Moving up in limits

[dancraw]

I'm having a little problem right now and wondering if it's normal and what people have done to deal with it. I've been playing 1/2 and $10 sngs for quite a while and have just started trying to move up to 2/4 and $20's. My roll is about $1400 now. The problem I'm having is that I'm scared to death of hitting a downswing at this level and I'm not playing nearly as much as was at 1/2 because of it. When I moved up to 1/2 it was on the heels of a nice MTT finish and my roll was real healthy for that limit, so I really didn't experience the problem I'm having now. I don't think my game is being affected by the higher limits, it's just that the anxiety that it's causing is making me play less. I'm thinking about just going back to 1/2 until I'm comfortable with a $300-400 downsing at 2/4. Either that or just pushing myself to stay at 2/4 and dropping back if I do hit a nasty downswing, or feel I'm being outplayed. Any comments or advice would be appreciated.

you're a sitting duck, better move down. how profitable is SnG?

[dancraw]

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how profitable is SnG?

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Good question. I play on Stars and PT is a hassle for keeping track of tournaments there, so I don't do it. I know I should. I'm pretty sure I'm beating the 10's, but i have no idea of an ROI really.

Ask yourself:

- Why are you playing poker?

- How important to you is that bankroll, and why?

The answer to your problem should become clear if the answers to these questions are clear, regardless of what others think.

But since you asked for opinions: Your BR is clearly high enough for 2/4 ($100 more and you'll be at what most timid people consider an adequate BR), and massively high for $20 SNGs (70 buy-ins). If you consider yourself solid at the ABCs, and are committed to continue learning as you go, I don't see a problem in trying it.

BUT... if you're scared of losing the money, even a little bit, then don't move up until you've built a bankroll big enough to weather whatever kind of downswing you worry about, whether it's 500 BB or 1000 BB or 10,000 BB. And if you're concerned about your skill level, don't move up until you've put those concerns to rest.

My BR is for poker. I don't cash out for any reason. I play at the level my BR dictates (at least so far), because if I lose big, I don't fear moving back down, where I can regroup both my roll and my skills. You may be different.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
how profitable is SnG?

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Good question. I play on Stars and PT is a hassle for keeping track of tournaments there, so I don't do it. I know I should. I'm pretty sure I'm beating the 10's, but i have no idea of an ROI really.

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Buy a small notebook. When you play a SNG, write down your start and end time, and how much you won (if you did). That's all the information you need to figure your hourly and ROI.

[skiier04]

I have around $5100 in my bankroll and I only play $3/$6 because that is what I am most confortable with. If you dont want to play a higher limit, then you dont have to. I enjoy playing $3/$6 and probably wouldnt enjoy it as much if I had more money at risk.

[Sciolist]

You can also mail stars and ask them for your entire SNG history. You'll then have all your old results too.

[gavrilo]

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Good question. I play on Stars and PT is a hassle for keeping track of tournaments there, so I don't do it. I know I should. I'm pretty sure I'm beating the 10's, but i have no idea of an ROI really.

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The above statement kind of undermines your original post in my eyes. Does Stars ask you when you finish a SnG if you want a tournament summary sent to you?

I'm not a Sng expert by any means, but it would seem like you would want to know how you are doing to improve (if that was important to you). When you don't, the question of whether to move up or not seems kind of ridiculous.

[dancraw]

Thanks for the replies. The thread was really more about my anxiety about moving up to 2/4, but the replies that exposed my lack of record keeping in SnG's are well taken.

[4_2_it]

If you are "scared to death" of a downswing then you will not be playing optimally. Wait until you get over your fear or build a bigger bankroll.