Moving up in stakes: When is the right time?

[ScooperNova]

As a recreational player, moving up in stakes isn't really necessary. A move up is probably warranted if your financial situation improves, and your current stakes feels like penny ante. The right time for a pro to move up is when their bankroll management dictates it. There are plenty of good resources with similar advice as far as the math. For me, I mostly play online microstakes and I just move up on a whim and ignore sound bankroll management because I like fun I rarely play over 25plo online. The biggest game I've every played in person was 2-5-5 plo at the casino. I got stacked for $250 buy in and reloaded and left with $550. That was 20 years ago. I've played 5-10 plo on the old bodog back in the day with buy ins from $400-$1000. I'd guess I was around even. I felt like a total high roller in that game lol. I was in over my head. My biggest deposit was probably $200 back then. Unrelated brag, I deposited $20 once and got up to $1,000 in under two weeks. I was wild back in the day yall.

 

[belladonna05]

What stakes do you feel most comfortable playing? And what do you think it would take for you to move up in stakes? Or is it better to stick with what you know, like an old comfortable pair of shoes? Share your thoughts.

Thanks to @Mortis for this topic suggestion!

I'm not good at this one AT ALL. From my past online experience before black friday, I was crushing 5 and 10 dollar sngs, built enough of a bankroll that I thought I could move up, turns out I wasn't good enough for the 20 dollar ones, but before I could move back down the US gov pulled that shit on us. Live it's always a what bankroll? I usually keep between 1500 and 3000 in my roll, but a few bad runs at the Saturday 150's and I'm back down to under 1k. I'm good enough for those but my bankroll numbers show I should play the cheaper nightly until I glow it up. Maybe one day I'll actually do that , until then I'll just be a reg who's bad at bankroll management

 

[steve01991]

What stakes do you feel most comfortable playing? And what do you think it would take for you to move up in stakes? Or is it better to stick with what you know, like an old comfortable pair of shoes? Share your thoughts.

Thanks to @Mortis for this topic suggestion!

i myself have moved up and down the ladder. when the bankroll is high, i play higher stakes, when its low, lower stakes, it only makes sense to me!

 

[dreamer13]

As I play mostly tournaments, stack size matters and the bigger it is, the more comfortable I feel in the game. A big stack can afford to open a little wider and steal blinds in greater volume. Not to mention that it is an opportunity to take a higher place in the tournament table.

Tell me how you played with a golden ticket on pokerstars for 10,300 dollars.

 

[john_entony]

I will tell you how I play in cash at GGPoker. Only in this poker room I play cash all the time (even if not so often, but only in GGPoker I have a strategy for my bankroll). So my stack allows me to play confidently on the first 3 levels of blinds. If I lose my stack at level 1, I continue to play at level 2 to win back my money. And so on up to level 3. If I lose at level 3, I go back to level 1. This is what I call the "cycle". I have exactly 8 such cycles. The main thing in this strategy is discipline and cold-bloodedness.

 

[IRINA70]

Tell me how you played with a golden ticket on PokerStars for 10,300 dollars.

By now I played just a few of them and my results you can see in this thread
https://www.cardschat.com/forum/pok...ss-online-tickets-bundle-540531/#post-6972076

 

[gustavofuentes2]

Before I move up in stakes I like to be at a comfortable level. I like yo have at least 25 times the buy in amount to feel comfortable. This is true for me on both cash games and MTT's. Good luck at the tables.

 

[s0ftdumps]

What stakes do you feel most comfortable playing? And what do you think it would take for you to move up in stakes? Or is it better to stick with what you know, like an old comfortable pair of shoes? Share your thoughts.

Thanks to @Mortis for this topic suggestion!

I don't really enjoy playing with a solver or with tools assisting me. I understand why people do it ... because it works and it wins. But I don't expect I'll ever play anything greater than $50 buy in because of this fact. Gotta keep it poor enough so the majority of people just play the old school way.

 

[infonazar]

I play poker for fun, I've been playing for over 12 years now, and I've been a very disciplined player almost from the very beginning. I adhered to bankroll management and very, very rarely exceeded the spending limits for the game. I always plan my limits based on my bankroll, and this is a guarantee that it, i.e. my bankroll, will not decrease in the medium term at least. I play only in tournaments, and on average I spend $5 per session. My bankroll is currently about $100. If I had a goal to play in more expensive tournaments, I would just need to increase my bankroll to at least $200 and then the limit of spending per game session would increase to $10. And so gradually, step by step, year by year, you could grow in the context of limits on the game.

 

[bablovod]

I love freerolls and micro ones.
If I love something else, I'll be left without pants)))

 

[fundiver199]

If you mainly play for fun, you should make a budget and then just play, whatever you want and are able to afford. Taking about "moving up" only makes sense, if your main goal is profit, AND you are a winning player already at the stakes, you currently play. Of course we never know that 100%, but you should be winning over at least some sort of significant sample, and it cant all just be due to one big tournament cash. If those conditions are met, you should move up, if you have enough bankroll and also think, there is a decent chance, you can beat higher stakes, perhaps with some further practice and study.

 

[Station_Master]

For a cash game player I think it's quite straightforward. Move up when you are beating the current stake over a decent sample size and feel comfortable at the stake. Sure bankroll is a consideration, but this should take care of itself with the winnings from your current stake. Also I tend just to dabble at the next stake up when the games look particualrly soft, so it's more of a gradual process of moving up.

 

[Gutshot Gus]

You have to be able to be humble and make the decision if you are as good as you think you are.
I would also have to have the bankroll to cover the new limit.
I have tried moving up in the past and had it work and I have also had it not work on occasion.
When it didn't work, my bankroll took a hit and was not at a level to play the higher limit.
So, your bankroll can help you make the decision.
If it grows and continues to grow when you move up that is great-continue playing the higher level.
If it shrinks and continues to shrink that is not too good-go back down and work on your game and bankroll.
We all know that poker is a game that you keep score of with money.
The scorecard ( your bankroll) will let you know what to do.

 

[neptunas888]

I play mostly cash games for money and the higher my stack is from the starting 100bb, the more comfortable I feel at the table. With a big stack I can play more aggressively and steal blinds more often in late position

 

[ninocabral]

In my opinion, you should increase your limit when you are winning a lot at your current limit, then yes, this is the time to increase your level, but slowly and without hesitation.

 

[hobojim1247]

Before I would consider moving up I would be a winner at my present level to the point where I had built up my bankroll enough to fund by new level. (at least 50 buyins.) I would also study up on the differences between the two levels.

 

[millya5]

If I have a big stack then I change my tactics . In this case, I really like to raise the pot and steal the blinds . And at that very second tomatoes are flying at me ..
I especially like to do this before the prize money.Participants are afraid to call my raise because they are waiting for prize money. But sometimes I get punished for these actions

 

[Igor Popadyk]

increasing the limit is now extremely difficult for me because of the war, I am a semi-hobby player and as soon as there is an opportunity I either withdraw money or try to increase my bankroll at the casino

 

[rsparente]

I mostly play med stakes, and like it (5~22), because it still has the crazy people, but not as many as low stakes. To move on, I'd only go if I stakes were at maximum 1% of my bankroll.

 

[antonis32123]

The answer is obvious . When you have won enough at the previous stake , when you feel comfortable to try and play next stake . Or else your bankroll and I'll be destroyed.

 

[Rachidao]

In my opinion you should go to next level when you are a profitable player and have the bankroll of at least 50 buy ins.

 

[thetick33]

my one rule was fine if I could light on fire the money I would put into the pot? then i could use that money...but also as you go up it does become harder...most played 25/50 cents highest 5/10 nlh omaha been up to 10/20 but most played 2/4 live 1/2 is most played but have played the 5/10 almost as much....omaha is lmited live...dont force yourself make rules to follow treat it like a job

 

[Ruslan L]

I play only in tournaments, and I usually play in tournaments for $1.1 or $2.2, these are the usual buy-ins for me. I can't afford more expensive tournaments because my bankroll is only $50. But I think that personally, playing at higher stakes would not be a problem for me, although I can't guarantee that the results would be good
But in general, as for me, if your bankroll allows you to play in tournaments for example for 10-20 dollars, then there is simply no problem, at least I would be definitely ready for such bets.

 

[armoko]

I think to move up in stakes could end up not so good for you and the end you can come back again to your comfortable stakes. I would personally stick in stakes where I feel comfortable and get as much profit as I can before moving up. If its profitable for you to play in your stakes why you should move up.

 

[zorro222_zorro222]

I feel comfortable playing stakes that are within my bankroll limits and would only move up in stakes whenever my bankroll limitations would let me. If there is a tournament that I really want to play but the buy-in is not within my bankroll limits, I would try to satellite into it.