Why Can't I Move Up?

[rwanger]

A thing about moving up and "getting smoked"...you can play well and still get smoked, it just makes it harder to handle. As long as you know you are making the right decisions, then you don't need to move back down. Sometimes though it's easy to start questioning your play when you lose money.

If it's any consolation, I've played 6 or 7 hours of live limit holdem above 5/10 in my life (learned playing lower stakes live, then moving to online, now into NL exclusively). I was a winning player at all limits I had played, and yet in my 6 or 7 hours I still have NOT WON A SINGLE HAND. Yet, I wouldn't hesistate to step into a juicy 20/40 game, because I know in the longrun I could outplay them.

If making the correct play is your objective (not making money), and you are overrolled, you should be able to do it.

If not, like others have suggested, there may be other factors at work...

[Bluffoon]

Do that internet challenge thing. Make 50 big bets at your regular limit and use that to move up to the next limit. Everytime you make 50 big bets at a limit move up to the next one. Whenever you lose 25 big bets at a limit move back down.

This way you can get used to playing higher without risking any more than your original 50 big bets.

[ QUOTE ]
Do that internet challenge thing. Make 50 big bets at your regular limit and use that to move up to the next limit. Everytime you make 50 big bets at a limit move up to the next one. Whenever you lose 25 big bets at a limit move back down.

This way you can get used to playing higher without risking any more than your original 50 big bets.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually really like this idea.


Personally, I had trouble moving from .5-1 to 1-2 for two reasons:<ul type="square">[*]it is simple to count the pot odds on the later rounds in .5-1, yet slightly more difficult in 1-2; and[*]I would generally keep a small percentage of my bankroll online, as I would often be playing 5-10 live.[/list]

[angst]

Almost everyone goes through this. You just have to force yourself to continue playing with the increased stakes until you get conditioned. I remember moving up to $5/$10 6-max only a few months ago. I was scared as hell, but after a little while I was conditioned and $5/$10 was the new $3/$6. Now I feel about $10/$20 as I felt about $5/$10 back then.

It is just a matter of getting used to the stakes. Everyone goes through it. Force yourself to continue to play there as long as you are adequately bankrolled. Not moving up when you have both the bankroll and knowledge necessary is just bad management of money.

[Prelude008]

I am REALLY impressed that you won all of that money playing .5/1. Congrats.

If you just want to play and make some money, continue doing what you are doing at .5/1.

If you really want to move up, dedicate a certain amount to that next level. If you win, great keep playing there...and if you lose a portion (you determine) move back down. If it is too stressful for you...maybe you can try to play an orbit at the next level and move back down and build up your endurance by increaing the orbits/time you spend there. You won't go bust with your BR. Good luck!

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
My greatest fear is that I'll move up and immediately hit a huge downswing and then feel like I blew a ton of money.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the psychology at work here is that you've worked hard to get the money and you don't want to blow it. My suggestion FWIW is to seek out some really soft games at the higher limit you want to play at. It shouldn't be too hard to find one at $2-4 or $3-6. Play one table or two and play your normal game to get used to playing that high. Use PokerTracker to analyze how you played. Ease into playing higher and make it an easy of transition as possible.

[galahad_187]

i used to have this problem
at the beginning of summer i was 8 tabling the 25nl game to the tune of about 20 an hour. i built a bankroll up to about 5k. Sad thing is - i think i was a better player then than i am now. Now 4 tablign the 100 nl game i make much less/hr and my bb/100 is falling. Could be variance, but i think i got rutted in the 25nl game playing so many hands. As you move up parts of your game must change (this may be more important for NL, dunno) and failure to change those parts can be bad. i'm thinking thats what happened to me.

[mj12]

just force urself to move up you may lose at first but u need to get accustomed to the bigger bets. Ive found mself thinking about stuff like "o man thats a big bet to call with 2nd pair i dont wanna risk it" when obviously your decision should be on pot odds, hand reading and proper strategy. Until you become comfortable with the blinds you will think of them as $5,10$ etc instead of 1bb.
Solution? just play conservative for a week or 2

[Decessus]

Dude, at least you are doing something at 0.5/1. My history is similar to yours, I started at pennies with 20 bucks and grew it up a lot, always using a good bankroll management.
But I've been stucked on NL50 for the last 4/5 months. Winning 1500-2300 USD per month on those playing 30-35 hours per week, I have bankroll to be playing higher than NL100, but EVERYTIME I tried NL100 I got kinda busted and went back to NL50.
Im down 3.35PTBB/100 after 27K hands at NL100. Pretty sad and I dont know what to do. I'll just keep building a larger and larger bankroll and I'll try it again soon.

[AlanBostick]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll tell you what, I'm in very much the same position you are. I play 1/2 right now, and have the roll so that I could jump into 5/10 properly bankrolled tomorrow if I wanted to. This summer, I took a shot at 2/4, got smoked, and took a long break, tried 2/4 again, got smoked, and I've moved back down again.

[/ QUOTE ]

DaveH hasn't gotten smoked when he tried higher limits than where he currently plays; he says that he won and got scared and moved back down.

Your own situation may be explainable by your facing better players at $2-$4 than you do at $1-$2. DaveH's issue is much more clearly an internal one.