When to take a shot at the next level?

[Spaded]

And the extra zero on the end gave you three significant figures!

[freekobe]

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Look I'm not sure what your looking to do with poker, but you seem to be playing to make money which is good.

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I'm not sure either actually. I'm good with numbers, good at games, competitive, and very discplined. I used to play a lot of strategy computer games, but poker scratches much the same itch.

I don't really play to make money, though part of the desire in moving up is I'd like to reach a level where the money is enough to matter. Partly for the money itself, partly for personal validation that I'm good enough to compete with people that actually do this for a living.

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You think you're willing to lose 300x bb until it actually starts to happen. You can't prepare for this. Trust me. I played 5/10 6 max and 10/20 6max and thought I was ready for 15/30. When I went on a downswing, I started getting worried. Months of bankroll building were going down the drain. I couldn't deal with the stress of having all of that go to waste.

The upshot is that you'll never know until you try. But if the thought of losing 150bb at a higher level scares you, I'd build a bigger cushion.

[Rode_Dog]

I'm playing NL and at much smaller scale. I'm planning to move up from $25NL to $50NL in the next 30 days. My critera for the move was BR and comfort at the current level.

BB in limit don't exactly translate to the size of the BB in NL, so I tend to think in terms of buy-ins. Based on the experience of others who made the move up in NL, I figure no less than 8 buy-ins and 10-12 is better. For $50NL, this is $400-$600. I'm willing to lose 1/2 before I drop back down. I have had "downsizing" of this scale in the $25NL and, although I am not happy, I'm confident that I will play through the varience and win it back fairly quickly.

The comfort level is more subjective. Can I lose 50% of my BR and still play optimal poker at the new level? Do I feel that I will be outplayed more often to the point that I will lose confidence?

Right now, I'm taking the occasional dip into the higher stakes to get comfortable with the bet size and the players. To be honest, the $50NL on InterPoker and Party do not seem any different than the $25NL. Same player types, same mistakes, just twice as much cash to win. I'm improving my game every day and donkeys are still donkeys.

My little BR is at just under $400 and I am targeting $500 to move up. I think that after a little adjustment time, I'll never look back and focus on $100NL.

[ckessel]

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You think you're willing to lose 300x bb until it actually starts to happen. You can't prepare for this. Trust me.

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Frankly, that won't happen, at least not all at the next level. As soon as I drop below my magic 300BBxLevel amount, I drop down. If I lose 300BB, it'll be over 2-3 levels which reduces the impact.

[MarkD]

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When to take a shot at the next level?

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In my mind it depends on the level. If we are talking about moving from 0.5/1.00 to 1/2 or 2/4 then to me it's less a function of bankroll and more a function of how good you think you play. I say this because the bankroll required to play at any of these limits is so small that I could keep myself in action quite easily from outside income so I never worried about it much. I usually jumped up as soon as I had 100BB at the next limit (or less). If I moved up and lost 20BB I would move back down rebuild the 20BB and try again. When I was doing this I felt quite comfortable that I had the skill to beat the next level - but didn't want to lose my entire roll so that's why I bounced back and forth.

Once I was the 5/10 - 10/20 - 15/30 jump I employed a similar strategy but had 300BB at the next level. If I moved up and lost 20-50BB I would move back down. Also, I should note that it this point I didn't wait for 300BB specifically for any good reason other than I wanted that much just to feel comfortable. I knew I was not going to be putting it all at risk.

Notice that I never really concerned myself with my winrate at any of these levels.