Quote Originally Posted by GottImHimmel View Post
I mean that's a legitimate post bmeelneg, however, it's important to be aware at all times. Personally, I prefer "X-Factor" But M is the classic tourney measure
First off I liked your post so lets get that out of the way ...

I'm well aware of what M is having owned and read HOH (Harrington on Holdem) many times. I would still recommend HOH be read by anyone who hasn't read it.

He uses M to give you an idea of where you are and what you can do ... What "zone" you are in ... Green zone, Yellow zone ... etc. Green zone you can call or raise as you see fit ... you are "deep" so to speak.

If I have a M of 40 right now you would think you can survive 40 orbits before you are blinded out. But is that really true? Of course not. Blinds increase, so as that happens your M decreases.
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As an example ... At the start of a tourney the blinds are 5/10 with a starting stack of 1500 chips. What is your M at the start? Ok I'll do the simple math here its 100. 1500/15 = 100.

Blinds go up to 10/20 just 8 minutes later .... blinds go up to 25/50 eight minutes later ... blinds go up to 50/100 eight minutes later.

So lets reevaluate our M with less then a half an hour later ... 8 minutes X 3 blind increases. Keeping the math simple you managed to stay exactly even with your starting stack of 1500 chips (say you won one pot played in that 24 minutes time). Blinds are now 50/100 and are chip stack is 1500. Our M now ... just 24 minutes later is now 10!

So I started with a M of 100 and now just 24 minutes later my M is 10. I certainly did not go thru 90 orbits in that 24 minutes.
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That realistic example of an online tourney illustrates why M can give you a false sense of security. Knowing and understanding M is fine ... just take it with a grain of salt.