How Do Kill Games Affect a Poker Room? (with poll)
This is basically a bunch of random thoughts and questions sparked by playing recently with players who were talking with the dealer about what it would take to get a kill game going in a casino that doesn't currently offer them. I've been called a rock at the table before, so you might guess that I'm not fond of kill pots and play tighter in order to avoid having to post the kill, unlike many players I run into who loosen up and seem to play nearly 100% of hands after winning a pot because they want the kill button as if it were a badge of honor.
I'm guessing that whether or not they offer games with a kill generally doesn't do much to affect poker room traffic. It may be different in places with more competition, where anything that differentiates your poker room from another may affect the number of players you get. Is there any evidence for a poker room gaining or losing traffic by having or not having games with a kill?
Does it make sense for a poker room to offer both kill and no-kill games at the same limit? One would expect the no-kill game to be tighter and less good according to some definitions of good. If a room had, say, 4-5 tables in the evening at a given limit (let's say 4-8 or 6-12) and started to offer some games with a kill, how would players split between kill and no-kill games? How many players would move down from, say, a 6-12 without a kill to a 3/6 with a kill? It sounds like it has the potential to choke higher games.
On the other hand, if a room spreads a bunch of 3/6 games, but can't get any higher limit games going, could it train people to be more interested in playing 6/12 by offering 3/6 with a kill as a sort of 6/12 with training wheels game?
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