Understanding key mesurements (EV and M) is essential to loose less money and get better value from your winning pots.
Expected Value (EV)
The expected value for a hand is the amount you will win in the “long run” by playing that hand. We use the expected value of a hand in consideration with the amount of chips there are in the pot and that can be won with a showdown. You should read this article
to understand EV correctly.
This stat is often calculated using statistical analysis against millions of hands played by humans or even computer simulation programs. By now I expect you to know the higher the EV of your hand is, the stronger it is, this is really what’s important.
I have published an expected value chart that is not specific to position. As you might have guessed, the EV of a hand will change depending on your position according to the button, the closer you are to the dealer, the less EV a hand has. The chart you can access on the other post does not know anything about position, it’s just an average for every hand being played no matter of the position of the player holding that hand.
Overall you might find it a bit tedious to have to know your hand’s EV under real circumstances but there are great tools available for download online that are made to help online poker players access these statistics in real time and automatically (yes, you won’t have to do anything and the stats will be computed and displayed to you). Of course it’s best if you understand these statistics even if you decide to use a 3rd party application to do the calculations for you as to have an insight view on poker probabilities.
MZone
The M statistical indicator refers to the amount of big blinds, small blinds and antes your stack can contain.
Here is the algorithm used to calculate M and a few examples of it’s application:
(Chip Stack) / (Blinds + Antes) = M
(1500) / (50 + 100) = 10
Stack = $1500
Players = 6 of 10 seats
Blinds = $10/$20
Antes = 0
M = (1500/(20+10+(6*0))) * (6/10) = (1500/30)*0.6 = 50(.6) = 30
Stack = $6000
Players = 3 of 10 seats
Blinds = $200/$400
Antes = 50
M = (6000/(400+200+(3*50))) * (3/10) = (6000/750)*0.3 = 8(.3) = 2.4
This number is then matched against a set of established zones:
.
Knowing the M of you and your opponents is amazingly beneficial during tournaments and cash games alike if you always use the EV, and MZone statistics you will see a good difference in your winnings. Calculating this statistic for you and your opponents is very simple, you just have to do the math everytime but I prefer using 3rd party application that does everything for you.
As there are different ways to adjust your play and make better decisions using EV and MZone I will let you finish this article by reading the pictures below and you can be sure we will be referencing to these two key statistics in later articles.
Best of luck at the tables!
Sphere: Related ContentTags: expected value, mzone, Statistics
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