The M Concept

zinzir

zinzir

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M is a poker concept introduced by backgammon pro Paul Magriel, and cited by Gus Hansen in his book "Every Hand Revealed". It basically tells you how long you can survive in a tournament without playing a hand before going bust.

M is always measured in number of rounds you can afford with your current chip stack. For example if you are sitting at a 9 player table with 7500 chips and the blind/ante structure is 200/400/50, your M = 7.1

M interpretation is as follows:

M > 20 --- deep-stacked, flying high as an eagle

20 > M > 7 --- medium-stacked, cruising at a somewhat comfortable altitude. This is where we spend most of our adult tournament life

7 > M > 3 --- short-stacked, prepare for crash-landing

M < 3 --- good-bye

In my opinion, one's strategy, especially in the tournament later stages, should take in consideration the calculated M number for both self and one's opponents. What do you think? :ciao:
 
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300HPGOD

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Just my personal opinion on M I never really liked it too much. I know there are poker pros like Dan Harrington who swear by it but I don't particularly like it because even though it does take the ante size into account it is a number that no one in the hand is actually posting. Meaning that there is always someone in the hand posting a big blind but there is no one posting an M. Our stacks in terms of big blinds tells us how much we are bigger than what the largest post before any action occurs. Given this fact along with it is easier to calculate big blinds, I just stick with big blinds to see how I am relative to others.

M is useful especially deep in tournaments and also if you are used to using it but I just think Big blinds are easier to use and have more relation to the next given hand.
 
Joe

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I know 'M rating' by its other name, 'CSI' (chip status index).

It's something I used to use more than I do these days..

It's quite useful in tournament play for knowing how aggressive you should be playing depending on where your stack is on the scale..
 
swerdnase

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I personally find M quite useful and it has gotten me out of some pretty bad situations where I was close to being out of the money and into final tables.


I disagree that an M of < 3 is goodbye though. You still have some leverage at 3, and even 2 to an extent, but should really start finding a spot to shove before it drops any lower.
 
IntenseHeat

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I remember a few years back when I first heard of this a lot of players were saying that your M rate was more useful than the number of blinds. When you think about it, with everyone putting so much thought into ICM these days, you would think that players would find M ratings particularly useful. But as I sit here, I can't remember the last time I someone mentioned an M rating before this thread. But yeah, it can be pretty useful.
 
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rachelle2291

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I read his backgammon book many many times and I remember watching him play on gamesgrid as x22 as well as other top pros like Kit Woolsey and Nack Ballard. When I get dealt pocket 2s I cant help myself, I mutter quack quack to myself every single time.
 
jordanbillie

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zinzir said:
M is a poker concept introduced by backgammon pro Paul Magriel, and cited by Gus Hansen in his book "Every Hand Revealed". It basically tells you how long you can survive in a tournament without playing a hand before going bust.

M is always measured in number of rounds you can afford with your current chip stack. For example if you are sitting at a 9 player table with 7500 chips and the blind/ante structure is 200/400/50, your M = 7.1

M interpretation is as follows:

M > 20 --- deep-stacked, flying high as an eagle

20 > M > 7 --- medium-stacked, cruising at a somewhat comfortable altitude. This is where we spend most of our adult tournament life

7 > M > 3 --- short-stacked, prepare for crash-landing

M < 3 --- good-bye

In my opinion, one's strategy, especially in the tournament later stages, should take in consideration the calculated M number for both self and one's opponents. What do you think? :ciao:
Click to expand...


Guides like these are helpful because they make you cognizant of the fact that your stack size should determine your play. Understanding your "M" will increase your knowledge on how to adjust your aggressiveness toward stealing blinds to survive.

P.S. My new strategy is to be "flying high" in all my MTTs. :cool:
 
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