Moving Up In Stakes
Many people who have taken up the game of poker after seeing players win millions on television dream of someday doing the same thing themselves. They fantasize about leaving their $3/$6 limit online holdem game far behind and sitting with celebrities and pros who risk hundreds of dollars on every turn of a card.
Playing at higher stakes than you are used to can be exciting; it will certainly generate more rake and rakeback, but it can also be dangerous. The rewards are greater, but so is the possibility that your bankroll will be completely wiped out. If this happens, you may be completely out of action or find yourself in a game much lower than you are used to, where it may be difficult for you to focus and play well.
Setting Yourself up for High Stakes Poker
Small Steps
You don’t want to automatically jump from playing free texas holdem to $2/$4 limit, or from $2/$4 limit to a $15/$30 no-limit game, no matter how badly you are beating the first game. Whether you play limit, no-limit or pot-limit, you should start at the lowest level where the money is still meaningful and work yourself up incrementally, from $1/$2 to $2/$4 to $3/$6 and so on.
Bankroll
You must be sure that you have a bankroll that supports the new game. If you don’t, you probably haven’t been beating your current level consistently enough to be ready to move up. Having a bankroll for the new game doesn’t mean you’ll have enough money to play ten hands unless you get lucky. It means you have enough money to withstand even an extended streak of bad luck. Ideally, a winning player will be able to put at least 50 to 100 times the big blind in play during a session to be safe from the short-term luck swings.
Assessment
Before you move up in limits, you need to make an honest assessment of how well you are playing at your current level. You really need to be consistently beating your current game to move up. Having a couple of good weeks and then chalking up subsequent losing sessions to being “off your game” or “getting unlucky” is not sufficient. Ideally, you should keep accurate records of every session so you have it down on paper just how well you are doing over the course of several months.
The Consequences of Moving Up in Poker Stakes
Even if you are consistently beating your current game, you may not be ready for the next limit, either because your bankroll is not yet big enough to sustain the larger bets or because there is a quantum leap between the limit you have reached successfully and the next limit. If the new game is beating you, don’t be afraid to move back down until you are ready. The higher stakes game will always be there when you are prepared for it, and if you persist at a game you can’t win, you may end up having to start all over from scratch.
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