Bankroll Management - when to step up to next level

I never thought I'd have a reason to ask a question about this, but I'm in a unique situation. I started playing at Pokerstars late Dec/early January with a $50 bankroll. I quickly found success at mixed $1 sngs and really enjoy the Battle of the Planets promotion. In early Feb (this month), I stood at about $240 including the promotion "bonuses". I received a ticket to the $50k NLHE freeroll by placing top 10 in the Mercury level and actually got 3rd in that tournament earning $4,500 just recently. Now for a player who only plays $1 mixed sngs, it's quite overwhelming. Not only the money, but I don't consider myself a NL player. Maybe I was lucky for 5 hours? With the new found money, it'd be easy to step up to the next level, but I don't want to get in way over my head. I've been playing online poker for about 2 months now and I get nervous (not stressed) just sitting at anything that cost $5 or more, whether it's sng or MTT. My question is, should I keep grinding at my usual $1 sng or is it time to branch out to higher sng and/or MTT? If you were in my situation, what would you do?

If I were you, i would

* Cash out part of the money. Party.
* Start moving up based on your perceived edge / comfort level, since bankroll won't be an issue for some time.

Wow!! That happened to you in pokerstars? Congratulations! Its very hard to make that far. Anyways If I were you? I Won't stop playing the 1$ SnG coz its still nice for training, I'd join those 5$ tournys with guaranteed 5k or 8k in PS, And lastly Cashing out a few bucks say 250$ to buy new Shoes lol!

I totally agree with Belgo here. Just becasue you now have enough buy-ins to support $100 SnG's does that mean you should jump on them straight away? NO (imo). Definitely move up, but move up to a buy-in you are comfortable with, make sure you can attain a good win rate there, and move up again.

TBH I can afford to be playing the $114 SnG's on stars. Can I afford it? Yes. Doesn't mean I should. Go at your own pace, but do move up.

Congrats on the win as well. GL

If you want to continue playing micro stakes for the time being, then I think you should cash out most of the money. Maybe leave something in the region of $300 or more, which is a very nice roll for playing $1 SnGs.

Also, since you were obviously consistent enough to make it that far in the battle of the planets, you should definitely give the MTTs a shot at whatever stakes you are comfortable with.

Yeah cash out most of the money.. you'll probably want to go to the next level above what you were playing but I wouldnt simply play at games as big as your bankroll will allow because you are going to be missing out a ton of levels between where you were and where you are now bankrolled for.

Better to climb the ladder.

So cash out most of your cash and enjoy it.

I would hit up the $5.00 sit and go's with that sort of a stack.

You have to be careful though. It's WAR out there.

There's a lot of sharks, and they all want a bite.

LOL at sharks playing the $5 sngs...

If I were on your shoes, I will cash out most of my winnings. After cashing out, I will try playing the $5.00 SNG for about ten games to see if I can win in this level. If I"mnot successful in this level, I"ll go back to $1.00SNG.

Congrats Shinng, must feel nice

i'll be throwing cash money around at the local bar, lol.

thanks for the advice as i think after this week, i'll be graduating from the $1-2 sng to the $5 sng and see how i do.

i was the last person in to make the final table and according to the pokerstarsblog article about the tourney, the guy i outlasted made final table late last year.

that's good advice. i wanted to venture into the mtt world maybe every other week and see how i do. i placed 87 out of who knows how many last week on a $2 2k guaranteed on ps and earned a little over 6. $5 every other week doesn't sound bad at all.

thanks on the congrats.

interesting stuff on your blog. i'm going to start a blog about poker as well hopefully soon but running 2 non-poker sites on the side in addition to all the real life things takes so much time. i think my perspective on mixed game sngs will bring something new. i'll contact you so we can exchange links, if interested.

Well congrats, the census around here says to cash out most of it, which i agree with. However, I dont think you should move up in levels just yet, you have only been playing online poker for 2 months, so id say to stay at the 1 dollar sngs and maybe some 1 dollar MTT or guarantees and etc, and just practice for a while. Once you are a consistent winner and have a positive ROI percentage (you can check your stats on officialpokerrankings.com) then you cna move up, if your bankroll allows. Good luck m8 that was an amazing accomplishment.

Take at least 3500 of it out, and graduate to the $5 SNG's. Grind 20 of them and see how you do. If you are doing just as well as the $1 SNGs, well then this is your new home.

exactly what i was thinking. i'm going to finish off this week playing $1 sng and then graduate to the $3 or $5 sngs. i did play a $5 sng matrix on ftp and i have to admit, the players were just as idiotic as the $1-2 sng matrix tourneys.

i don't use opr as they don't keep track of pokerstars sngs, but i do refer to it for ftp stats. i like sharkscope personally.

thanks for the advce. i'll probably do just that as i've received similar advice.

my thoughts on the mtts exactly. i must have been doing something right so i've been considering playing $2-5 mtt tourneys on pokerstars maybe every other week or something.