Should you move up in stakes?

Are you ready to take a shot at the next level? bencb has five things you need to get right before you climb the stakes in poker.

Moving up in stakes too fast is the #1 cause of poker players going broke and quitting poker.

If you’re thinking about moving up in stakes, you have to be sure that you’re prepared. Most poker players will either lose money at their current stake and try to get it back at higher stakes, or sit down at games they have no business playing in the first place.

Unless you’re as lucky as Mike McDermott in the final scene in Rounders, don’t put your entire bankroll on the table and expect anything other than to walk out the door broke.

If you think you’re ready to move up, make sure to check these five boxes first.

Bankroll Management

First, you need to follow precise bankroll management. For cash games, a 40 buyin bankroll should be sufficient to start playing at a certain stake. If you are playing $1/$2, having 40 stacks of $200 behind (an $8,000 bankroll) would be advisable. If you go on a heater and win 20 additional stacks ($4,000) at $1/$2 then you can consider moving up to $2/$5, taking around $2500 of your $12,000 roll to shot take higher stakes.

If you lose those five stacks you have to move back down and start again. This is where your discipline will play a massive part in your success, as you have to be able to control your emotions and always stick to good bankroll management. If you disregard this and move up too fast, be prepared to lose it all eventually.

Technical Skill

Almost as important as practicing good bankroll management, you have to know your skill level compared to the field you’ll be moving up to compete against. Try not to answer this for yourself, rather ask your peers for their help and advice. How good do they think you are?

Also, analyze your stats and the population stats that you’ll be up against. Look at hands played at those stakes, do you see instances where people are making crazy plays? Can you see errors in the ways players at this stake are playing that you can exploit? The more mistakes you see from your opponents, the better the odds that you’re a winning player in that field.

Sample Size

Heaters are great but they happen to all of us, even losing players. You have to have a decent sample size first before you can know whether you’re a winning player at the stake you’re currently playing. Statistically you need a massive 100k hands to accurately determine if you’re a winning player at a certain stake, but in real practice we don’t need to actually grind out 100k hands at low stakes.

You should move up in low stakes if you are winning over at least 30k-50k hands, since the skill gap between players at NL5 vs NL25 is not very large. Once you start playing NL50 - NL100 you should definitely stick to your stake for a while and start aiming for 50k-100k hands before you move up.

Mindset

Having the right mindset is vital when it comes to moving up in stakes. Many players get scared of the money at higher stakes and become increasingly anxious about the skill level of their opponents. This leads them to trying to switch up their game last minute and leveling themselves into oblivion.

You have to be able to concentrate and play your game. Make sure that on the day you’re taking a shot that you’re well rested and in a good mood. Try working out beforehand and eating healthy, then go to the tables fully prepared and ready. Don’t do what most people do and take an impulsive shot to recoup earlier losses at your normal stake. Plan what day you will take your shot and make sure you set yourself up for success mentally.

Community

Finally, you have to connect with likeminded people who can hold you accountable to your bankroll management and skill level. Having other players to grow with puts you on the fast track for poker success and allows you to study and improve much more efficiently, as well as make better decisions when it comes to moving up in stakes.

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