Moving up in limits, where does one stop.

Just some random thoughts, about my own game really and my own results, this is a thread aimed mainly at ring game players, even though it can be applied thoughout different disiplines of poker.

OMG, if only I had more money and could get off the micro limits that donk wouldnt have called with 72o and wouldnt have beaten my AA thing.

Ive beaten nl$5, nl$10, nl$25, nl$50 and im discovering that my style can beat nl$100 quite easily, and more than likely nl$200 as well. The question is where do I stop, where do I really want to stop. To be honest the thought of 3-betting someone with pocket tens on nl$2,000 and then having to call a 4 bet because we are both deep makes my skin crawl at the moment. Even if I manage to go win the Sunday Million on Stars this week.

Im really trying to decide my long term goal and what limits id be comfortable playing given my lifestyle and goals for the game, and I dont think I can see myself progressing beyond nl$400 ever ( )
Curiousity really at the moment more than anything else, but im throwing an open question out to the forum, what level do you see yourself settleing in at, given that at the moment your not at that level ?

If you are where you want to be, what made you stop the goals of moving to the next limit ?

I'm playing like a tight git. Small roll on pokerstars used only for MTT's. But have a new deal with "some people" that will pay me directly on stars. Plan to utilize that money to start playing ring games and train. Tried it a bit without succes, but I feel I have progressed if only a little bit and ring games is something I should be able to do.

As to levels I don't really see any limits. If my roll justifies it, I will have a go at just about anything.

I dunno, TB. I visit other forums () 'cause I know CC doesn't represent the whole world in terms of poker strategy and playing. I don't post, but I occasionally read through various threads, and read people posting about hands at $1,000NL with the same casualness that I might post about $10NL and wonder about what that's like. Here people like you and a few others represent the ceiling for the rest of us so there aren't a bunch of higher buyin players to ask.

But, if you're not playing for a living but are moving up in levels, and even if you are rolled for it, you'd eventually get to a point when a single call or bet is a TV or a new computer or a day's pay at your regular job. That just seems weird to me. The hobby has become something else, and life is out of balance somehow.

Here's a rambling response

I generally play $22-55 buyin MTTs depending on what's available when I log on. I also play rebuys which can cost up to about $80 a buy-in.

It's only relatively recent (just over a year) that I've been playing the $55s for preference over the $33s (same at SnGs). I have no problem with the level and can cope with the variance and my odd flirtation with higher buy-ins suggests that there's not much of a difference up to the $100 buy-in and even the $200 Sunday events (which have a crap load of dead and scared money in them due to all the satellite entries I guess).

I really like to be in a situation where I can play a $100 buy-in without problem but this means not cashing out in my usual pattern. I've recently started a roll on Stars with 1k of a win and it's doing ok and I have my usual $1000-1500 sitting on party. To play $100 I would have to leave 3000+ on there and that's a decent sized win without cashout. Possible and eventually probably likely, but for a while I'll probably stick where I am as the cashouts are nice unless I string together a ridiculous run or make a really big cash.

I've pretty much managed to divorce the money on sites from the real world in my head and this helps, but I did notice that as I moved up I was playing awkwardly until I settled in at the level and the buy-in became normal. Must be worse at ring as it really is money on the table, in tournies once you pay the entry it's all play money

Realisticly right now, I cant see myself moving any higher than 50max. I currently only have around 75 dollar on Stars and have been grinding out low buy in SnGs, but I want to start playing ring games when I have 350-500 dollars, first 25max then 50max if I ever get my roll high enough and can resist cashing out (I might be able to get a comped room in vegas next summer and I would definately have to cash out a bunch of money if I planned to make that trip). It will definately take me months to get to 350 but I think I have finally come to grips with that.

If I got to the point where I was ever rolled for 100max, I dont think Id really try it. Im not sure if I could stand losing 100 dollars at a time or going on a terrible run and losing hundreds of dollars in a week. Perhaps my feelings will change once I am out of school and have a full time job, but right now, 50max would definately be a plateu for me, and I hope to reach it sometime, even if it takes a couple years.

I know its diverting from the point a little, but using a solid value based strategy I firmly believe that any decent disiplined player can move from nl10 to nl50, adquetly rolled within the space of 50-70K hands.

As for my own thinking on the matter, its only really since Tracy railed me last night playing 2xnl$100 tables and 2 big hands came up at the same time, she just asked me if I realise that Im looking at over $400 sitting in 2 pots, and asked me how long I work to make that sort of money. It just got me thinking. Just for giggles, I won the first pot and lost the 2nd.

Going back a way when I first reached final tables for decent sums and I'd move the slider up to bet and Mrs Rex would make a sort of "ooooh" sound. I'd turn and ask what she'd seen that I hadn't and she'd say "nothing, carry on." I'd then get worried.

She is now officially banned from any verbal or non-verbal comment during a hand

I desperately try not to equate money at stake with "real" money, it can't but help affect your game when the figures get high (final tables where 1st is 20 times the payout of 10th are worst for this).

I regard the money in my account as the score, not what it can buy. My goal is just to get the biggest score I can using the correct bankroll management as I (hopefully) move up.

I guess in this regard then there is no limit to how high you move up, it just depends on how well you're doing. I guess though you're going to get diminished returns to scale the higher you move up, unless you're amazingly outstanding, assuming the players get better the higher you go, so maybe at some point a particular level will be relatively the most profitable for you.

Another thing, maybe at some point you want an income stream over capital growth, so anything over x in your account gets withdrawn as income. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to achieve.

Ninelions, the ability to earn large amounts of money at a poker table is not divorced from reality, it is the reality of playing high stakes poker. People struggle with this because most people work hours for dollars. This is actually quite a complex issue in itself as a whole range of psychological factors will determine how you deal with this reality.

It is weird, I feel very comfortable sitting at a 1/2 live cash game (I've sat up to 5/10 before), but online I have never played past $100 max (.5/1). I have a larger bankroll online than I do in live. I think this has to do with the fact I don't play NL live very often, so the times I play are more for kicks.