I currently have been working at my basic Limit Holdem Game but have noticed that after a string of wins and good variance that I've also felt the "high" of confidence that comes with it (foolish mind). Any suggestions on staying grounded and focused on the "grind" until your bankroll is ready for the next limit?

Ex. I have $37 at .05/.10 and the next limit level is .10/.25 so need $75 to move up per 300 BB suggested level. Seems soooo far away...

As always if this is discussed elsewhere and I have missed it please point me in the right direction. Thank you all in advance.

- Ac3sWild

What's wrong with just depositing an extra $40 and see if you can beat the next level?

If your bankroll is less than $100, you really don't have a bankroll. You've got a little bit of play money. Grinding to the next level in the micros can be very limiting because you may not actually be learning that much, and you might even be learning things that you're going to have to unlearn as you move up.

Consider skipping coffee for a month (or something else that's a couple bucks every couple days) and then take a shot at the next level with it. Just see how it goes. Regardless of whether you do well or do poorly, you'll have a learning experience.

I deposited $300 15 months ago and my lack of discipline led me to playing in the casino and MTT. I promised myself the $300 was my only shot at attempting to make poker an additional income for me and have found myself in my current $37 bankroll.

I’m looking for advice on remaining disciplined when it feels like you want to move quicker and any guidance on mentality or attitude tricks everyone uses for moving up the ranks the old fashioned way... Think bankroll challenge from winning a free roll to moving up the ranks .

It's gonna be tough to move up the old fashion way at those limits. I would continue to work on your game and take shots higher when you are feeling confident.

Losing $300 over 15 months is not bad. You're talking a $20/month loss. That's not bad, and there are more expensive past times. You might want to count up your total number of hours played and see how it stacks up against things like going to the movies or something like that.

If you've decided that $300 is the only money you would ever throw into poker, so be it. Discipline and self-control are fine, but it's not healthy to be pedantic about it.

Focus on what you're learning and not your bankroll. Maybe check your impulses a bit. In the back of your mind, are you viewing poker as some sort of "get rich" scheme?

Or perhaps you feel bored. Why are you bored? Are you in auto-pilot all the time? Are you looking for the adrenaline rush of having "real" money on the line (because seriously, nickel-dime poker isn't "real" money).

I used to be pretty hardcore about the 300 BB rule. But after a while, I realized just how artificial of a construct it is. Do you even know where it comes from, or what it means? What do you understand about risk of ruin (or risk-taking in general)?

The "old-fashioned way" of climbing the ranks isn't what you think it is. The people who climb the ranks rarely do it in such a rigid manner. They take shots when they feel their bankroll is large enough to take the risk. They table select to find the softest games, which is something at their normal level, but if there's a good game at the higher level, they take their chances. It pretty much has always been this way.

Basically, you're holding yourself to a reality that doesn't exist. This doesn't mean that you don't need to develop discipline, but it might help you to know that the thing you're holding yourself to is already quite uncommon, and that might help you feel less bad about it.

I'm probably one of the few people to move from freeroll to semipro levels. It's a good challenge in the sense that being able to bench press a lot is a good challenge. It sounds impressive but it's not super practical.

What most people want is to win a lot of money. And to do that you need to move up no faster and no slower than your skill allows.

300 BB is a good rule of thumb. It fights against most peoples' tendencies to move up before they have the skills necessary, because it's difficult to swing +300 BB on random heaters.

But if you're confident in your game, don't be afraid to take shots before then, especially if your bankroll is replenishable.

I basically started from nothing also and play professionally now.

I've also been through the phase of having no money to play poker and playing the micros seriously is really difficult. I play as high as 30/60 now and I can still play 4/8 with a killer instinct - because dollars pay bills. Change doesn't. You are basically investing an enormous amount of time hoping to reach a point where your poker playing can actually make a difference in your life. That's a hard place to reach when you're grinding the micros.

I still play online poker on Global and even though I have a large real life bankroll I basically play within my site bankroll. I started with $300 and I have about $1800 now and I don't play anything bigger than $1 NL and $1 PLO. My online roll can be replenished so practicing good bankroll management isn't super important but I don't have a lot of urge to play bigger stakes. Perhaps it's because I don't think I'm proficient at PLO or NLHE and feel like I need to earn my way up the ladder.

It's hard to offer good advice since I suffered the same problems playing micro stakes.

The real question is: if you're not willing to reinvest in your poker playing (by reloading or adding on) then is this something you really want to do? And if you're not willing to reinvest, you probably have to accept the fact that you are going to go site broke.

But chances are you won't be done when that happens. So just admit this to yourself now and reload. Put enough money online to play limits you actually want to play and go from there. If you can't afford to do that, then you're probably F'd.