O8 kill game advice

[Gunslinger]

I've been playing a lot of O8 online, and my next trip to the Bike or Commerce I'm definitely going to try it live. I've recently moved up to 3/6 when I play live limit HE, so I'm comfortable at that limit, but of course live O8 games start at 3/6 with a full kill (or 4/8 with a half-kill). I normally sit with $100 at 3/6, should I sit with more for a kill game?

I actually tried to get into a game over the holidays. I was at my family's in Northern California, and found a little casino nearby, the California Grand. They had only one O8 table going, and the list was huge. I put my name on, but no one ever left the table. While I was waiting for my 3/6 HE seat, though, I watched the O8 table, and my god everyone was so loose and bad, I was bummed I couldn't get on.

So I know I'll be uncomfortable during kill pots, but there's no way I'm not going to try it. And if my table is as loose as the one I watched at the Grand, I know just a few nice pots here and there can keep me ahead. Any other advice for a game with a kill?

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Only advice for the game with a kill is to bring a little more money. $100 is fine to sit down at a $3/$6 kill, but I would probably keep another $100-$200 in my pocket to cover the swings.

Should you adjust your play during a kill pot as opposed to a regular pot? Not really. The only differences I could see is that (1) you're often getting better odds in the big blind, and (2) some of your opponents will play much worse during a kill pot, allowing you the opportunity to grab an extra bet or two with your better hands.

In general, if games are truly loose, with 4 or more players regularly going to showdown, very strong one-way hands (especially nut lows) go way up in value because you still show a profit when you get half, or sometimes even a quarter of the pot. Therefore, you can adjust your hand selection a little bit from good-to-great two-way hands to include some very strong one-way hands (in most cases, you can jam a hand like A23x or A24x even early on and show a nice profit in the long run, because most of your opponents are literally throwing money away), including 4 broadway cards and AAxx double-suited, along with even raggy A2 and A3 hands.

But by and large, the kill itself should not affect your play. Only how your opponents adjust to the kill.

[Ryan_j37]

Whats a "kill"?

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Whats a "kill"?

When a player wins two pots in a row of a minimum size, the stakes double in a "kill" game that lasts until someone else wins a pot.

So if a game is normally $3/$6, if a player wins two pots in a row, it becomes a $6/$12 "Kill" game until someone else wins a pot. Normally, the player who "killed" the game must post an amount equal to one small bet at the kill stakes, and he has an option when it is on him preflop.

There are also "half kill" games where the stakes do not double. Commonly, this means a $3/$6 game becomes a $4/$8 game, or a $6/$12 game might become an $8/$16 game.

[Gunslinger]

When a player wins two pots in a row of a minimum size, the stakes double in a "kill" game that lasts until someone else wins a pot.

Two pots in a row triggers a kill pot for a hold-em game, right? In O8 isn't it just one scoop of a minimum pot size? At least that's how it was at the game I watched.