[DeezNuts]

I don't think this is much of a leak at all. You are beating the 15 and 20 games in LA and when you take a shot in a higher game, you lose. That happens all the time when people take shots in the next limit. And when you lose at the higher limit, it hurts more precisely because the limits are higher. Winning 10k in the 20-40 game and losing 6500 in the 40-80 game is not that bad if you look at it strictly in terms of big bets(which is what you should be doing).

If the 10k in 2 weeks is at all indicative of how you do in the 20-40 game in the long run(although it sounds like an isolated good run), then you should definitely try to play higher, OCCASIONALLY at first. However, when you play higher you should be extremely more observant. You can probably get away with playing the normal solid ABC poker in the beginning to minimize your variance, but to get the money in the higher games you are going to need to evolve your skills and play very well post flop and become player intuitive. Until you become completely comfortable with the limits, though, I would recommend staying in the 20-40 and building a fat bankroll until you can detach yourself from the value of the chips. I think I am almost to this point in the yellow chip games, I have taken a few shots in the 40-80 range, with mixed results, but they were usually when I was on a freeroll win from the 20-40. Hopefully I can continue the journey upwards as well. Good luck.

DN