Killed Pots in Lowball

Many cardrooms permit limit lowball players to kill (overblind) after seeing either the first two or the first three of their cards. Games with this added-action inducer are called, reasonably enough, look-at-two-and-kill and look-at-three-and-kill games. How it works in practice in a look-at-two-and-kill game, for example, is that the house dealer gives each player two cards, and then pauses for a moment, long enough for players to look at those two cards. Sometimes the dealer taps the table once or twice after dealing those first two cards, both to remind players that they have a killing option and as a pause in the action to give the players time enough to look at those first cards. If a player likes his first two cards, he puts in twice as many chips as the big blind, and the dealer continues until everyone has five cards. If no one kills the pot, the hand is played at the normal limit. For example, in a $10-$20 game, the button puts in a $5 chip (dealer blind), the player to his left puts in a $5 chip (small blind), and the one to that player's left puts in two $5 chips (big blind). Players may open for $20, or come in for a raise, just as in hold'em. One difference from hold'em, though, is that lowball has no betting cap before or after the draw. Let's say the player three positions to the left of the big blind sees ace-joker in her first two cards. She puts four $5 chips in the pot. This hand becomes $20-$40 limit.

What frequently happens when you kill a pot is that you end up with a two-card draw, which you would usually play for one raise, or a three-card draw, which you usually don't play unless everyone limps. Of course, with a two-card draw in a $10-$20 game, you sometimes end up playing a hand for $40 that you normally wouldn't play for $20; if the action gets too heavy, you just have to forfeit your $20. Sometimes, though, you get a raising hand in the form of a good one-card draw or a pat hand, and then, with last action, you can put in a raise and make a nice pot.

So, how do you properly play killed pots? In a look-at-two-and-kill game, you need to tighten your opening requirements a little. Where you might open early with a 7-6 draw, you probably want to make that 7-5 or better. And if you don't have the joker, be aware that there's a good chance the player who killed the pot does. If someone comes in before you, you probably shouldn't play rough nines. You might normally raise with a pat 9 in an unkilled pot. But if you raise here, the player who came in initially probably has a better starting hand than normal, and you might already be beat, or be facing an excellent one-card draw that is not much behind a pat 9. And you have to bet twice as much. Another factor is the unknown hand of the player who killed the pot. If that player has a good pat hand or a good one-card draw, she is likely to reraise the pot, and then you're in a lot of trouble. Pat eights are good, but don't push them as far as you ordinarily would. That is, oftentimes in an unkilled pot you might be willing to put in four or five bets before the draw and still have a good chance of having the best of it. If a killed pot gets to even three bets before the draw, a pat 8 is oftentimes no good. This doesn't mean don't play them; it just means be careful.

The trickiest position is having the big blind when the pot has been killed anywhere but from the small blind. (Anyone who likes his first two cards can overblind, including one of the blinds.) Opening here is analogous to opening from the small-blind position in an unkilled pot with only the big blind left to act, except that the holder of the blind to your left is guaranteed to have at least two good cards. Do not make the mistake that many make of opening with a two-card draw. More than three-fourths of the time, the holder of the blind has a two-card draw or better. If you limp, you essentially give the killer a free draw if he doesn't have good cards. But he can raise with any good hand, and in the case of your limping with a two-card draw, a good hand is any one-card draw to an 8 or better, or any pat 10 or better. With a lesser holding, he can just draw his two or three cards. He can even stand pat on a jack if you draw two cards. If you raise-open, instead, with a two-card draw, you are now laying him 3.5-to-1 in a situation in which he is a 3-to-1 favorite to have at least as good as you.

The 3.5-to-1 comes from this: In a $10-$20 game that has been killed, for example, there are four blinds – $5, $5, $10, $20. You, in the big blind, add $30 to your blind, bringing the pot to $70. It costs him $20 to call. He has a two-card draw or better three-fourths of the time, or 3-to-1. If he knew that you would come in with any two-card draw or better, it would actually be correct for him to reraise with any two-card draw or better, and call the rest of the time – that is, with three-card draws. Add to this that you're out of position, and you see that you need at least a good one-card draw to play. How good that draw is depends on how aggressive the killer is. Some players kill a pot on two cards and then raise only with a one-card draw to a 6 or better or with a pat hand; against them, you can play a one-card draw to any 8. Players like this are extremely unusual, however, so against the average killer, you should come in only on a one-card draw to a good 8 or better. And if you make the 8, in most cases you should check to a one-card draw (and bet to a two- or three-card draw). What if you have the joker? Then, you can open with any 8 draw or better.

When should you kill? Some players kill from any position with any two cards 6 or lower. This is a mistake. What happens most often is that they are out of position with a bad hand, and either have to abandon the overblind chips they put in or draw to the bad hand out of position. In a look-at-two-and-kill game, generally kill only from the cutoff or button, and kill with two wheel cards only. If you don't have the joker, those cards should not include a 5. So, you could kill on the button with 5-joker but not 5-A. It's best to kill in an action game, particularly one in which some players regularly kill out of position. The problem with killing with a 6 in your hand is that if you draw a 7, you end up with a rough hand that could easily cost two or more bets after the draw.

When you play the overblind, drawing hands against multiple players are more powerful than all except the best pat hands. If it is your turn to act and two bets to call, you should always be willing to reraise with a draw to a 6 or better. You might sometimes put in the fourth or fifth bet, depending on the action. For example, if someone limps, the next player raises, the next player calls, and one of the blinds reraises, you might put in another bet with a good one-card draw or a pat 8 or better. In most cases, they will all call. If anyone abandons his bet at that point, you get an overlay from the dead money. If anyone puts in another bet, at least one pat hand is probably out, but you are most likely drawing to the best and getting money odds for your draw. Killed pots add greatly to your variance, but if you have the bankroll to withstand variance (and why are you playing if you don't?), they also greatly increase your profit.

In a look-at-three-and-kill game, if you have three cards to a 6 or better with the joker, or any three wheel cards, kill from any position, even the small or big blind. More than half the time, your final hand will be a raising hand, either a pat 8 or better or a draw to a 7 or better. This offsets the less frequent times of ending up with a good hand that the look-at-two-and-kill game affords, and explains why you can kill from any position. With three cards to a 6 or better without the joker, kill in the cutoff position or on the button.

Since the kill hand is a good one so frequently, if you are not the killer, you should play extremely tightly. This means that in early position, open only with your best pat eights or with a 6 or better to draw to. Ideally, you would like to have a hand with which you can put in more bets if anyone, including the killer, reraises your raise-open. Even in late position, you should probably open with no worse than a good 7 to draw to. If you're on the button and tempted to open with a hand like 7-6-5-4, realize that more than half the time, the killer will have better than your hand and will raise, forcing you to put in extra money with way the worst of it. You will oftentimes be drawing dead if the killer is pat.

I played in a $15-$30 look-at-three-and-kill game in which two players would limp with the same substandard hands they'd play in an unkilled pot. That is, they would limp to draw to an 8 or to take two cards. This is a terrible play. You have to play very tightly in killed pots in a look-at-three-and-kill game. You can go back to "gambling" in unkilled pots. For example, you might raise certain players when they limp and you have an 8 to draw to. In a killed pot, though, you might not even call with a hand like 7-6-3-2, even though two loose players are already in.

In this same game, my first three cards were A-joker-2 in middle position. I killed the pot. Joe, under the gun, came in for a raise, $60. William, next, reraised to $90. The next player folded. The action skipped me, because I had killed the pot, and went to the cutoff, who folded, as did the button and the small blind. Kim, the big blind, called. The action now came to me. I saw a 3 and a king with my good starting cards, and put in the fourth bet. Joe called. William reraised. Kim called. I raised again. I figured that at least two of my opponents were drawing, and I had by far the best draw. One pat hand was probably out, and I was an underdog to that hand, but I was a huge favorite against the field. Everyone called, totaling six bets each. Kim and Joe drew one card each. William stood pat. I drew one. Kim bet. Joe folded. William, looking somewhat unhappy, called. I caught a wonderful 4, and raised. Kim called. William, looking unhappier still, but now pot stuck, also called. It was likely Kim had made a 6 or a good 7, and William had had an 8 or rough 7. The $1,095 pot I won with my wheel was the largest I had ever seen in a game of that size.

Allowing players to kill after seeing some of their cards greatly adds to the action of a lowball game.