[PhlegmWad]

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Sometimes when I'm near tilt, I experience some increased success. There is a period right before I start spraying money all over the place that I think I'm at my most dangerous. I think it is simply because aggression is rewarded in poker and when I am near tilt, I am much more aggressive than normal. Its harder to push me off hands and I make opponents pay more to draw. The danger is getting coolered or having someone pay too much and get there while I'm in this state. It pushes me over the edge.

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If we remember that the characteristics of our opponenents tend to change as we make certain jumps up in stakes, the new "style", whether inspired by purpose or by emotion, is more likely to be successful at the higher level versus the lower level. Not uncommon to see aggression more highly rewarded, relatively speaking, at higher levels then at lower levels for a whole host of reasons to numerous to get into here.

I think the temporary nature of the increased stake helps account for this. You might find that a longer-term committment to the higher stake level might raise the variance and stress level to the point where you would regress and become more defensive at that level - spelling doom. Alternatively, the new level could be, from a style standpoint, a "sweet spot" for you. If that's the case, but you don't have sufficient bankroll to play at that level long-run, then perhaps you need to set a goal to build the bankroll up to a point (via play or savings) where you can participate at the new level on a consistent basis.

I would be interested in hearing what phenomena people notice when moving DOWN in stakes for this same reason that the original poster moved up??