When should I move up?

[Turducken]

Since I started playing regularly and bought Poker Tracker,
I've won 50 BB in my first 1250 hands at .50/1. I know this is a small sample. How big a sample should I need before making the move to 1/2?

[Trix]

i made a similar post at this forum two-three days ago, ...got alot of good answers:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=micro&Number=470342&fpart= &PHPSESSID=

[thirddan]

i will usually try a higher limit at 200BB, some people prefer 300BB

[bisonbison]

1000 hands is very small. I'd say that the test is being able to build a bankroll for the next level. By the time you've built up a sufficient bankroll for 1/2, you'll know you're a consistent winner at .5/1.

As for what that bankroll would be sufficient at 1/2:

$300 if you're just taking a shot and are willing to drop down to .5/1 again if you start losing.
$400 should see you through most bad times.
$600 if you want a ton of insurance.

The thing is, the longer you take at .5/1, the more time you have to work out the leaks in your game, the bigger your bankroll will be, and the more confident you can be that any bankroll will be sufficient.

[fluff]

I would need 10,000 hands (about 200 hours) of winning play to convince me I'm a winning player.

Also, a bankroll of 300 BB is usually recommended at any limit.

So if you have 200 hours worth of winning play, and $600,- you could move up to 1/2. Be prepared to drop back down if you're losing (losing over 150 BB should be a strong motivator to move back down), or are in any way uncomfortable playing at 1/2.

[BugsBunny]

Personally I move up once I've won about 1000 bets at a given level. That gives me plenty of time to work out any leaks I find at a given level.

I suspect most players move up too fast for their own good and then either tap out or have to drop back down. They don't give themselves enough time to learn all the lessons a given level can teach and end up paying the price for that in the long run.

[NoStake]

i agree with 300bb....i started with 180 and 400 hours later at .50-1 i had 1,225 so i went and started playing some 1/2 and 2/4 and now im back down to 1,000 at the .50 tables waiting for that next rush to propel me back into the 2/4 talbes

[FredJones888]

I agree, this has already happened to me and I think it must be very common given how many losing players there are out there.

[bisonbison]

1000 BB is a lot, but part of my thinking for my own Operation Boondoggle is that 600 BB is a lot too, and that I've been too eager to move up.

It's hard for me too, because my Party bankroll has jumped above the 300BB limit for 1/2 thanks to the NL 25 tables, but only 100BB of that has come from .5/1 LHE play. I've obviously got some leaks that need plugging before I move up in limits, but it's much harder to get excited about winning a couple of bucks/hour when I can take the money from the NL fish so much more easily.

Still, I want to be a winning limit player. Thus the slow level by level climb of Operation Boondoggle.