When Is It Time To Move Up In Stakes?

Moving Up - When To Do It?

Maybe you’ve been crushing the games you’re playing, but you’re a little gun-shy or curious about when to pull the trigger to start taking shots at higher stakes.

In this article, I’ll share a bit about my journey in moving up. However, everyone is different.

When I started my journey playing $1/2 part-time, I had a decent win rate. But I was scared to move up in stakes and also want sure it was the right time.

Today I want to give you a few things to think about if you’re looking to make the jump from low to mid-stakes.

Tip #1: Evaluate your win rate. It’s important to know you are beating the game you are playing. The only way to gauge this is to log a ton of hours at those stakes. I would recommend tracking at least 100 hours at that game. If you don’t log your hours, I recommend using an app like Poker Analytics. It’s a great app I use to track all my poker stats. If you feel confident you are beating your current stakes, then it’s time to evaluate Tip #2.

Tip #2: Bankroll Management. It’s good to have 80-100 buy-ins at the stakes you are playing. So, for example, if you play $1/3 with a $600-1000 max buy-in, a nice bankroll for these stakes would be about $60,000. Assuming this is your full-time or serious part-time venture. If it isn’t, you can shot take with way less of a bankroll, assuming you can replenish your roll easily. If you’ve built your bankroll from $60,000

Tip #3. Don’t be afraid. I used to fear losing my bankroll, so I would stay at the stakes I knew I could beat. Which is great if you never want to move up in stakes. However, this was not the case for me. I did want to play bigger, but admittedly I was scared. I learned shot taking is a necessary risk of being a poker player. And it’s OKAY to move back down if things don’t go well after shot taking. Here’s what you can do it you want to shot take: set a certain percentage of your bankroll aside for shot-taking. Only two things can happen from this:
1. You lose the small percentage of your roll and stay playing the game you beat until you replenish it.
2. You run great and boost your bankroll in a few sessions that might have taken you tens of hours at lower stakes.
See! What’s the worst that can happen?
Don’t be afraid to shot take. You could have an amazing sun run and propel your bankroll to new heights. You’ll also gain experience playing against slightly better players.

After all, poker is a game of risk and reward. Moving up stakes, bankroll management, and shot-taking are all a part of it.

So don’t be afraid to get out there and test your skills, risk your roll, and play well!