What Is Half-Kill in a Poker Game?

At the Orleans poker room, they have limit poker games with the term "half-kill" in the title: Texas hold 'em and Omaha hi-lo with half-kill. What does half-kill mean?

A half-kill and a full kill occur when the casino temporarily bumps up the limits for the next round of play.

For example, in a $4-$8 hold 'em game with a full kill, if someone wins two pots in a row, that player is required to post an $8 blind and the limits for that round or rounds (until someone else wins a pot) double to $8-$16. In a half-kill game, the limits are raised by 50%, so it would go from being $4-$8 to $6-$12.

There are different rules, but most cardrooms follow these guidelines for kill games: 1) In hold 'em, a player who wins two pots in a row initiates a kill for the subsequent round or rounds; 2) in Omaha, a person who scoops the pot by winning both the low end and the high end of the pot initiates a kill.

Kill games aren't frequently found in other poker game types.

A kill gives players the opportunity to try a higher-level game, while still being able to stay within their bankroll. Kill games often spur more action, because a kill generally leads to three blind bets instead of the normal two. (If the big blind or small blind is the "killer," then there will still be only two blinds.) This means there's more money in the pot prior to the flop, giving people incentive to try to steal or to play marginal hands for a big return.

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Comments

Kevin Lewis Dec-05-2023

Kills the action

If you've just won a pot, you should play the next hand VERY tight, because if you win that hand, you'll be forced to dump an outsized blind bet (which you will probably lose) into the subsequent pot.

Brian Dec-05-2023

Limit only usually

don't think I've ever seen a kill in a no-limit or pot-limit game. And limit poker gets more and more rare every year.

David Miller Dec-05-2023

Since When?

  I have never seen anyone"forced" to do this --- "If you've just won a pot, you should play the next hand VERY tight, because if you win that hand, you'll be forced to dump an outsized blind bet (which you will probably lose) into the subsequent pot."--- Please explain...

Bob Nelson Dec-05-2023

David Miller

Did you read the answer to the question?  If you sit at a kill or half-kill table it is one of the rules of the table.  Just like the size of the blinds, or the number of rounds of betting allowed.  If you refuse to post the kill-pot blind I would suspect your chips will be pulled from the table and you will lose your seat.  That could probably vary from one poker room to another though.

David Miller Dec-05-2023

Bob

 Thanks for the explanation - I was unaware of this. If that is a rule, I would not sit at such a table. I prefer playing poker the way it has been played for decades.

Bob Nelson Dec-05-2023

kill pots

I don't think that kill pots are anything new.  They have been around for decades.  It's just another option to increase action as noted in the answer.

Kevin Lewis Dec-05-2023

If you refuse to post a blind

If it's a regular blind, you can leave without posting it--but you have to leave if you don't post. In the case of a "kill" blind that's "due" (you've just won two hands in a row, or you've scooped a high-low pot), if you leave without posting it, you may be required to leave those chips that would have been your kill blind, and they'll be put into the pot.  Refusal to do that will almost certainly get you barred.

I've seen this happen quite a few times.

Question of the Day - 05 December 2023

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