A - Z of Poker: Day 13

From London to Vegas in 26 Letters

Day 13: M is for ...

M is for M: I was introduced to "M", like many of us, by Dan Harrington in his excellent "Harrington on Hold'em" series of tournament books. The M itself is apparently for Magriel, an individual whom I have never heard of before or since. For such an important concept, I actually think Harrington develops it relatively little in the book.

Mind you, not as little as "Harrington's Q" which he defines, names after himself, and then never refers to again !

M in this context is the number of rounds of blinds and antes that our stack permits us to survive for. It needs rather a lot of modifications and qualifiers to truly inform our best play, but it's a very useful shortcut for a basic determination of our tournament situation. And, of course, any poker concept that can be summarised in an acronym finds favour with me. One-letter acronyms ftw !


M is for Merging Ranges: This is an example of the kind of concept that you hear the modern players discussing. I have no idea what it means ! Actually, that is not true. I have some idea what it means, like I have some idea about ICM.

I suppose I really ought to put the extra effort in to study some of the poker theory and mathematics of poker. I am not someone who believes that the maths & theory is all important. I think common sense and experience can take you a long way. But it surely must add a dimension to one's game. Is this more important than adding in some psychology or table talking skills ? Probably not, but it is possibly easier to learn (for someone like me, anyway).

I certainly think that betting theories that focus on the stack sizes are very powerful and that's really something I would like to improve in my game. I think a combination of study plus experience is required in that area: study the maths and the typical situations, practice using that in real-game situations, then come back and review the hands with the benefit of hindsight and the luxury of time to analyse. Ideally discuss the hands with other players as well.

M obviously also stands for Must try harder ...