BR management/judgement

I dont know if/how often this has been discussed but here goes.

When managing your bank roll and finding yourself in a position to move up in limits because you have reached the accepted/general target that would allow you to do so, ( say you did this over a shortish time ) do you go ahead with the climb and try it out or do you say to yourself, no im not ready yet, i dont have enough time at my current level under my belt?
For a bit more clarity lets say you have been playing $5 sit and go with 9,18, and 45 players, and have taken a br of $200 up to $600 over a period of about 6 weeks. 2% of your $600 br would now represent $12 so do you hit those buy-ins at this point of do you hold back and continue at $5 levels to gain more experience/br. I am basing this question on playing 5 sit and go a day over a 6 week period. That would give us 35 sit and go a week, times 6 weeks, giving us a total of 210 sit and go to work from. I wondered if it would be correct to move up at this point and wanted to highlight the perils of moving up before you are ready. What do you think?

I usually test out the next level before jumping up. I'll play a couple games and if I don't feel comfortable yet I'll stay where I'm at. Just remember you may lose momentum if you play a higher stake while you are on a major run.

I found myself moving up in levels before I was ready. I didn't yet have the experience to rise to the more aggressive play found at those higher levels. It had less to do with my bankroll and more to do with play style and experience.

What I tend to do when my bankroll tells me I can move up a level is evaluate my play & decide if I am remaining focused & attentive & successful at the level I am playing or if I am getting overconfident & bored. The former I will continue mainly at the same level & continue to build while occasionally dabbling in the next buy in levels. If my success continues at the next level I will play fewer & fewer games at lower level, but if success rate starts to decline I drop back pretty quickly. I focus on how I am playing & whether or not I am learning & experimenting, trying to improve my thinking & overall play rather than just focusing on my bankroll.

Yeah, i would imagine a lot of people in the past have tried to punch above their weight only to find you can get KO'ed pretty easy if youre not careful. Its def something to consider when thinking about making that move up the limits.

Yeah, there's no reason to be hard and fast with a move. Take shots, if you play comfortably and your bankroll at least holds steady, maybe take some more shots.

The reason I moved up is that I found myself bored at the level I was playing, even though the bankroll was only making very slow progression. What I did is set a limit to the amount I was going to allow myself to lose at the new level before I moved back down. PokerTracker helps me keep track of only the playing that I do at this level.

It seems like you are a tourney player. I am strictly a cash games player so this may or may not hold true. When I went up limits I was slightly short the amount needed in my bankroll but the experience is brilliant. You really concentrate harder and sharpen up little aspects of your game. Also, you'll very soon get an idea if you're in over your head or not. As a note though, this does assume you have the discipline to move back down if you get creamed at the new level.

So yeah my advice is to definately take shots higher up every now and then. It keeps you motivated.

I side with the try it and see approach. Pick your spots, play a few at the higher stakes when you're fresh, feeling good, and the poker gads are smiling. If you hit a dry spell, you can always move back down for awhile.

All good posts and yeah i think the odd, try it and see approach couldnt really do any harm so long as disciplined br management remains the priority. One big reason for not running before you can walk though is the many times you read about someone doing really well at a certain level and maybe hitting a big pay day and all of a sudden thinking they are ready for the big time without really putting in the time needed. The fall from grace can really hurt not only your confidence but your pocket as well. In my case it wouldnt be like that anyway as we are talking low limits, but the amount of times ive seen it happen is staggering.

u pla whatever level u can beat i play way over my br in cash but i know the level i play i beat easily if i hit a bad run i drop. in sngs u will know if u comfortable pretty quickly but be warned at pokerstars 16 turbos is where the sharks play so it gets lot tougher when u get there

hello.I am new to poker. I am Chinese. Nice to meet you !

By the way Mojo, if you are playing on Stars you will notice very little difference in the overall quality of play between $5, $10, & $12 SNGS.

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