moving on up

[housenuts]

i started with $50 on PS and now have my bankroll at $150. I play the $5+.50 1-table and 2-table SNG's. I really feel like it's the time to move up (skillwise) but realize my bankroll isn't quite sufficient. I was planning on moving up once my bankroll hit $200.

Now here's what I started thinking. What if I lose that first SNG. Now I have $190 ($189 for the picky ones) This was a bankroll I wasn't satisfied with earlier to play at the $10+1 level but should I continue to play at that level now since I've "made the jump"?

Or is the more logical solution to go back to $5+.50 and wait until I get up to $200 again to take another stab at it? Do I continue with this cycle until I make money in my first $10+1 SNG?

[Irieguy]

I was just having this exact conversation with a very solid SNG player today (but talking about moving from 50's to 100's). Here's what we agreed is probably the best approach:

1. Play at a level you are beating until you have 50 buy-ins at the next level.

2. Move up and play at that level until you get 50 buy-ins at the next level, or drop to 30 buy-ins at the current level. If you run poorly and drop to 30 buy-ins at a level, drop down a level.

This approach gives you an adequate bankroll and a fighting chance when you move up. When you have to move down (you will eventually), you will increase your ITM% and thus decrease your variance, which is probably the best way to halt a cold streak.

The only disadvantage is that most people don't have the patience to wait for 50 buy-ins before moving up. But if you use this approach, you will almost certainly not go broke if you are a winning player AND you will be able to move up periodically with an adequate bankroll to withstand the seemingly inevitable cold run you must endure immediately after moving up.

Play the right way,
Irieguy

[housenuts]

i dunno. 50 buy-ins could be a long time to wait. i'm a full time student so i don't get the oppurtunity to play as much as i'd like to. maybe 2-3 sng's a day. i figure 20 buy-ins is sufficient. especially at the lower buy-ins where the skill level isn't really there. if i can make money in the first few i can increase my bankroll much faster. if not i will go back down. i think that's the best method.

[chill888]

People are so often too fast to move up and too slow to move down. Why do people want to QUICKLY leave the comfort of known winnings to the risk of going broke (OK, OK I know why). My advice whem moving up to is to at first only partially move up funding the higher level with low level winnings.

In other words says at $200 you wait until you have $210 and then play a mix of $10s And some $5s. If you are below $200 play only $5s. If your bankroll continues to grow keep playing some 5$s and some $10 until you have a big sample at the higher level and feel confident you are a winner.

Never play a single higher level when your BR falls below a threshold (say $200 in this example).

This way you ease yourself up. You never move up and burn away a bankroll, you always have the safety net of refunding at a level you know you can beat. Stress free IMHO.

I know it's too slow for too many. But I also know too many that spend a lot of time winning at a low level only to quickly burn it away at higher levels.

I moved from $30 and $50s over a year ago up to $100. But I still play a lot more than half my games at $50s even though I have been winning at this level every month for 18 months. Why? Because they're easier, profitable, less stressful. Do I win at $100s? Yes, but not as much and game selection is a useful tool so i often avoid games populated with too many good players.

Just MHO.

[eastbay]

[ QUOTE ]

I moved from $30 and $50s over a year ago up to $100. But I still play a lot more than half my games at $50s even though I have been winning at this level every month for 18 months. Why? Because they're easier, profitable, less stressful. Do I win at $100s? Yes, but not as much and game selection is a useful tool so i often avoid games populated with too many good players.

Just MHO.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm in exactly the same boat. I'm a marginal winner at $109 and a very confident winner at $55. I feel little compulsion to move up.

eastbay