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#11
09-03-2006, 04:58 PM
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Re: How good of a teacher are you? Explain M to a
[ QUOTE ]
M is the ratio equal to your stack divided by the total of all the forced bets (antes+blinds) So, if you hold 3375 and the blinds/antes are 150/300 with a 25 ante, and you are playing at a 9-player table, your M = 5 (3375/675) [/ QUOTE ] Statements like these make me smile. Yes, that's M, but what is it good for? I think that's the question that has to be answered, so go ahead and give it a shot. 
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#14
09-04-2006, 09:19 PM
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Re: How good of a teacher are you? Explain M to a
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] M is the ratio equal to your stack divided by the total of all the forced bets (antes+blinds) So, if you hold 3375 and the blinds/antes are 150/300 with a 25 ante, and you are playing at a 9-player table, your M = 5 (3375/675) [/ QUOTE ] What's a good number to have for M? [/ QUOTE ] anything over 20, even 15+ for some faster tourney structures. On the other side of the coin 6-10 is getting desparate and below 5 is usually pick the first playable hand and push.
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#16
09-04-2006, 10:29 PM
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Re: How good of a teacher are you? Explain M to a
This OP wasnt double bolted!
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#17
09-05-2006, 12:53 AM
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Re: How good of a teacher are you? Explain M to a
Although Fritz Lang created M after the heyday of German Expressionism, the film contains many elements of the genre. German Expressionist films "attempted to express interior realities through the means of exterior realities." (Cook, 120) Light, in particular, was used to convey "the disturbed mental and emotional states" (Cook, 120) of the characters and to establish the dark and sinister "stimmung" that pervades these films. In M, Lang draws from Expressionism in his use of light in the form of shadows and reflections to explore the troubled psychology and identity of the characters.
As Lotte Eisner establishes in The Haunted Screen, the problem of a double identity is a common theme in Expressionist films, and it is examined extensively in M through the use of light in shadows and reflections. We discover during the course of the movie that Hans Beckert is a "tortured psychopath who wants desperately to stop killing but is constantly overpowered by his uncontrollable compulsion." (Cook, 364) During his trial scene at the end of the movie, Beckert says, "I can't help myself…this evil thing inside me…It's there all the time…following me silently…It's me pursuing myself. I want to escape, to escape from myself. But it's impossible." He is thus torn between two selves - an evil, shadow self that is driven compulsively to kill and an opposing innocent self that wishes to stop. Lang uses shadows in M to divulge Beckert's identity as well as the identities of the police and criminal underworld. During the opening of the movie, we see little Elsie Beckmann bouncing a ball against a poster that asks, "Who is the murderer?" Seconds later, this question is answered, as the black shadow of Hans Beckert appears against the white poster. In this scene, Lang uses light in the form of a shadow to establish the identity of the murderer. By introducing the murderer as Beckert's shadow, Lang also introduces the idea that Beckert has a "shadow" self. It is this self that is here presented to us as the murderer. Furthermore, we literally "see" what is in Beckert's mind, in that the word "murder" on the poster appears within the outline of Beckert's head's shadow. In the sequence where the criminal underground leaders and police are each devising a method to capture the murderer, Lang uses shadows again to establish identity. However, in this instance, rather than using shadows to establish the two identities of one person, he uses them to establish the single identity of two different groups of people. At the end of a long sequence of parallel editing that equates the police with the criminals, we see the shadows of a group of men plotting around a table. We could associate these shadows with the criminal leaders just as easily as we could associate them with the police leaders. Lang's intent here is to suggest that the essential identity of the two reputedly different groups of men is the same. Besides using shadows to establish identity, Lang also utilizes light in the form of reflections. We return to the theme of Beckert's dual self in the scene where Beckert is trying to woo his next child victim. He has just bought the child some candy, when a beggar runs past and marks Beckert's shoulder with a chalk "M". Beckert does not realize the presence of the mark, until the little girl points it out to him as they are passing a shop window. Beckert immediately turns his back to a mirror in the shop window, and, looking over his shoulder, his face is overcome with shock and fear as he sees the incriminating "M" in his reflection. The shot illustrates what Beckert says later in the film - "It's there all the time…following me silently…It's me pursuing myself." We are presented with an image of Beckert looking in horror at his "other" self following behind him. In this shot, it is this reflected, other self that we see marked with the stigmatizing "M". Beckert's dual self is also exposed in an earlier scene, also involving a reflection. The words of the lab analysis of Beckert's letter are heard over an image of Beckert looking into a mirror. As we hear, "some of the broken letters reveal an actor's personality," we are presented with this image of Beckert and his reflected self. This shot draws a parallel between an actor, who has an actual self and the self of his character, and Beckert, who also has two selves, which are visually expressed here as Beckert and his reflection in the mirror. While we hear, "the handwriting shows clear signs of insanity," we see Beckert pull his mouth down with his fingers and bulge his eyes, making a weird and frightening face at himself in the reflection. Again, the visual image is of Beckert confronting his "insane" reflected self, and it is reinforced by the words of the soundtrack. In a later scene, a reflection is again used to disclose Beckert's double identity. Beckert is calmly eating an apple while looking in a shop window, when suddenly he sees the reflection of a little girl. As Beckert turns to watch the little girl walk away, he is overcome by the drive to kill, and we see a dramatic change in his face as he begins whistling his characteristic murder theme. During this shot, we see Beckert and his face reflected in the shop window. Thus, at the moment Beckert is transformed into his murderous self, he is literally doubled - his actual self and its reflection. Reflections are also used in this scene to express Beckert's mental state. As he looks in the shop window and spots the little girl, his face is framed perfectly by the reflection of a mirror, the edges of which are lined with knives. We thus see his head surrounded by murder weapons, an external representation of his internal state - his head is full of murderous thoughts. The little girl's reflection in the mirror is likewise surrounded by knives, drawing a connection between the thoughts of the murderer and his prospective victim. Throughout M, Lang uses reflections to externalize the interior conditions of the characters, be they murderous thoughts or double identities. Also, the inner states of the characters are brought into the visible realm through the use of shadows, again to convey the identities of the characters. These uses of light draw upon the techniques and themes of German Expressionism, which sought to "treat subjective states in what was widely regarded at the time as a purely objective medium of representation." (Cook, 120)
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#18
09-05-2006, 08:27 AM
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Re: How good of a teacher are you? Explain M to a
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] M is the ratio equal to your stack divided by the total of all the forced bets (antes+blinds) So, if you hold 3375 and the blinds/antes are 150/300 with a 25 ante, and you are playing at a 9-player table, your M = 5 (3375/675) [/ QUOTE ] Statements like these make me smile. Yes, that's M, but what is it good for? I think that's the question that has to be answered, so go ahead and give it a shot. [/ QUOTE ] M is the number of orbits you have left in your stack at the current blinds + antes. Coined M by Paul Magriel. According to Harrington, with an M > 20, you have enough chips where you can play any style, including a patient style waiting for big hands. At M 10-20, you cannot afford to be as patient, and need to become more aggressive and steal some blinds. At M 5-10, you need to become very agressive as you generally only have enough chips for 2 betting rounds in a given hand when you raise coming in. At Ms of 5 or less, it's all in or fold preflop. Your tournament is on life support.
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#19
09-05-2006, 05:59 PM
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Re: How good of a teacher are you? Explain M to a
[ QUOTE ]
Although Fritz Lang created M after the heyday of German Expressionism, the film contains many elements of the genre. German Expressionist films "attempted to express interior realities through the means of exterior realities." (Cook, 120) Light, in particular, was used to convey "the disturbed mental and emotional states" (Cook, 120) of the characters and to establish the dark and sinister "stimmung" that pervades these films. In M, Lang draws from Expressionism in his use of light in the form of shadows and reflections to explore the troubled psychology and identity of the characters. As Lotte Eisner establishes in The Haunted Screen, the problem of a double identity is a common theme in Expressionist films, and it is examined extensively in M through the use of light in shadows and reflections. We discover during the course of the movie that Hans Beckert is a "tortured psychopath who wants desperately to stop killing but is constantly overpowered by his uncontrollable compulsion." (Cook, 364) During his trial scene at the end of the movie, Beckert says, "I can't help myself…this evil thing inside me…It's there all the time…following me silently…It's me pursuing myself. I want to escape, to escape from myself. But it's impossible." He is thus torn between two selves - an evil, shadow self that is driven compulsively to kill and an opposing innocent self that wishes to stop. Lang uses shadows in M to divulge Beckert's identity as well as the identities of the police and criminal underworld. During the opening of the movie, we see little Elsie Beckmann bouncing a ball against a poster that asks, "Who is the murderer?" Seconds later, this question is answered, as the black shadow of Hans Beckert appears against the white poster. In this scene, Lang uses light in the form of a shadow to establish the identity of the murderer. By introducing the murderer as Beckert's shadow, Lang also introduces the idea that Beckert has a "shadow" self. It is this self that is here presented to us as the murderer. Furthermore, we literally "see" what is in Beckert's mind, in that the word "murder" on the poster appears within the outline of Beckert's head's shadow. In the sequence where the criminal underground leaders and police are each devising a method to capture the murderer, Lang uses shadows again to establish identity. However, in this instance, rather than using shadows to establish the two identities of one person, he uses them to establish the single identity of two different groups of people. At the end of a long sequence of parallel editing that equates the police with the criminals, we see the shadows of a group of men plotting around a table. We could associate these shadows with the criminal leaders just as easily as we could associate them with the police leaders. Lang's intent here is to suggest that the essential identity of the two reputedly different groups of men is the same. Besides using shadows to establish identity, Lang also utilizes light in the form of reflections. We return to the theme of Beckert's dual self in the scene where Beckert is trying to woo his next child victim. He has just bought the child some candy, when a beggar runs past and marks Beckert's shoulder with a chalk "M". Beckert does not realize the presence of the mark, until the little girl points it out to him as they are passing a shop window. Beckert immediately turns his back to a mirror in the shop window, and, looking over his shoulder, his face is overcome with shock and fear as he sees the incriminating "M" in his reflection. The shot illustrates what Beckert says later in the film - "It's there all the time…following me silently…It's me pursuing myself." We are presented with an image of Beckert looking in horror at his "other" self following behind him. In this shot, it is this reflected, other self that we see marked with the stigmatizing "M". Beckert's dual self is also exposed in an earlier scene, also involving a reflection. The words of the lab analysis of Beckert's letter are heard over an image of Beckert looking into a mirror. As we hear, "some of the broken letters reveal an actor's personality," we are presented with this image of Beckert and his reflected self. This shot draws a parallel between an actor, who has an actual self and the self of his character, and Beckert, who also has two selves, which are visually expressed here as Beckert and his reflection in the mirror. While we hear, "the handwriting shows clear signs of insanity," we see Beckert pull his mouth down with his fingers and bulge his eyes, making a weird and frightening face at himself in the reflection. Again, the visual image is of Beckert confronting his "insane" reflected self, and it is reinforced by the words of the soundtrack. In a later scene, a reflection is again used to disclose Beckert's double identity. Beckert is calmly eating an apple while looking in a shop window, when suddenly he sees the reflection of a little girl. As Beckert turns to watch the little girl walk away, he is overcome by the drive to kill, and we see a dramatic change in his face as he begins whistling his characteristic murder theme. During this shot, we see Beckert and his face reflected in the shop window. Thus, at the moment Beckert is transformed into his murderous self, he is literally doubled - his actual self and its reflection. Reflections are also used in this scene to express Beckert's mental state. As he looks in the shop window and spots the little girl, his face is framed perfectly by the reflection of a mirror, the edges of which are lined with knives. We thus see his head surrounded by murder weapons, an external representation of his internal state - his head is full of murderous thoughts. The little girl's reflection in the mirror is likewise surrounded by knives, drawing a connection between the thoughts of the murderer and his prospective victim. Throughout M, Lang uses reflections to externalize the interior conditions of the characters, be they murderous thoughts or double identities. Also, the inner states of the characters are brought into the visible realm through the use of shadows, again to convey the identities of the characters. These uses of light draw upon the techniques and themes of German Expressionism, which sought to "treat subjective states in what was widely regarded at the time as a purely objective medium of representation." (Cook, 120) [/ QUOTE ] You probably suck large donkey testicles when it comes to taking tests. What part of explaining it to a disgustingly stoned stoner did your reading comprehension fail to pick up?
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