The Game of Poker is Dead?

Having played poker for more than 25 years, I've encountered lots of different situations, and now that I'm a columnist, I've heard more stories than ever before. I'm not sure why, but it seems that my writing for a poker magazine gives people license to tell me stories, good or bad, about everything that's ever happened to them in poker.

To me, this is a good thing, because it provides me the opportunity to bring you answers to questions or opinions about different scenarios that are based on my experience.

Recently I received an E-mail asking me why the game of poker is dead. At first I thought it was an advertisement – Spam, as we call it on the Internet – but after further review of the E-mail, I realized that poker is in fact dead, or is being killed as we speak, and instead of trying to stop it, I'm here to promote it!

I've written in the past about the intimidation factor experienced by new players upon walking into casinos. While I hope that you've gotten past that, what happens when you are inside? Are there things with which you are unfamiliar that are intimidating, such as trying to decide which game to play? You look at the list of games available and see one called $4-$8 hold'em with a kill. Kill? "Hey, I thought this was a friendly place," you say to yourself. Just then, a guy walks by and says to his friend, "Yeah, I was in that $4-$8 game; there was a kill pot and I got killed on the river. I thought I had him drawing dead. He made a set with his pocket rockets (players shoot rockets?) when he spiked (they throw spikes, too?) an ace on the river, and I was a goner."

So, you say to yourself, "This is a very nice casino, but this game sounds a bit rough. What does kill pot mean?" Remember that I told you in previous columns not to let the terms of the game intimidate you. Let's look at the meaning of some of these terms.

Once you've entered the world of poker, you find out about the addiction of "action"; that is, the fast pace, the size of the pots, and the desire to move up in limits. The kill game is designed to increase action without players having to step up in limits.

In a hold'em game with a kill, there is a two-sided button. One side has the number 1 on it and the other side says "kill." Every time a player wins a pot, the dealer gives him the button with the number 1 side faceup. If the player wins a second consecutive pot, he keeps the button but it is turned over to the word "kill" side. This signifies that the next hand, and the next hand only, is a kill pot. The player with the kill button puts chips on it equal to double the blind, and the next hand dealt is a full limit higher. For example, if you were playing $3-$6 hold'em and there was a kill pot, the player with the kill button would put out a blind of $6 and that hand only would be played at a $6-$12 limit. If the player with the kill button won that hand, the next hand would remain a kill pot ($6-$12, in this example). If a different player won the hand, he would get the button with the number 1 side faceup and the game would revert back to $3-$6.

In order for a kill pot to be in effect, a condition must be met. This means that the kill doesn't occur the same way in every game. For example, in Omaha eight-or-better, a kill doesn't occur unless one person scoops the pot (wins both high and low, or wins high when there is no low). There also might be a pot-size qualifier. For example, in $10-$20 Omaha eight-or-better the pot must be equal to or greater than $100 in order for it to meet the condition for being a kill pot.

The kill does not always jump a full limit, either. There are full kills, half-kills, and third-kills. They are spread based on the players' desires and the casino's rules. A full kill is as I explained above, in which the blinds are doubled. An example of a half-kill is a $10-$20 game becoming $15-$30 during a kill pot, and an example of a third-kill is a $15-$30 game becoming $20-$40 during a kill pot.

Kill pots occur a lot less often during a game than you might expect, particularly in hold'em. They are a great way for you to experience higher limits without stepping up a full limit.

The word "dead" comes into play a lot, also. You could be drawing dead. This is a situation in which even if you make the hand you are drawing to, you still can't win because your opponent already has a higher-ranking hand than you're trying to make. Sometimes this occurs when both you and your opponent get the card you want on the river. An example would be when you both hold flush draws and your opponent's is higher. I've also seen situations in which you make that flush with a card that pairs the board, giving your opponent a full house. Ouch!

You can get "killed" when you hold the best hand on the turn in hold'em and the river card gives your opponent a better hand, or when someone draws out on you on seventh street in seven-card stud. In a tournament, if you show your hand to other players, the tournament director can kill it or declare it dead. Also, when a player gets knocked out of a tournament and he was about to get the button, the button doesn't move forward, and is referred to as a dead button. If a player is dealt a hand and then steps away from the table and cannot act on it, it is declared dead.

Now you know what's dead about the game of poker. And if you have the courage to kill and be killed, come and join us.