When to Move Up a Level

I’m fighting against a big itch right now. I want to move up a level. When I started back into poker I put some severe limitations on what I did:

1) My initial bankroll for internet poker would only be $100. I’d have to move up the levels by building my bankroll. I did this because I wanted to experience how the game has changed from all levels, not just the middle limit games I was used to before I took a break from poker.

2) When I have 25 buy-ins for a level, I would consider that level my “home level”. If I have 10 buy-ins, I could occasionally take a shot at that level… say one time in four sessions I could give it a try. That means for a $50 max buy-in NLHE table, I’d need a minimum bankroll of $500 just to think about playing there sometimes, but I really want a bankroll of $2500 to play there consistently.

3) Initially, I would only play tourneys and sit-and-goes that had a buy-in of no more than $15. I can raise that level up when I reach $2,000, at which time I’d limit myself to buy-ins of 1% of my bankroll.

4) I would keep my live play bankroll separate from my Internet bankroll.

5) I would not put outside money into my bankroll unless I lose it all.

Why all these severe restrictions?

Well, for one, it is good bankroll management. And when I was playing before, one of my greatest leaks was playing in too big a game. I’d kill people in the 8-16 game, say, and win $1500 on a good night. Then I’d get cocky and take a flyer and sit at the 20-40. My bankroll was way too small for that. I’d get killed. Sometimes it was bad luck, sometimes my bad play, but often it was because I wasn’t on my best game because I had too much of my money at stake. I’d lose, rebuy, lose again, rebuy again. Suddenly I was nuked down to scrabbling at the 3-6 tables.

So three months ago I started with $100, and the bankroll has steadily grown to $250 with ups and downs along the way. That means I’m still scrabbling at the lowest limits, even though my heart desperately wants to start hitting some of the $1-2 action and higher.