When/ how should I move up stakes?

[Beastmaster]

Reading a couple of Oink's post in the last few days I feel guilty for cashing out my online roll so much and staying at the 2/4-3/6 level. Even right now I have about 8k online and I'm thinking of taking 2k off. Not because I need it but just to put in a better investment considering I haven't convinced myself to move up or even take many shots.

Some background:
Don't have access to PT right now but have over 250-300k hands at 1/2-3/6 with the majority at Absolute. As we know the rake is larger on this site but the bonus/etc.. make up for this fact. But when I look at my stats there is nothing there to convince me to move up? I play 4-5 tables and honestly I'm happy to just break-even or come close to that each month because of rb/bonus/etc...

I don't depend on my poker income, and this should be another reason I think I should have moved up or at least have taken some shots at the higher limits. I guess I'm a bankroll nit by nature and don't like dropping 1k in one night, but I understand that eventually I should be taking some calculated shots at good tables at higher limits.

I know the standard response should be, play fewer tables and take shots at higher games with good seat selection.
Run hot = stay
Run bad= move back down.

Not sure what I'm really looking for other than someone giving me more motivation to move up and challenge myself as a player.

[Tryptamean]

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Not sure what I'm really looking for other than someone giving me more motivation to move up and challenge myself as a player.

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just [censored] do it

[NinaWilliams]

Moving up makes you a better player. I know that I probably wasnt ready for 5/10 when I started playing it, but Ive made a lot of adjustments and feel like my game has improved a lot from where I was even a couple months ago. I would suggest switching sites though. The 5/10 at AP is full of superusers like Palomino.

[jr4284]

Ultra conservative BR management is 1000 BBs for a certain level, but go by Stox...

e^((-2*B*W)/V) = probability of busto
B = bankroll
W = winrate
V = variance = standard deviation^2

If you're a 1 BB/100 player with a st. deviation under 15, then 500 BBs is plenty of room (1.2% Risk of Ruin). you're going with an 800 BB roll... it's time.

[Oink]

Beast

You should do whatever makes you happy man.

If you enjoy poker the way you do things now thats great!

But I gotta tell ya. I have played with you and no way you will be a loosing player at 10/20 or 15/30 if you do good table selection.


All you AP guys who do moderately well (breakeven) to real good (+1.5BB/100) in the AP 3/6 have no problems in a stars 10/20 game. Sure the players a bit tougher. But the rake is like one third or something. Just keep looking for the fish and you will be fine.

Variance is a bitch tho, so I advice a lot of BB's

[thepizzlefosho]

move up, run bad/play bad. get better, move up again, run good, don't look back.

that is how I became a professional poker player. writing first draft of my thrilling autobiography now.

[Absolution]

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Beast

You should do whatever makes you happy man.

If you enjoy poker the way you do things now thats great!

But I gotta tell ya. I have played with you and no way you will be a loosing player at 10/20 or 15/30 if you do good table selection.


All you AP guys who do moderately well (breakeven) to real good (+1.5BB/100) in the AP 3/6 have no problems in a stars 10/20 game. Sure the players a bit tougher. But the rake is like one third or something. Just keep looking for the fish and you will be fine.

Variance is a bitch tho, so I advice a lot of BB's

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This is what I was going to say. Play at whatever level makes you happy. If you can grind out 1/2 and make a few K a month on top of your job and that makes you happy, then keep doing that. If the thought of playing at 3/6-10/20 and possibly losing a few K in a couple days is going to cause you stress, then don't do it.

I've been grinding the 0.5/1-2/4 games for a long time now because it's what I'm used to and it's relatively low stress. That's how I like to play poker right now. Eventually I might try and move up, but the games looks tough at 5/10 now and I think the swings would be stressful for me. To move up I'd have to make a larger commitment to refocus and retool my game than I already do, which is quite a bit. I'll stick to the levels where I am confident I have an edge and I can manage the swings. Maybe this will change in the future, but I want poker to remain fun so that I can stay motivated to play.