For Ray Zee

Hi Ray,


I was wondering how you would suggest deviating from the way your excellent book suggests when playing 20-40 Eight or Better Stud "with a $20 kill". This means if a player scoops a pot over $200, he must straddle for $20. The action then starts with the small card and proceeds around at a $5 bring in until it gets to the kill. Anyone acting after the kill has to call $20 or raise to $40. Then all the $5 come-ins get to either call or raise whatever it is to them.


Thanks,


Mark

Mark,


the best way to look at kills is that its dead money from you, although that isnt fully the case of course. so when you play in a game with a kill, figure that you have to play tighter as you are getting raked extra when you win a big pot. so thats step one. next step is to bet and play your hands so that the pot doesnt get to the kill size unless you dont care or want to get it real big. then remember some bets that you win when the pot is near the kill size get raked the bet, so you were betting for nothing. in games where the players are not all fools kill games tend to make the game very tight.

Hey Ray,


Thanks for the informative answer! &nbsp&nbspNow I am wondering how to play the first three cards when the pot is killed by one of my opponents.


Thanks again,


Mark

As Zee said the kill is like a high rake on the previous pot. Let me guess that the EV "cost" of killing is about 1/2 the bet. This means when you kill for $20 the previous pot had a $10 additional rake. This has a BIG affect on those pots that approach the kill limit.


The kill itself is like a big blind. The increased pot and bet size discourages speculative limping hands and encourages more marginal raises. This means call less and raise more when its killed; keeping in mind that kill pots tend to get large and are followed by another kill pot and are thus "raked" higher than non-killed pots.


- Louie