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View Full Version : Is "effective M" usefull?


11-15-2005, 08:49 AM
I've read about effective M in Harrington vol2. So let's say you're itm in a SNG, three-handed. Even with a good chiplead, I often have an effective M less than 5, something that should place you in the red-zone(Harrington too).
And I mean, Even though you should play aggresive in this situation, it can't compare to the red-zone, all-in-with-any-two play.

What do you guys think? Do you often use effective M in your play?

whoops.. Wrong forum, sorry about that.

11-15-2005, 10:15 AM
Interesting, I was re-reading this chapter last night as I felt it was something I hadn't used or wanted to employ. I don't think it too sensible to use effective M as he describes. I prefer to adjust to what I feel I can get away with. If the table is loose I feel my effective M is higher as I can wait to get paid off. If it is tight then I should put more aggression into my play and adjust my M downwards (perhaps as low as he suggests). Following Harringtons effective M seems to me to lead you to shove in more chips with worse hands than I think you should in 'most' short handed games. Maybe he's right, but I seem to do really well in these low stack short handed situations without adjusting my M to that degree.

nath
11-15-2005, 11:06 AM
I don't strictly use effective M, but my M combined with the number of people at the table gives me a good idea of the speed at which I need to play.

AceofSpades
11-15-2005, 01:20 PM
[ QUOTE ]
I've read about effective M in Harrington vol2. So let's say you're itm in a SNG, three-handed. Even with a good chiplead, I often have an effective M less than 5, something that should place you in the red-zone(Harrington too).
And I mean, Even though you should play aggresive in this situation, it can't compare to the red-zone, all-in-with-any-two play.

What do you guys think? Do you often use effective M in your play?

whoops.. Wrong forum, sorry about that.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never really use effective M when I'm playing shorthanded. It's good to illustrate the concept of increasing aggression, but playing shorthand is largely opponent/table dependent.

If you have a chip lead ITM in an sng, your pushing range should be largely dependent on your opponents calling range and stack size. Short handed you need to be more aggressive, but how aggressive really depends more on your opponents than your "M". Sometimes there is a minibubble where the two lower stacks are playing tight, which is a good situation to push any two depending on how much your chiplead is. Not because your M is low, but because the risk you take by taking a possible 40/60 if called is largely outweighed by the gain of blinds when you aren't called.