Dead money has a lot of meanings, depending on the circumstances
The concept of dead money in poker has many different connotations. It could be used when a player is not good at all or as a way to describe the extra chips you put in the pot when someone misses a blind and has to compensate. Also, it is used to describe antes and straddles. By looking at the different uses, it becomes clear that what it means is extra money in the pot, which creates more incentive and, therefore, more action. As with everything, when facing a pot with dead money while playing Texas Hold’em there are a few strategies that can help you make the most out of it.
Typically speaking, the fact that there is some dead money will improve the amount of risk versus the reward, in most case scenarios. Even more so when that extra money is just sitting there to take without requiring much action nor risk. One of those cases is when there are several limpers in a pot, or another opportunity is when you are trying to steal some blinds.
As a good rule of thumb, the best way to approach dead money is to become more aggressive in your game. At the moment you spot some dead money in the pot, you should be making resteals and stealing blinds or squeezing more often than ever. However, there are other things to take into consideration and you have to always remember that it is never a good idea to blindly making plays just because there is dead money – you are still risking some of your cash flow to win even a lesser amount than what it is on the pot.
