Harrington M zone details and examples

...but I have to ask.

I see alot of references to a players 'M' in a game.

What is 'M'? How do I figure out what my 'M' is? Why is this number important?

Thanks.

I first read M in Harrington on Hold'em. It is refering to you chip stack in relatation to the blinds and antes in a tournament. For instance 1500 chips with 10/20 blinds gives you an me of 1500/30=50 so you would say your M is 50.

When there are antes you have to count the players at the table with you so if your stack is 50K with 1000/2000 and 100 ante at a 6 person table the calculation becomes 50,000/(3000+600) or 13.89.

M is used to determine strategies for stages of the tournaments and effects the way you should be playing your hands.

I hope that isn't too confusing.

M is a concept introduced and referred to in depth in the Harringon on Hold'em books.

Simply put, M is how many orbits you can survive at the current blind and ante levels (without respect to the fact that blinds and antes will go up).
Formula: Stack / (BB + SB + (#players*Ante)) = M

Some examples:

Stack = $1500
Players = 10
Blinds = $10/$20
Antes = 0
M = 1500/(20+10+(10*0)) = 1500/30 = 50

Stack = $5500
Players = 10
Blinds = $200/$400
Antes = 50
M = 5500/(400+200+(10*50)) = 5500/1100 = 5

In the first one, M=50 which is huge. But in the second, M=5, which means you're sitting in a bad situation. But that's only half the puzzle. Once you know your M, you can use it along with a general M strategy to help you play accordingly.

EDIT: Couldn't find the link for some reason, so here's the next best thing:
M zone strategy.jpg

Thanks.

Figured it was something like that...I'll read through the link when you find it. Sounds like I should go buy a copy of Harrington on Holdem too.

Also, I know it's a little beyond the scope of your question, but there is also the concept of the "effective M". M is calculated as shown above when you generally have 9-10 people at the table. I'll usually go down to 8 as well (since PokerStars starts with 9 in most cases). But under 8, effective M comes into play because the blinds and antes come around faster/more often. If you are at a 10 seat table with only 6 players seated, then the formula simply becomes: (Stack / (BB + SB + (#players*Ante))) * (#seated/#seats). Once you find your effective M, you use the same chart as above as your guide.

I like examples:

Stack = $1500
Players = 6 of 10 seats
Blinds = $10/$20
Antes = 0
M = (1500/(20+10+(6*0))) * (6/10) = (1500/30)*0.6 = 50(.6) = 30

Stack = $6000
Players = 3 of 10 seats
Blinds = $200/$400
Antes = 50
M = (6000/(400+200+(3*50))) * (3/10) = (6000/750)*0.3 = 8(.3) = 2.4

See the huge difference in the second one? Instead of M=8, effective M is 2.4 which then means red zone instead of orange zone.

EDIT: oh, as a simple rule, when calculating effective M, just use 10 seats at the table anyway because calculating x/10 on the fly is easier than x/9.

Thanks again...I'm kind of a math geek so more info is always good.