The M Factor!!

Was wondering if anyone had an easy way to explain it.

M = Total pot preflop / Stack

If blinds + antes = 1200 and your stack is 12,000 your M=10

It's the number of rounds you can pay the blinds before you're stacked, and it applies to tournys mostly.

Is this a tournament term? I've never even heard of it. (I only play cash games)

Join in the Harrington on Hold'em book discussion and you will learn all about it and how it applies in different situations.

Hey thanks steve will do that as soon as i find it. also thanks i thought that was how you did it but i wasnt sure.

And get the books. Its no big deal really -- your play is dictated by the rising blinds, your stack size vs others, position, and stage of the tournament. For instance, K10 mid position early in the tourney, makes no sense to call UTG raise. At the other extreme, short stacked facing being blinded out shortly, it may call for an all-in.
Basically it is the breakdown most tourney players know: 20+blinds (happy playah), 10 blinds (medium happy), 5 (you gotta move).

I like Makwa's summary.

Harrington on Hold'em Volume II covers M nicely.

An M under 10 means you're in trouble so you need to be careful about what you play and against who. Drawing hands become less playable so forget about the middle suited connectors and small pairs.
When you get to an M of about 5, you're looking to shove with a *huge* range of hands into any unchallenged pot. The reason 5 is the magic number is because you still have enough chips to hurt people (fold equity) and doubling up will be significant should you get called and suck out on them. If you wait until you have an M of 3 to shove not only are you more likely to get called, but doubling up will not improve your situation much.

Now, to complicate things a little more, you have to be careful against who you're making these shoves against. Shoving when middle stacks have the blinds are ideal, as you have enough chips to hurt them, so they're only going to call with nice hands (which isn't likely). Big stacks are apt to look you up with less because they can afford it, and short stacks are apt to pick that time to make a stand out of desperation.

This is good elucidation of H's formula. I will give you a klondike bar if you join the HOH discussion upstairs.

I was meaning to get into that. I even wrestled by HoH book back from my friend, meaning to re-read it. (I've read it thoroughly twice already.... and by thoroughly I mean I'd re-read sections while reading it).

But it's been awhile since I read them. I just need to find time to read before I get involved.

No need to reread now, not at all. The discussion brings everything back, and you have a fair grasp already, which the thread will reinforce/remind you of.
Get off the pot, it will only work if people who know stuff can help.
Got yr bar in the freezer for now.

Also as Harrington explains when you're faced with a short handed table like 3 handed and the m factor is 6 you need to divide by 3 or whatever number of players areno at yourt able and you actually have a real m factor of 3 because here your blinds will be more rapid and you blinded out faster than at a full table. This is very important to make this adjustment.

take note that M directly affects your action. it has different zones which dictate your hand range for the push or fold/push phase

Huh. i never heard of an M factor. But i'm reading Harrington's book (volume1) so 'ill probably see everything i need to know about how what and when about it