10X big blind or Harrington's M Value?

#1 23rd November 2008, 11:20 PM

I have traditionally used the 10 BB rule to determine whether to start pushing during a tournament, but have recently been giving thought to Harrington's M, Q and zones theory.

What are everyone's opinions of what works better?

#2 24th November 2008, 2:51 PM

TBH, it probably doesn't matter which you use. Unless there are antes in the structure (in which case M/Q will be a slightly better indicator) 10BB will roughly line up with Harrington's 'red zone' anyway. So use whichever works for you.

In either case though, remember to adjust if you're playing short-handed.

#3 24th November 2008, 3:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OzExorcist

TBH, it probably doesn't matter which you use. Unless there are antes in the structure (in which case M/Q will be a slightly better indicator) 10BB will roughly line up with Harrington's 'red zone' anyway. So use whichever works for you.

In either case though, remember to adjust if you're playing short-handed.

This. They're both used to estimate the same thing. I personally like using blinds, but I just know with antes I need to push a little earlier and with a wider range.

#4 24th November 2008, 3:10 PM

AlienGenius posted an artical about this before.

Harringtons M factor has a serious flaw in it... that is the length of time the CURRENT blind levels last. If its an hour .. then great but if blind levels are 15 mins, then play needs to be far looser than harrington suggests.

#5 24th November 2008, 6:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu_Ungar

AlienGenius posted an artical from another author that was pushing his own version of "M" about this before.

Harringtons M factor has a slight flaw in it... that is the length of time the CURRENT blind levels last. If its an hour .. then great but if blind levels are 15 mins, then play needs to be bit looser than harrington suggests but can be easily compensated for by knowing this.

FYP

In reality, using either system above or even the other one that AG posted about will suffice for the average online poker player.

#6 24th November 2008, 6:21 PM

That's an interesting question actually, when you introduce raising blinds soon. The major function of M or x big blinds is not really to see how long you have left, it's basically for size of pot compared to stack and when you can push. If you are 100 BBs deep (no antes), even if next hand the blinds will be half your stack, I still think it would be a mistake to shove 78s from MP. If the blinds were 1/4 of my stack (ie 4 BBs) and next hand they go up to 1/2, I shove 78s from MP all day just because I'm getting such great odds on the shove.

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