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what does "M" mean in relation to people talking about their chip stacks?

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  1. clantaztic clantaztic is offline

    O Fallon, MO
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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 7:00pm)

  2. allin4flush allin4flush is offline

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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 7:12pm) in reply to clantaztic

    1 M = the cost to play one orbit of poker.

    If the blinds are 500/1000 with a 50 ante and 9 players, 1 M = 500+1000+(9*50) = 1950

    So if you have a stack of 10,000 you have an M of just over 5. If you have 195,000 chips you have an M of 100.

    There's a long section in "Harrington on Hold'em v2" discussing this, and their relation to the inflection points is considered by Harrington to be the #1 thing to know in winning tournaments.
  3. Presnell Presnell is offline

    Fort Mill, SC
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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 7:12pm) in reply to clantaztic

    It's from Harrington on Hold Em. It is your stack size divided by the sb + bb.

    Ex. Blinds are 150/300 & your stack is 1000. M= 2.22

    You should read the books.
  4. clantaztic clantaztic is offline

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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 7:14pm) in reply to allin4flush

    thank you thank you.
    Thread Starter
  5. pikappraider78 pikappraider78 is offline

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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 7:15pm) in reply to clantaztic

    it is the amount of money it costs per orbit divided by the chip stack. so if you have 5k chips and the blinds are 100-200 with a 25 chip ante at a 9 man table your M = 5000/(100+200+25x9) or 9.5
     
  6. clantaztic clantaztic is offline

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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 7:16pm) in reply to Presnell

    Have not gotten around to reading harringtons yet, but see M pop up on here sometimes and Pearljammer uses it in there book. thanks tho
    Thread Starter
  7. Projekt420 Projekt420 is offline

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    Nov 2nd, 2009 (11/2/2009 9:52pm) in reply to clantaztic

    I went on a little mission to find out exactly what the "M" stands for, and It's just "M". I lol'd.
  8. RANDYPET RANDYPET is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 11:50am) in reply to Projekt420

    The term 'M' actually relates to Paul (Quack-Quack) Magriel, who Harrington borrowed it from for his books.
  9. SpauldingSmails SpauldingSmails is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 12:19pm) in reply to RANDYPET

    M is the total cost of one blind orbit
  10. MadTiger MadTiger is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 12:38pm) in reply to SpauldingSmails

    To further add to the discussion, the reason the calculation was analyzed was to determine what strategies were most likely to be the best tournament poker strategy at various values of "M."
  11. royalStud royalStud is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 2:00pm) in reply to clantaztic

    I like the M concept but I wish there was a "M calculator" program. It sucks having to open calculator and manually type in the digits.

    Any idea what % of ranked pro's pay strick attention to thier M?
  12. Projekt420 Projekt420 is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 2:11pm) in reply to RANDYPET

     
    Originally Posted by RANDYPET View Post

    The term 'M' actually relates to Paul (Quack-Quack) Magriel, who Harrington borrowed it from for his books.

    Hmm, interesting.
  13. MakeMeMaster MakeMeMaster is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 2:13pm) in reply to royalStud

     
    Originally Posted by royalStud View Post

    It sucks having to open calculator and manually type in the digits.

    lol. You can't count your "M" without a calculator?
    3 
  14. deadeyed deadeyed is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 3:02pm) in reply to royalStud

     
    Originally Posted by royalStud View Post

    I like the M concept but I wish there was a "M calculator" program. It sucks having to open calculator and manually type in the digits.

    Any idea what % of ranked pro's pay strick attention to thier M?

    there is a software program called Tournament Indicator. this calculates your M and everyone else's at the table, also your pot odds and vpip... etc etc of your opponents
  15. rayspizza rayspizza is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 3:28pm) in reply to royalStud

     
    Originally Posted by royalStud View Post


    I like the M concept but I wish there was a "M calculator" program. It sucks having to open calculator and manually type in the digits.

    Any idea what % of ranked pro's pay strick attention to thier M?

    If your playing the same tourneys/structure over and over again, then you probably don't have to worry about calculating your M. Inflection points will be clear to you based upon your chip stack and knowledge of the tournament structure.

    So my guess is most High volume players are not using it, in the traditional sense. It is far more likely that they are going by # of BB within a particular tournament structure.

    However, M is useful when playing in unfamiliar structures and it is my guess that it is used more when these people are out of their element.

    It is also useful when conveying information to people who play less volume, as they may not have the intricate knowledge of a particular tournaments structure. So, by using M instead of BB in these discussions, one can normalize the information and convey the inflection point without referencing the structure.
  16. mdshack14 mdshack14 is offline

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    Nov 3rd, 2009 (11/3/2009 3:33pm) in reply to clantaztic

    Math is hard
     
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