[bravos1]

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The one thing about moving up is a lot of the time you just get cold decked, sucked out on, basically endure a ton of short term variance and immediately lose say 150 bb's from the level you were just playing within 500-1k hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true and probably just being results oriented. Short term variance is just as likely to win you 150BBs as it is to lose it.

Most players that lose drastically when they move up, do so because they are playing poorly or too timidly because they are thinking about the money. If a player drastically changes his game (incorrectly, and usually playing too weak/tight) when he moves up, his losses are typically due to psychological issues and play, not variance.

When moving up from one level to another (single level jump 1/2->2/4 or whatever), there is seldom any reason at all to change your playing style as the play itself is not very different at all. This is not true though if you jump from a .25/.50 straight into a 5/10 game. These games will differ greatly and most people can not make that jump even if bankrolled for it and currently winning 6BB/100 at .25/.50.

One thing Aaron touched on a bit, but not directly, is that if you are playing within your roll, it doesn't matter if you play 3/6 or .5/1 around the same time. I will frequently play various levels from .5/1 - 3/6 depending on how you feel, how good the tables are, and what you are trying to accomplish. If there was some part of my game that I wanted to work on, I would often drop 1-3 levels to work on it. For instance, if I felt my post-flop play was lacking for whatever reason playing 3/6, I could easily drop to .5/1 or 1/2 and play looser to work on post flop play without feeling I was spewing too many chips. Also, If I you see a super juicy .5/1 table compared to the 1/2 game you are currently in, by all means hit it up! This of course is all relative as is your bankroll in general. The main point I am conveying here is just like Aaron's point about ego.... don't play a certain level just to satisfy your own ego, especially if it affects your overall play.

For me personally, I've always been somewhat of an online BR nit. I think this is because I just don't want to 1. go through the hassle of having to reload and 2. tilt control. We all tilt to various degrees, and even though I think mine is pretty decently controlled, it is there. My live "bankroll" on the other hand is very different. I frequently play in games that my BR really can't support. I initially started w/ a $500 "roll" playing 6/12 and 8/16 (30-40BBs LOL), and was playing 20/40 with only about $3K handy, but was not concerned. Why? Because this was not really my live BR... I could easily replenish this roll at anytime. I just happened to have $500 loose to put directly into live poker at that time. Well I've never had to put any more money into that live roll at all because I ran good early on. I've used that money for trips to vegas and other fun stuff because it was handy, but have never had to dip into that money for anything.... but if I wanted to go and play in a NL5K game or whatever, I could, and if I lost it all, well then no big deal, I'd just replenish and start anew. This is why is is all relative, and if you have no problems redepositing, then you can play as big as you feel comfortable playing w/ no bankroll concerns. As an example, Buzz was razzing Benny in the NC thread for playing under-rolled. While true, his "current online BR" prolly was not advantageous for playing an 8/16 game, if he blew a large portion of what he had online, it would not have been a devastating blow to him... also in that same weekend, he was playing a bunch of 2/4.

so...
1. when you fret over every decision at the table and are constantly thinking about the money involved and the size of pots in dollars/euros/whatever and not bets, you are probably playing "under-rolled" even if it is only under-rolled mentally.

<font color="red">Being mentally under-rolled is the worst thing a player can possess because it will 100% distort your play for the worse!</font>

2. 300BBs is just a guideline to reduce your risk of ruin. If they money does not have a big impact on your well being and how you actually play, then play whatever game you wish, even if your whole roll is on the table. Again 300BBs is just a guideline.

3. Have fun irrespective of the limit you are playing.... it is a game after all!

and oh yeah... nice post Aaron.