When to move up in stakes?

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midni7e7oker

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Title. Current stakes I'm playing I've got roughly 100 buy-ins. Feels like a good place to step-up, but I'm still learning how to put people in ranges and equity. I have the typical up and downswings, but I'm consistently making a profit, even if it's not huge. So... keep grinding and practicing and building bankroll before stepping up? Or would roughly 50 buy-in's at the next level be sufficient to start leaning from presumably stiffer competition?

All suggestions and opinions welcome. Thanks!
 
vinnie

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Why not take a 10 buy-in shot for the next level up? If you lose the 10 buy-ins, you have 80 for the current level and you just rebuild and then take a shot later. I expect that the next level up won't be hugely different, unless you are at the lowest possible level on the site or the next level up is the highest level on the site. The steps in between do change as you go up/down in levels, but usually not massively. If you're doing fine at your current level, you'll probably be ok at the next. And, you can work on your ranges at that level, which is the level you want to have better ranges for, anyway.
 
IPlay

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The only criteria for moving up is your bankroll. Money in poker is like points in Counterstrike or Hearthstone. As you gain points you move up through the levels, much like poker and money. The only difference with poker is that you can manually move yourself to the highest ranks if you have the money.

So just move up and down as you see fit and use your bankroll as a guide line. Really all there is to it.
 
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KFlint

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I'm not sure either when it's the right time to move up, I've been doing well at 5NL but I often wonder if I'll get exposed at an higher level. Think my fundamentals are ok now but still I don't know how I would do against regs at a higher limit. If my winrate drop from 8 to 2 BB for example, it's not really great short term. But you have to move up and adjust some day....
 
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braveslice

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+1 all posts above

Only way to learn really in any sports is to play against better players. This applies to poker too, so sooner you get up to higher levels the better.
 
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Supmargy

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The only criteria for moving up is your bankroll. Money in poker is like points in Counterstrike or Hearthstone. As you gain points you move up through the levels, much like poker and money. The only difference with poker is that you can manually move yourself to the highest ranks if you have the money.

So just move up and down as you see fit and use your bankroll as a guide line. Really all there is to it.
Heh I never thought about it that way. Its a really good analogy.
 
Grinderella

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Shot Taking

Hi,

I use a shot taking system to decide when I'm going to try moving up. As soon as I've reached the half way point between the two levels I begin taking shots, and like the guys above said, if it fails you just rinse and repeat.

Here's a useful plan that I use:

NL2 Bankroll Required $40
Take NL5 Shot @ $70
NL5 Bankroll Required $100
Take NL10 Shot @ $ 150
NL10 Bankroll Required $200

Take NL25 Shot @ $ 350
NL25
Bankroll Required $500
Take NL50 Shot @ $750
NL50
Bankroll Required $1000
Take NL100 Shot @ $1500
NL100 Bankroll Required $2000
Take NL200 Shot @ $3000
NL200 Bankroll Required $4000
Take NL400 Shot @ $6000
NL400 Bankroll Required $8000



 
jimmy andres

jimmy andres

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Hi, I think it would be good for you to first stand out in the level where you are, and practice very well before level up because the pressure you feel is not the same, you are pressured by the amount of money you invest when entering Play, for this reason I suggest you practice enough and when you feel ready to level up. And also when you have achieved a good stack. I hope you serve luck on the tables.
 
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Sidetracked

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I think 30 buy ins should be adequate at any level, as long as you're a winning player.
 
nabmom

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Title. Current stakes I'm playing I've got roughly 100 buy-ins. Feels like a good place to step-up, but I'm still learning how to put people in ranges and equity. I have the typical up and downswings, but I'm consistently making a profit, even if it's not huge. So... keep grinding and practicing and building bankroll before stepping up? Or would roughly 50 buy-in's at the next level be sufficient to start leaning from presumably stiffer competition?

All suggestions and opinions welcome. Thanks!

Hi. This is a great question.

Are you talking live or online? What stakes are you currently playing?

I think the bigger indicator of moving up is not how many buy-ins you currently have but how have you been doing at your current stakes over how many hands? What is your sample size?

Despite what some others have said, the main indicator that you should move up is that you are consistently beating your current stakes. If you can't beat your current stakes over a good sample size, then you can't expect to beat higher stakes.
 
Grinderella

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Hi. This is a great question.
Despite what some others have said, the main indicator that you should move up is that you are consistently beating your current stakes. If you can't beat your current stakes over a good sample size, then you can't expect to beat higher stakes.


Very good advice. No point in moving up unless you can beat that level, otherwise you're just dead money in the pot. Ff you have a high bb/100 at your current level then move up to the next one. If you maintain the same bb/100 at the next level then stay there. But if it drops down to breakeven or negative after a large sample of hands then it's time to start leak busting and seeing what changes you need to make to "qualify" for the next tier. Hope this helps.

G
 
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dan toderita

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you get up to hinger levels the better.
 
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Dan Lucas

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I have to agree with the move up a level and then set your downside limit. You probably have good downside protection with 100 bb, and can probably afford to drop back to 80 or even 70 if the move up doesn't work out. Like was said before, you can always just drop back down and build yourself back up.
 
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Dani_California

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You could definitely try higher stakes if you have 100bb, that's actually quite a lot. My own limit is only 30bb and if I have that, I'll try higher stakes and give myself a 10bb chance in there. Let's say I have 300 dollars in my bankroll: I go for NL10 and move back down to NL5 if I lose 10bb and when I have only 200 dollars left. Then work my way back up to 300 dollars again in NL5 until moving to NL10 again. It's important to give yourself a chance of more than just one buy-in when moving up to exclude variance, bad luck etc. But yeah, if you have 100bb, it's safe to give it a go.
 
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Dani_California

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...and by bb I actually mean buy-ins :D Whops!
 
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SpeedBump621

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A small piece of advice. But first let's assume you are doing well at your current level and have familiarized yourself with a bankroll management strategy.

I moved up when I no longer respected the amount I was playing for. The $$ seemed sort of trivial and my play suffered. Upon moving up....I was able to stay more focused and play my A Game more often.
 
BlackJesus

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100 buy-in bankroll is safe to move up even by conservative standards, so you can move up with no worries.

Just dont get too excited. If its a bad day, simply allow yourself to move down.

Many people use far more risky bankroll management and it still pays off. Myself included.
 
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