[benza13]

I went through a similar situation last fall. I played mostly NL$50 and the $5.50 and $11 MTTs and STTs. Well, I cashed in a few big MTTs in a short period of time and my bankroll increased about 10x. I decided this was a good opportunity to move up a couple levels and went to NL$200 and even some NL$400. I continued doing ok for a while, basically breaking even until I hit a big downswing in variance. A few big losing sessions, though, and I hit a freefall. After a couple months of losing I was even losing at NL$50 and NL$25 in games that I would have crushed before. The initial big downswing in my bankroll may have been from variance, but the results that followed were because I started playing scared and went wayyy off my game. Even when I made big scores in MTTs, I would quickly lose it back. I finally had to take a break from poker. Luckily during my break I stumbled onto this site. This site helped me realize what had happened and now looking back I am aware of the problems I was making. I am again a winning player, but understand much more my limitations and I am going to take it much easier in my progression this time.

This is my long and rambling way of saying that bankroll should not be your only consideration in moving up. You need to make sure that your skills are developing and that you are prepared mentally for the differences in the games, especially the bigger swings in that bankroll. I wish I could go back and take more of that money out and have just stayed at my normal limits for a while longer and I would probably be much better off today, although the lessons I learned during my downswing were important as well.

So, take some of the money out to enjoy it and/or move up a level, but don't go skipping ahead, and be prepared to move back down quickly if you become uncomfortable.