---edited(several times) to make this easier to understand *i hope*.. falling asleep, so I hope that this is readable... ---

M has nothing to do with ring.

M is a way of understanding of the relation of the blinds + anties and your chipstack, to the amount of time you have left... (note: Time is talking about where you place in the MTT, not a measure of "real" time.. it's just easier to explain/understand, if you just call it "time")

This does not happen in ring. Sure the blinds are there, sure you can be shortstacked, but the time you have left doesnt make a diffrence at all.

M isnt a measure of chips, it's a measure of TIME.

That is why it's useless in ring.

In ring, you just care about what move is the most +EV. You dont care what your M is. Thats how you win in ring. Make the most $EV moves...

In ring $EV and chipEV are always the exact same...

A MTT's is also won by making $EV moves, but unlike ring, $EV and chipEV is not the same thing (though they are the same most of the time) The reason is because your not really after chips (though thats your long term goal)... your after TIME.. Sometimes you need to make a -chipEV move to gain time...

The most $EV move in a MTT, is the one that is the most +timeEV in the long run... not the one that gets you the most chips right now.

Want an example of why chipEV and timeEV are not the same thing?

Imagine this...

Your at a FT.
You have an 6 BB's.
4 players are left.
Payout is: $50k, $30k, $20k, $0k
UTG pushes (7bb's).
Button pushes (9bb's).
SB pushes (9bb's).
You are the BB.
You suddenly have perfect reads on all of them for one hand (gift from god).
UTG has: 5 4
Button has: J J
SB has: K K
You glance at your cards and see A A
Then fold.
Why??

It's simple, you want to buy enought time to see one more hand:

Folding give you a 20% chace (worse case) of moving up to 3rd+, and a 80% chance to move up to 2nd+... and a 100% chance of NOT running out of time this hand.

Calling gives you a 49% getting 2nd+, and a 51% chance of running out of time this hand (going out 4th)

I dont know about you, but i'll always take the $28,000 EV move (folding) over the $24,500 EV (calling) move any day.... and thats assumeing you always come in first if you call and win with AA, last of the remaining players if you fold AA... so the diffrence is actually a lot more than that.

This should never be folded in ring.

As you can see, a +chipEV move can be a horrid move... if there is another move that gives more +timeEV... This is why you sometimes push in a MTT when you would fold in the same situation in ring, and why you would fold at times in a MTT when you would push in ring.

M just gives us an easy way to understand how much time we have left at this moment... and that is one thing that helps to let you know when that +chipEV move just became a -timeEV, and when that -chipEV move just became +timeEV.

In a tourney, +timeEV is always....
ALWAYS!
Critical.

In ring, +timeEV is always....
ALWAYS!
Useless...

Therefore, M a measure of time, is useless in ring, and critical in a MTT.