Knowing when to move up in Limits/Buyins
Posted: 2007-12-10 20:25:27
If there is one reason most players don't take poker to the level they want to, its because of mismanaging their money. No one is perfect, and often most people have to learn this the hard way.
The most important step in figuring out what limit to play or what buyin to enter, is quite simple. Ask yourself how much you value the money in your account. Lets say you have $1000 in your account. If you were to lose that money, would it mean you can't play anymore, or could you simply just deposit another $1000. If it were me and not playing was the result, then I would never buy in for a tournament that is more than $10.
If losing the money you have will be devastating to your bankroll, you should never buy in for a tournament with more than 1% of your bankroll. This will almost make sure that variance will not be a factor. Even if you are the best player in the world, and you only have $1000, you can't afford to run bad playing out of your bankroll. I've seen so many players have one big score, and then they think they can go play every $100 freeze out on every site. Often times this leads to them going broke. No matter how good you are, there is just no solution to the variance in cards. Better players reduce this variance, but you can't make it disappear.
Other than money, one good thing to keep in mind is how players get better as the levels move up. You need to be confident in your abilities to move up also. Not just confident in your bankroll. Keep in mind that only 10% of the field makes the money, and a good players will turn this statistic into 20-30%. Even still, they are going to lose 7-10 times.
It's really easy to get down on yourself if you constantly remind yourself of your losses by having to deposit all the time. So use good judgement, and hopefully it will take you to where you want to be.
