Moving up!

[Imperial]

I have won a lot of money at the NLHE 1/2$, 1,5/3$ and now my total BR is a little more than 4k. I have used the strategy that when ever my BR is 10 times max by in, I move up. So now that my BR is 4k I should start playing 2/4$.

If I was to lose for example 500$, so that my BR drops to 3,5k I will imediatly go back to 300$ by in.

What do you think about this strategy? Is it too aggressive? too risky?

I really don`t want to risk losing my whole BR on a bad streak.

[bunky9590]

Sounds about right.

The higher up you go you may want to extend the bankroll a bit as the games definitely get tougher. But for now, all is fine.

My varience is MUCH lower at NL than ring games.

[ML4L]

Hey imperial,

You don't seem to want to move up yet if you're asking us what to do. The whole point of having a ten buy-in bankroll is so that if you drop a couple buy-ins, you DON'T have to move down.

Another thing that seems off to me is that a $500 loss is enough to make you move down in limits, yet you routinely play $1/$2 and $1.50/$3.00. Are you yet to lose two buy-ins back to back in $1.50/$3.00?

And, there's no such thing as "too conservative" or "too aggressive." Some players on this forum (AeonBlues comes to mind) would probably advocate a 50 buy-in minimum. Personally, I've taken shots at games where I bought in for over 20% of my bankroll. It's all a matter of personal preference. But one thing is a fact: if you are playing with scared money in NL (or even limit, to a lesser extent), you will NOT be playing your best game.

So, if you aren't comfortable moving up until you have $10,000 in your bankroll, then don't. It is no reflection on your playing ability; only on your tolerance for risk.

ML4L

PS As a side-note, if you've been winning consistently at 1/2 and 1.5/3, you should have every reason to believe that you can hang in a 2/4 game...

[1800GAMBLER]

This is the same as i've done since i had to start again from nothing, before i cashed it all out i was at the $1k buy in game and now i've been moving back up again whenever i can.

The first time around i just wanted to prove myself to myself, my aim in poker was to beat the toughest games. Now that my goal is more about the money and playing for a living, so this time i've stopped at the $600 game. I have the bankroll for more but it wouldn't be as profitable yet.

The best advice about moving up all the time is you need good game selection and you have to be very good and quick to spot the weak players from the best players. Your profit comes from the weak players.

P.s. 10 buy ins isn't enough. I've woke up, had coffee, lost 12 buys in at the $200 in 2 hours then left for breakfast. I play 5 $200 6 max tables, so that was about 700 hands.

[Imperial]

[ QUOTE ]

P.s. 10 buy ins isn't enough. I've woke up, had coffee, lost 12 buys in at the $200 in 2 hours then left for breakfast. I play 5 $200 6 max tables, so that was about 700 hands.



[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this is why I will move down as soon as I don`t have 10 times by in anymore..

And yes, I am playing a little scared money the higer up limit I get, but thats all right because I still have a game plan that I stick with, and I won`t be afraid to go all in [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I just want to move up as fast as possible to see how far I can go.

Thank you for your replies!

[1800GAMBLER]

Few more tips:

Avoid shorthanded NL high stakes. The people usually sat there alone/short are too good. When i had my 3 barrel bluff called down by 2nd pair by a good player for $600 i thought it was time to wait untill the game filled.

Don't multitable $1000 games. Play one table, one table only, don't do anything other than watch while there. There are rich/addict weak spots.

Seat selection, you really have to try and get the perfect seat. Keeping your blinds/easily stealing blinds/isolating weak players adds up.

Don't play scared, i usually raise a 78s/77 something different when i move up stakes just to feel comfortable again. It costs a little in expectation but it easily makes up for it.

Anyhow, good luck. Let us know how it goes?

[scrub]

If you never want to play with less than 10 buyins, why not wait until you have 4800 to play 2/4?

It't pretty freaking easy to drop a stack, even if you're beating a game.

scrub

[Krytemaster]

Last months I have been moving up and down a lot as well. After playing a lot of $200-buy-in at party and been winning a lot I thought it was about time to move up a bit. So I started playing at Prima and Ladbrokes (European site for those who don´t know), where they have higher limits and a lot of max 6 tables which suits me fine.

I started off great at 3-6 and 4-8 and some at 5-10 as well when there were bad players there, won about $4.5k first week and a half. However, after that I had three really bad weeks and lost about $5.5k. These huge swings made me feel bad and I don´t want to feel bad when playing poker so I moved down again and back to Party.

Had a couple of very good weeks and then started off at Ladbrokes again and now ONLY playing the $2-4 and $2.5-5 games (double buy-in/BB compared to Party). When I was playing now I could relax a lot more than when I had moved up before and I was able to play my normal game. When I had moved up before I was playing quite scared from time to time and I think this made my game so much worse, without me noticing it too much.

So, what I want to say is that when moving up - make sure you feel as comfortable as before - otherwise, wait til you do, otherwise you won´t be able to paly your A-game, at least I couldn´t. (even though I thought so...)

I think this is more important than your bankroll.



Krytemaster

[1800GAMBLER]

Hi.

I think the Prima games are a lot easier than the ladbrokes games and if you won more at ladbrokes i'd expect it to use be swings. I played both of those for about 3 months then left ladbrokes. Ladbrokes seem to have been doing lots of advertising though so they may be softer now. How are the $500+ games there now?

That's one thing i forgot to meantion, i'd have about 2 weeks at least at each stakes before moving up even if your bankroll covers moving up. The reason being is you want to feel comfortable and know you're the king shark at that level before jumping up.

editnote: Dr Al has an article on cardplayer called emotional bankroll that the poster should read.

try UB they have games: 100, 200, 400, 1000,2500, 5000 now those are some games