THE BEST ONLINE POKER TOOL & SOFTWARE REVIEWS

What Is The M-Zone? 

In no-limit or pot-limit poker, a player's M-zone (also called "M ratio", "M factor" or just "M") is a measure of the health of his chip stack as a function of the cost to play each round.

In simple terms, a player can sit passively in the game, making only compulsory bets, for M laps of the dealer button before running out of chips. A high M means the player can afford to wait a number of rounds before making a move. The concept applies primarily in tournament poker.


A player with a low M must act soon or be weakened by the inability to force other players to fold with aggressive raises.

The system divides a poker tournament into five different zones based on a player's stack size as compared to the blinds and antes. Each zone will affect your play and correct strategy will vary dramatically as a result. The ratio of your stack compared to the blinds and antes is referred to as your "M."


 
M-Zone
 Zone Name
 Strategy
20+
 Green Zone
Best position, Your likely to be above the average stack size, with greater flexibility.
10-20
 Yellow Zone
 You can no longer play conservative (tight) poker. The blinds and antes are starting to hurt your stack and you must loosen up your play and take more risks
6-10
 Orange Zone
 Preserving chips here is important. No advanced moves, forget that re-raise, your focus is to be first-in whatever you decide to play.
1-5
 Red Zone
 Not so good-you will be below the average stack & looking to go all-in and double up or simply fold
<1
 Dead Zone
 Now you need luck, your only move is to go all-in


 For newcomers to tournament poker the best poker tool they can get for tournament play is Tournament Indicator the only odds calculator designed for tournaments that clearly shows you all players M-Zone.

Read our review here or go directly to the Tournament Indicator website.

tournament indicator