Taking shots at higher limits

[bernie]

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Great post, and very well agreed bernie, thanks...
CDL

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I have no problem with using that 'threshold of pain'. For some, it's 20BBs. Fine. Some it's a bit higher. But understand it should have more factors than simply just the number of bets. One prime factor that is tough is to be totally honest with yourself about your game. On gravy tables, ego can creep in as you know you're better than the mopes on your table, but you just may not be in the right frame of mind to really make it worthwhile.

It also takes some time to get used to going somewhat deep in a game and not having it affect you. Especially if you're not used to that deep of swings. One thing that really helps is digging out of one of those sometime. It kind of proves to yourself that, just because you're stuck, you can come out of it. Also, when you play a long session, mid length sessions don't really seem that long.

When you move up, the monetary value can affect you because it will be bigger swing monetarily. Say all of a sudden a normal swing is like 1/3 of what your roll was at your previous level. Now you see that all the time it took to build that roll, that much is gone in that short of time. That can screw with you a little bit. Which is one reason it can be tough to make big jumps in limits.

But what's funny is once you get used to playing a bigger game, you'll likely find that in the lower games, you'll go in a lot deeper than you did before and it won't bother you as much.

I don't see anything wrong with a stop-loss limit. I use it as a checkpoint. But understand, if you're playing well and in a good game, it doesn't matter when you're next hand comes.(Feeney has a great essay on this in Inside the Poker Mind, iirc) (Simplified)Example: If you play 3 sessions of say, 2 hours each. Basically the table texure is the same in all 3. You make 20BBs in the first, then lose 10 in the 2nd, then make 15 in the 3rd you end up +25BBs. Now, you could've easily went through that swing in a single 6 hour session(which can easily happen). You just extended it out over 3 sessions. No matter how you chopped up those 6 hours, the result is still the same. Even 2 sessions of 3 hours each. You cannot run from the swings. You will always play to your winrate(even though that fluctuates). This is why, if you're a winning player, the more time you put in, the more you make. Regardless of whether you're actually winning your current session or not.

I think Negreanu did an article way back about playing hours and not results that was a pretty good read. He probably has it on his site.

b