What is this M or EV?

Please bear with me for I honestly and frankly claim that I still have a lot to learn in the poker world and these two things really bother me a lot. I've read some of the theads in the hand analysis mentioning about M and EV, what are they really?

Appreciate your inputs here.

thanks

M is used in tournament play and describes the number of rounds of play that you can continue to sit at the table before your stack is completely depleted.

For example, at a full ten-handed table, if the blinds are currently 2000/4000 with an ante of 100, and your stack is 14,000 chips, you have an M of 2.

Therefore, if your M is high, you have an ample chip stack and can choose your starting hands and post-flop plays as you think best, but if your M is low you are likely to be restricted to a narrow choice between pushing all in or folding.

EV coming up ....

EV means Expected Value, and is a measure of your likely winnings (or loss) given average luck.

For example, you are all in preflop holding (say) , your opponent turns over and there is $200 in the pot. In this scenario, you will win 82% of the time and lose $18% (there is a small chance of a draw, but it is less than one percent, so we will ignore it for the sake of simplicity). Your Expected Value in this situation will be 200 x 0.82 = $164. In other words, this is the average amount which you would expect to win.

Although you sometimes see the EV calculated out that way during detailed Hand Analysis, it is more usually expressed in general terms. For example, if a particular line of play is described as having Positive Expected Value (usually written "+EV"), that means it is a sound play which will yield a profit on average (though of course it may not do so in a single specific example, depending on the fall of cards).

Egon knows his stuff.

You might find this helpful too Hand Analysis Lingo & Other Poker Terms

very nice responses egon.

i wasn too sure of the M, i knew what EV was. I had seen other talking about your M in other threads but never really saw a clear definition.

thank you

Another thought: EV is a particularly important concept because it holds the key to maturing as a player and moving beyond tilt.

In the example I gave above, your Aces will lose nearly one time in five and, if this is a tourney, you may be busted out of the game. Should you wail and cry if that happens, and moan about your bad beat ?

No. You should congratulate yourself on having been in a +EV situation.

Your aim in poker is not to win every pot. That cannot happen, because there is an element of chance. Your aim is to make the correct play every time, or as close to that ideal as you can get. Do that and you will lose some times but you will win in the long run.

The game is not about the outcome of any single hand. In a very real sense, it is all about Expected Value.

EV = (Size of pot)*(Chance you win) - (Size of the bet)*(Chance you lose)

But keep in mind that you don't know all the information, so any calculations you do before the flop will be estimations based on what you think they have and how they'll react.

A raise can be +EV because of fold equity. For example, you may raise with K/J on a A/7/4 flop because you're pretty sure he'll fold unless he hit the Ace. So it's not just how often your K/J beats his K/4 on a K/7/4 flop, but you also need to guess how likely it is that he'll fold in that situation.

Wow KC, you look different without the beard.

Raise your hand if i would of been yelled at for asking that.
I'm seeing -EV from my aces right now....

Thanks SP, Egon, KC..

It's expected value, and has nothing to do with the actual results. So just shove every hand and they'll be +EV.

A/A is -EV if you do stuff like limp or call with them, then stack with just an overpair. That is, you give people odds to draw out on you then pay them off.

So, being -EV with A/A means that you are playing them wrong.

Thank you for the inputs you provided me here. At least I know now the significance of this M and EV. I can relate now to specific threads (HA) which speaks of M or EV.