Part: Part Nine - Inflection Points: M, Q & the Zones

Effective M at a short table

Pre-flop
Blinds 400 / 800 (100 ante)Pot 2,100 (2.6 BB)Raw M 8 • Effective M lower (5-handed)COJ♥10♣● 16,800 (21 BB)YOUraw M 8, but 5-handedSB● 16,800 (21 BB)posts 400 (0.5 BB)BB● 16,800 (21 BB)posts 800 (1 BB)D

Your raw M is 8, but the table is now 5-handed - the blinds come around far faster.

Raw M 8 (Orange), but five-handed. How does that change your play?

WhyEffective M is lower. Short-handed you pay the blinds far more often per orbit, so your real pressure is greater than the raw 8 suggests - closer to deep-Orange/Red. Loosen your ranges and apply pressure sooner; fewer players and antes speed the clock.
What happensYou adjust to a lower effective M.  Short-handed, the clock runs faster.
Effective M corrects raw M for table size: short-handed, you post blinds more often, so the same chips are effectively shorter and you must play more aggressively.

Adjust raw M to Effective M for table size - short-handed, the same stack is effectively shorter, so loosen and attack sooner.