[Leavenfish]

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Much of the problem has to do with the idea that fast tournaments require a different strategy from slow tournaments. (Fast and slow here refers to how quickly the blinds and antes go up.) This is the same mistake that Tom McEvoy made in his original tournament book over twenty years ago. Tournament speed has virtually nothing to do with correct tournament strategy.

As Harrington and Robertie show in Harrington II: The Endgame it's not speed that counts, but your overall chip position relative to the cost of playing each round. This is what they call "M" and when your M gets low, you have to begin making very aggressive plays. But when your M is fairly large, you have the option to play fairly normally.

What's happening in the Poker Tournament Formula is that some of the recommended plays turn out to be right not because of tournament speed, but because you'll be playing with a small M. So very weak players who read this, should improve their tournament games, but they'll do so for the wrong reasons.


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I can't help but wonder if this is not mere symantics.

Snyder acknowldeges HOH II and points out that these quick paced tournaments are esssentially games with constant inflection points (I think that's the way he puts it). I read that part briefly today as I was trapped in a Books-A-Million as tornado warnings and 50 mph winds were prevelent and we were 'ordered' to go to a certain area...not a very condusive atmosphere for remembering.

I don't want to try and defend the point as there was considerable confusion in the store (and I think in terms of 'M' anyway) but I could not really discern a difference between decreasing M's and the 'pace of a tournament' when it comes to these tourneys where the blinds increase so quickly...but from what I read I certainly could not dismiss the idea as you have. I mean, even those with a relatively large M have to play a bit differently because the blinds are increasing at an increasing rate or the blinds will eat into them while others grow their stacks having adjusted their play because of the accelerated blinds...perhaps that is all that is meant by a 'different strategy' or different approach than would be the case in a slower tournament?

---Leavenfish