Moving up (and down) in limits: Bankroll ?

[gomberg]

Although I agree that working to 40 bankrolls can't really be too bad an idea - I've never had a downswing larger than 6-7 buy-ins in the last 2 years, and that downswing was at the higher limits. At the lower limits, I think my biggest downswing was probably 3 buy-ins. I may have been extremely lucky, but if playing full tables, I think 15 is plenty. I just moved that number up a little bit every time I move up a level. So for 5-10, I need to keep my bankroll around 20 buy-ins. I'll start taking shots at 10-20 when I'm at 20 buy-ins and try to play it a lot when I'm at 25. - and so on. It's worked for me so far.

[MTBlue]

Going very aggressively, I only think you need to play with 10 buy-ins. I've logged over 60000 hands and have not had a downswing of more the 6 buy-ins over that time. I understand wanting a feeling of security but four-tabling I rarely have more than 6 buyins from my account at the tables. I don't there is any reason to have an extra 10 buy-ins or 30 buy-ins as David suggested. I play 600 6-max primarily so that would be somewhere between 6000-18000 of unused money in my account only there so when I lose I feel like I've lost less. I'm not advocating spending the money but there are plenty of investments which return better than an interestfree account in the Caymans.

[NiceCatch]

This is a completely psychological issue. Sure you probably will never go down 15 or 20 buy-ins, but the question is, how much of a psychological effect will losing 5 buy-ins have if your roll is 20 buy-ins? If you're not disciplined enough to move back down in stakes, it could be disasterous.

This is very dependent on the player. You have to gauge for yourself how much of a hit you can take given your bankroll, and whether the size of your bankroll is affecting your play (IMO it should have absolutely zero impact on your play; if it does, you need to play at lower stakes).

[gomberg]

very good point - I agree with this completely. I actually had to wait till 25 buy-ins for 5-10 but now would be ok w/ 20 or even a little less. Now if I can just stop using bankroll money so I can move up faster [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[freemoney]

i have switched from playing the 400 and 600 NL 6 max on party to 4 tabling the 100 NL 6 max i am winning at ~9 BB/hr on these tables through about 50k hands, and ive experienced 2 different swings of down 8-10 buy ins, maybe its just the 6 max game but to never go down 3 buy ins is pretty fortunate i would think.

[jhall23]

Good food for thought everyone, I appreciate it.

I like the idea first brought up by kagame to just take a few shots at first to get a feel for how the next level plays. So my makeshift plan at the moment will be to play a brief session or two at the new level once I have about 20 buy-ins to test the waters. After I have a feel for it I'll committ to the new level after logging some hours if I still have at least 20 buy-ins. If I ever drop to 15 buy-ins then I will immediately drop back down to the previous level which will leave me overrolled for that level.

I have a pretty strong will and feel that I will have no problems dropping down a level if I hit 15 buy-ins and it shouldn't effect my play. Anything below that I feel might make me lean towards a more weak-tight approach which I don't want. I'm always thinking in terms of pot/stack sizes so I'll try to keep that up and never think in dollars as I move up.

Of course up until recently I have been taking money out of my roll constantly so I haven't really ventured out of 100NL always keeping just enough in so I can at least play 50NL 6max games. I may find that I need a bigger roll to play comfortably and will adjust as I see fit, but I will use the basic idea of dropping down inbetween whatever amount I see as the minimum roll of two levels so that I will be overrolled when I drop down.

[NiceCatch]

I have a suggestion for you. When I've gone up limits, I've given myself a certain (small) amount to "experiment" at that level, and to get a feel for the game. For example, I'll say I'm willing to spend two buy-ins at this level trying to get a feel for the game. If I feel comfortable, or do well, I'll continue to experiment, but still play quite a bit at the previous level (there's no reason you can't play more than one level; in fact I think it is very healthy in a poker sense). Whatever the results, I'll analyze hands at the level carefully.

[jhall23]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a suggestion for you. When I've gone up limits, I've given myself a certain (small) amount to "experiment" at that level, and to get a feel for the game. For example, I'll say I'm willing to spend two buy-ins at this level trying to get a feel for the game. If I feel comfortable, or do well, I'll continue to experiment, but still play quite a bit at the previous level (there's no reason you can't play more than one level; in fact I think it is very healthy in a poker sense). Whatever the results, I'll analyze hands at the level carefully.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds great. That is basically what I meant by taking shots before officially making the jump. As I could easily loose a buy-in or two playing well I think 2-3 buy-ins is a good amount to "experiment" with at the new level (provided I have the mimimum roll I set for myself of course).