Moving up to 2/4 limit

[buffett]

I started playing online in September 2004. Over about 10k hands at 0.50/1, about 30k at 1/2, and a lot of bonus whoring, my initial bankroll of $100 now stands at around $3,400.
Because of crappy play during my first 30k or so hands, my BB/100h was about 0.7 or so (I was up $350, or around 250BB). Then I had a massive downswing (whose causes include bad cards, worse play, and even worse confidence) of around 180BB.
Then I took a several day break from my near-daily play, read a lot of SSHE and 2+2.com, and came back ready to kick butt.
Over the last 7k or so hands, I am up about 260BB at a rate of about 4BB/100h.
Tonight I am going to play 2/4 for the first time online. (I've played it before in AC and Foxwoods, but never online.)
My psychological rationalization/mental accounting that has propelled me to this decision is that my winnings now total $510, and if I were to have a horrible streak and go down 50BB in my first few days (down to $300 or so) it wouldn't feel that bad at all since I was actually below the $300 mark as recently as three days ago.
My rational decision for the move is that, for 2/4, I have about 850BB in BR, and based on what I've read on 2+2 I feel like my skills are sufficient (though admittedly still very underdeveloped/crappy) to win at least a 1BB/100h. (Yes, this is less in $ terms than 4BB/100h at 1/2, but I feel like I still have lots of room for improvement.)
Finally, my decision to post this is twofold:
1) to invoke upon myself the psychological mechanism referred to by Cialdini as the "commitment and consistency" principle, and
2) to serve as a datapoint for others facing a similar decision.
Thanks for listening.
-web

[flair1239]

Good Luck. I recently made the same move myself. Try not to psych yourself out too much.

The players at 2/4 are not "killers". Yes it has different texture than .25/.50, .5/1, and 1/2. But the gulf is not as wide as some people make it out to be.

The one thing to watch for is make sure to think in terms of BB instead of $. After playing microlimits for a long time it is pretty easy to get excited about a $24 pot, or to get discouraged because you are down $50.

Just general observations:

1. PF play is generally better on average.
2. Play is a little more aggressive.

[Derek in NYC]

I am in the process of moving from 3/6 to 5/10. One important thing to do is to only play 1 table, and to spend an extra amount of effort working on notes, buddy list, pokertracker reads, etc.

[flair1239]

An alternative to dropping down to (1) table would be just to have (1) table open on your new level and keep your focus on that. (EDIT: While still multi-tabling your old level.)

The reason being is if you are a winning player at 3/6 and you multi-table, you are giving up alot ($ per hour) by dropping your other tables and only playing (1) 5/10 table.

But I think what we agree upon is you have to make sure you are staying within your comfort level.

[Derek in NYC]

I actually think it is a bad idea to play different limits simultaneouslly. Imagine playing 30/60 simultaneously with play money. Too much stuff to think about, and too much mentally switching gears between tables.

It is more important for me to get an intuitive feel for how 5/10 games play differently from 3/6 games. I care more about this than maximizing my hourly rate. At some point, 5/10 play will become more automatic to me, and I will start adding back tables.

This is how I moved from 2/4 to 3/6, and it worked well for me. The other thing I do before moving up in levels is to just spend a couple of hours observing (and gathering pokertracker data) on 2 ring games. This is pretty helpful b/c you get a sense for the cards people showdown, the number of players to the flop, the aggression, etc.

One of my poker resolutions this year is to profitably multitable 5/10 full ring, while working on shorthanded skills. To do the latter, I'm going to start playing 1/2 6 max. My goal is to eventually be competent at both HUSH 5/10 and full ring by the end of the year.

[buffett]

What is the primary reason that good players play at 6max tables? Is it to hone their short-handed skills so that they'll be ready for those situations in ring games? Or is it that the games are softer and you can make more money at them? Or is it something else entirely? Or what?
-web

[Derek in NYC]

More hands per hour = more profits for skilled players.

[buffett]

Well, crap.
Now I've really gone and screwed things up.
I played 308 hands tonight at Party 2/4, and I just couldn't lose. I was up about 42BB, so now my winnings total $680 ($3,600 if you include the bonuses). 19 days ago my winnings were at -$7. (4.75BB/100h during this run.)
Now there's no turning back to 1/2, because it would take a 95BB downswing from here to get me back to $300. It could happen, but the odds aren't great.

One of the responses to my original post advised me to try 1 2/4 table and 1 1/2 table at first, but another one said just go all the way. I decided to 2-table 2/4 right off the bat, and I guess I got lucky with my table selection.

I know this is a terribly small sample size. And I know I probably got lucky by having lots of maniacs/calling stations at the tables I just happened to sit down at. But.... I hope this is helpful to someone thinking about moving up. If you think you're ready, remember what Starsky and Hutch say: "Do it."
-web

[captZEEbo1]

definitely play them all at the same limit at the same time. It's much easier that way.

[buffett]

[ QUOTE ]
Now there's no turning back to 1/2

[/ QUOTE ]
Wrong.
I got my head handed to me over 6,000 hands at 2/4. -0.4bb/100h and a -100bb downswing (maybe not that big in the grand scheme of things, but still my second biggest and very unsettling). I went back to 1/2 yesterday and am up about 95BB over about 1,500 hands (~7bb/100h) and it feels great.
Lessons:
1. I was overconfident in my abilities when I moved up, and overconfidence is bad.
2. I was able to swallow my pride/eat my crow/own up to my mistake and move back down to a more comfortable level.
-web