[Sherman]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi 1p0kerboy:

Just thinking about your point quickly, I suspect that you may be right. Specifically, it might be right for very good players to gamble a little more in close situations in these type of quick tournaments if they can anticipate a large drop in their M in the near future because of an increase in stakes.

Thanks for making a good point.

Best wishes,
mason

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After reading the book (skipping the parts that 2+2 really has covered extensively) I thought this was the most profound point. That if you are a good player, you can exercise you entire ability later on if you have a big stack. However, you need to acquire a big stack to do so. That means being aggressive early.

As an aside, in my mind tournament speed is akin to hands per level. In fast tournaments you get fewer hands per level. In slow tournaments you get more hands per level. Essentially then, both "M" and hands per level should determine your play (this is of course ignoring other players at your table who should determine your play probably more so than anything else).

Here is an example of how hands per level can influence your play: If I have an M = 21 and am dealt AJo in EP, I would fold if I knew I had plenty of hands left in this blind level (say 50 minutes). However, if the blinds were soon increasing (say the level only lasts 10 minutes) I would be more tempted to play this hand as the increase in blinds next level will reduce my M.

Put another way: If you only get so many hands to choose from before you blind out (or get low enough that you can't play as well) you want to choose the best ones. In this case, AJo might be the best hand I'll see for a while, and most likely w/my M still in the green zone, so I am going to play it to try to keep my M there.

Shermn27