Should I step back down to .50/1?

[Fryguy]

Moved up to 1/2 on monday. Been playing extremely well all week. started with 300bb bankroll, and cashed out 110BB in profits over the week. Had a big downswing today, dropped 100BB. My bankroll is now at 200bb, and I've got 2400 hands of 1/2 under my belt. Would you step back down to .50/1 for a week, or continue playing at 1/2 since I still have an OK bankroll?

Mentally, I feel good about my play. I didn't feel like I was making many mistakes today, just had some bad luck. For example, was up against a neverfold fish who would call me down with anything. I obviously didn't bluff at him, but every single timewe were heads up, he outdrew me. This was over an extended session, so this happened 20+ times. So I definetely believe it's not due to bad play or getting outplayed, simply a downswing. However, I'm not sure if 200bb is enough in case this downswing continues for a little while.

[RatFink]

If my math is right, you are up 10BB for the week. I would expect to see swings in a new game, and until my deviation stabilized more I'd hold off on cashing out if possible.

Remember that to win XBB you are going to be +/- a much greater number than X within a session/week/month/etc. If you pull funds whenever it is + and fret whenever it is - then you're never going to be comfortable playing for the stakes. If you create an illusion of winning by withdrawing funds that are really part of the natural +/- cycle, you are going to give yourself serious panic attacks.

A 100 BB downswing is fairly large, but shouldn't be totally unexpected. If it's making you feel scared, yes, absolutely drop down.

If you multitable, you might consider playing half-and half, or just single-tabling to concentrate on reads, etc. I did this after I initially dropped down substantially when I started 1/2, and I think it worked wonders.

I'm also not going to be cashing out for the foreseeable future. It's all about improving my poker and moving up. That might be something to think about.

[Sasnak]

If you can reload stay at 1/2. If you feel you were playing well, stay there until you reach 300BB's at .50/1. If you want to be "safe", drop back to .50/1 now and work your 'roll back up to 300+BB's.


Personally, I like to keep a nice BR going for the inevitable downswings of at least 450BB's minimum.

~

[Fryguy]

well yah, i obviously realize that I withdrew too much, and after I cashed out yesterday, I made a conscious decision to just make 1 cashout a week and to keep my roll above or near 300bb.

With that mistake aside though, can/should I continue at 1/2? I don't really want to redeposit what I cashed out for various mental reasons.

[aK13]

2400 hands isn't nearly enough to tell whether you are a winning player or not at 1/2. If you don't feel comfortable and/or can't risk possibly running another 100BB downswing, then you should move down.

[Fryguy]

I can risk the downswing continuing, if I have to I can put the money I withdrew back into the account, it's not like I earmarked it for spending or anything. In fact it's still just sitting in neteller. So I don't mind putting it back in, I just don't really want to [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[WildDan]

I'm tempted to just rail you for such an elementary mistake.

Anyway, re-deposit that 110BB you stupidly took out, and voila! You'll be up 10BB for 2500 hands which is far too small of a sample size to make anything of it.

You wasted 5 minutes of my life that I want baaack.

[Nilbud]

I say move down if you feel uncomfortable, stay up if you don't. Only you can answer that really.

I moved up to 1/2 for one night and got killed for 60BB, even though I was pretty happy with my play and had well over 300BB in my bankroll. I dropped down quick smart. It may be -EV, but I've decided to stick around at .50/1 until I've played 20,000 hands or until I'm happy with my play at that level, whichever comes last.