The Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder...

[1p0kerboy]

Hi Mason Malmuth. You wrote:

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I agree that it is a very confused work. 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.

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While I have read MOST of this thread (not all) I have not read The Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder. However, I have to slightly disagree with your position. Let me explain.

First let me point to Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky. In it he says:

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But there is another rason to eschew close gambles early on...What I am speaking of involves the presumption that you are one of the best players in the tournament. That being the case, you should avoid close gambles, especially for large portions of your chips. It may seem that giving up a positive EV gamble can never be right. However, even from a purely mathematical standpoint, you sometimes should. (pp 19-20)

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He goes on to show an example of how passing up on a small edge today for a bigger edge tomorrow is a good idea. In an extremely slow paced tournament, the better player is very likely to find the bigger edge he was looking for. However, this is much less likely to happen in a faster paced tournament. Hence, it would probably be better for the player to not pass up on ANY +EV. As you can see, the strategy of this player has changed.

Sklansky also reiterates this point on page 64:

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Remember earlier we showed mathematically that if tomorrow you have the opportunity to make a great bet for a certain fixed amount of money, you should pass up merely good bets today if losing them will keep you from making that great bet tomorrow

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I will agree that the adjustment in strategy is small and only beneficial if you are one of the best players, but it is still there nonetheless.