Harrington's Zone System
The Zone System was first introduced by Dan Harrington in his
highly acclaimed book "Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II: The
Endgame." The Zone 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." For
example: You have $750 in chips and the blinds are $25/$50 with no
antes. This means that you have 10 times more than the starting pot
and your M is 10.
The Green Zone: M is 20 or more
In the Green Zone all weapons are at your disposal and you can
play in all different kinds of playing styles. This is the place to
be but you must be careful to balance your play in a way that allows
you to continue building your stack while simultaneously protecting
it. You can afford to play in both a super conservative style as
well as in a super aggressive style.
The Yellow Zone: M is 10-20
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. Certain types of hands become less
playable, such as small pairs and small suited connectors. This is
because these hands now lack the implied odds necessary to turn a
profit: The stacks have to be big in order to achieve this.
The Orange Zone: M is 6-10
You have now lost the ability to make more advanced moves. For
example, you can't come over the top against a raise and a re-raise
because, even if you make an all-in raise, your bet will not be big
enough to discourage a call from even the weakest of hands. Your
main concern is to be first in whenever you decide to play (unless
you have a monster hand like AA-QQ and AK). You must try to preserve
your chips for an all-in move, such as an all-in re-raise when you
are in the big blind and suspect a steal. This means that you should
not make marginal calls in the big blind or small blind or limp in
with drawing hands the way you could when you were in the Green or
Yellow zone.
The Red Zone: M is 1-5
Your only move is basically to move all-in. Even if you make the
minimum raise you are pot committed and can't get away from the
hand. If your M is 3 or less then you will most likely be called by
any two cards when you make your all-in raise. Small pairs and small
suited connectors are again playable but only as a means to making
an all-in move. You need to steal as many blinds and antes as
possible and hope to get lucky if you are called (most likely you
will be the underdog) or pick up a monster hand and hopefully get
called. If you are first in and sitting in a late position you can
move all-in with plenty of hands; AA-22, any two cards ten or
bigger, A-x, K-x, Q-x, any suited connector, and any connector if
your M is 3 or less (such as 9-8 off-suit and the like).
The Dead Zone: M is less than 1
As implied by the heading, you are as good as out of the
tournament and every move you make will be instantly called. You
need a lot of luck to get back into the tournament. The most
important thing to consider is your play before you enter the Dead
Zone. If you have blinded yourself down to this position then you
have made a mistake. You should only end up in the Dead Zone by
losing a big pot when your stack was bigger than it is now and your
opponent had slightly less chips than you had. You should make your
move when you are first in and before the big blind arrives (this
means moving in with any two cards when a first in opportunity
arises). This way you at least have some chance of getting the pot
heads-up against a random hand. |
