is played with a half kill, so someone who wins two pots in 20/40 has to post $30 and the game is changed to 30/60, and for 40/80, the game is changed to 60/120.  60/120 and 75/150 do not have any kill pots, since changing those limits would surpass the $150 bet limit poker has in the state of AZ.

The kill pot continues until the killer doesn't win the hand, or if no flop is seen, or if the pot doesn't have 10x the big blind.

In omaha, I believe a kill pot occurs when the 10x pot is met and someone scoops the pot (wins high and low).  Once a kill gets put on in omaha, it can usually go on for many hands if people continually fold on the turn, since it doesn't require 2 pots in a row.

Stud follows the same rules as hold'em, but the bring in and ante stay the same, the killer simply posts it dead, and now people have to call those bets to continue....

Hope this helps, I am rusty on the omaha kill rules, and very very very rusty on the stud, so if I am incorrect, please correct me.  But I KNOW I am right about hold'em.

Good luck!!!

[Aack Thbbbt]

The trigger amount to "kill" a pot in Omaha games at Casino AZ is $50 sweeper in 3/6 limit and $100 sweeper in 6/12.

[waznis]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it and that really helps!

[AllYourChips]

Well described by Pope. 

It's basically just put there to enduce action, but playing kill pots properly will have a big effect on the result of your night. 

Pay attention to the table and see if players are shying away from kill pots because of the heightened stakes - in which case you should be aggressive, or if they are all jumping at the chance to play at a kill pot because of the chance at a bigger pot - which you should probably tighten up pre-flop. 

[CrazyLond]

In stud, the ante stays the same but the "killer" posts a full small bet($6 for a $3/$6 game that has been killed to become $6/$12 for example.)  Regardless of what the low door card is, action commences on the left of the killer with the killer's posted bet starting the action instead of having a bring-in.