when do you know your ready to move up?

Hey guys

I finally reached my goal of building my br to $80 and was thinking of moving up after building a little more but then just ran into a string of coolers that dropped me down 3 buy-ins so im back to a just short $79. I know that the skill at 4nl is probably not going to be very different from 2nl but im still feeling that my rise in br is more of just a heater since I still have only played a little over 13,000 hands. I know Im a winner in the long run at 2nl since most of my sessions have been either winning or going rotstucko but Im not confident that I can crush the tight regulars at 2nl, let alone 4nl since I try to avoid playing them unless I have a monster. So I would like to ask players who have moved up when they felt they were ready.

Im thinking of possibly still grinding at 2nl to 90 or even 100 before taking on 4nl just so I have more confidence. I know Im going to stay at 4nl for a long time since the next jump is 10nl which requires a $200 br minimum according to Ferguson.

If you are in the US, get a good job, save up a bankroll, play $200 nlhe live. Thank me later. Lol. I'm kinda kidding but also kinda serious.

Don't be scared of moving up, there wont be a huge jump in skill level.

If you have the bankroll then go for it, just make sure you move back down if necessary.

I would want at least 25 buy-ins before moving up...move up to 4nl at $100 and move back down to 2nl if it drops to $60 - that would give you a 10 buy-in shot at 4nl.

Figure out your cutoff and add 10%. Since you mentioned $80 let's work with that. You are "kind of" thinking you can move up at somewhere above $80 - but losing only 3 BI stopped you in your tracks.

Figure out what that number is where you would move up. - $90? $95? $100? Now add 10%. So let's say your number is $100. You make the move up at $110 which gives you a $10 cushion to adjust. It can be psychologically hard to make the move at $100 then suddenely finding yourself back down to $90 and immediately thinking you have to move down again. Give yourself some room to figure out the new level and new players (if it even needs that).

Any limit you are rolled for and have built up to that amount, you can jump up and move back down if you hit a downswing or struggle at a higher limit. You shoulden't struggle in general though as they only increase in aggression.

don't people go by win rates?

obv you need a massive amount of hands to tell, but if you're crushing your limit and are rolled for the next then its time to move up.

Just take shots at 4nl. You'll see the standard of play is equally shit to 2nl.

Campbell92 said:

don't people go by win rates?

obv you need a massive amount of hands to tell, but if you're crushing your limit and are rolled for the next then its time to move up.

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Yeah I think some people do but I don't think win rates are relevant in micros to be honest or even any limit if you are actually beating a limit and your BR IS increasing then I think it's better to move up, if you lose x-amount then move back down. I don't think OP should just carry on grinding 2nl when he can play 4nl, there's no need to be THAT nitty at 2nl/4nl especially.

Plus, I think in general even if you can deposit $1k..you should/could jump in to 25nl and move down if you get crushed and move up if you get rolled for 50nl. I don't think you should stay at the very bottom for very long especially if your BR is increasing and winrates at the micros is totally irrelevant I think?

jbbb said:

Just take shots at 4nl. You'll see the standard of play is equally shit to 2nl.

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Lol'd.

Just move up when you're comfortable, you can easily move down if you lose like 4 bi's or something, standard of play is gonna be the same basically, gl.

Don't move up until you're comfortable. If that means you want a 100$ br then don't move up until you have that much

sactokid544 said:

If you are in the US, get a good job, save up a bankroll, play $200 nlhe live. Thank me later. Lol. I'm kinda kidding but also kinda serious.

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I just started playing $200 nlhe live and I completely agree. It's amazing how bad most live players are.

micromachine said:

Don't be scared of moving up, there wont be a huge jump in skill level.

If you have the bankroll then go for it, just make sure you move back down if necessary.

I would want at least 25 buy-ins before moving up...move up to 4nl at $100 and move back down to 2nl if it drops to $60 - that would give you a 10 buy-in shot at 4nl.

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4nl as in $0.02 and $0.04 blinds?

^^ yes, 4nl is 2c/4c blinds

Let your bankroll dictate moving up. $80 is good benchmark amount. Maybe give it a shot until you make your next benchmark amount or lose 10% of the current benchmark ($8)

If you're using a 20 buyin guideline, I suggest not moving up until you have 30. That's because 20 is a minimum. If you play 4NL with an $80 roll and lose even a small amount, BRM says you have to drop back down. If you have 30 buyins, you have a buffer in case you don't win right away.

That said, I'm also fine with taking shots. Just set aside your winnings until you have 1 or 2 buyins, then use that money to get an advance peek at the level you're working to move up to regularly.

And I think it's important to look at win rate, not just the size of your roll. If you're barely above breakeven over a lot of hands, you'll eventually increase your roll enough to move up, but your game probably isn't as ready for the move as it would be if you had won the same amount over a significantly smaller number of hands.