Kill Game (poker) - Purpose

Purpose

Kill games serve to mitigate wins by "dumb luck" or "flukes". They also serve to mitigate "bad beats", which are wins by a player who made questionable choices from an odds standpoint. While such players are often inexperienced, they may win a substantial hand despite making poor decisions (such as raising or calling on a drawing hand with very low probability to make the hand), which can be frustrating to more experienced players. Such poor decisions are likely to eventually or gradually result in a large loss; kill hands make this loss happen sooner rather than later if the player persists in "loose aggressive" play. Thus, kill hands encourage a more disciplined, "tighter" betting style (less likely to call/raise and more likely to fold). However, as the kill hands are only played infrequently, the general betting style of the table is looser than if the kill stakes were normal limits.

Kill games among a table of more experienced players also create a heightened thrill of risk; a player is on a winning streak, or a big pot has just been won, and the next pot is likely to be bigger. Kill games can in such cases encourage looser play as well.