Hey there. I'm kind of new to online poker and I'm hoping a few people could indulge me with a sense of how long it took them to reach midstakes (which is my goal). I started out at 50nl and moved to 400nl in about two months, but while I know I was improving I was also running really good and definitely felt over my head at 400nl. I decided to cash out and start over at 50nl, partly just to pocket the profit but also cause I feel I need to get a lot better and if I can't make the climb up again then I shouldn't be at those higher stakes in the first place.

Anyway, longer preamble than I intended... I've been at 50nl for almost a month and not really getting anywhere, making like 2bb/100. Just got me wondering how long it took you to move up, where you started, how long you were at each step?

i personally juts did 100k+ hands at each level and moved up when i felt confident.

to clarify, there were some levels where i felt comfortable moving up before 100k hands, but decided to get a 100k sample before moving up anyways.

i moved up when I had 35 stacks, that was when i felt comfortable and ready for the new limit

i moved up when i felt confident i could easily beat the next level.

It took me about a year and a half to get from 25nl to 600nl. I am still learning and still getting use to the swings, but it just gets better with time.

I don't think you need a number of hands. Have a proper bankroll and the mindset not to play scared, and move up when you can do both of those.

i am 90% sure that you did not move down to 25/50c because you cashed out. either you never cashed out or you cashed out some, then went on a downswing leaving you with only 3-4 2/4 buyins.

agree with this statement completely.

I dont understand why ppl do this. I actually believe he did it cuz ive seen others do it to and i think its ******ed.

a lot of people say they did it so they dont get embarrassed. there are a few who were actually weird enough to cash out for that reason alone and not because of bills. some people lost most of their roll spewing and lie about cashing it out.

however, most cashed out a large % of their roll because they thought that they didnt need it. then they hit a downswing they did not think was possible (or in most cases finally stop sucking out on everybody) and lose most of what they have left. then they tell them self some story that they cashed out to so that they could play lower stakes.

moving down because you are able to check your ego at the door, could easily lead to this being a very good decision, like say after analysis it looks like you weren't playing well but ran stupid hot, moving down sure seems like a good move at that point

January 08 i started online again with $1000. I was mainly a 6max player before. i decide to take a different approach and play full-ring since 6max would make me feel like i'm pitchin quarters instead of playing poker. (I was a regular in the 5/10 - 10/20 game for quite abit so moving down to 50NL meant alot)

Played 50NL till i had 3k which took about a week.
Proceeded to grind 100NL till end of feburary. I made 250buyin during that time. I think I ran about 8-9pt/bb. I was amazed at how soft these fullring games are compared to 6max. I still couldn't move up yet since i had alot of debts to pay off.
So march came and I completely soul crushed the 200nl game for slightly lower pt/bb then 100nl and moved up to 400nl where i could respect the money.

Fast forward to now, I've made little over $250,000 with the $1000 i started on january. My life is good once again.

Just wanted to brag

well, moving down is definately a good idea if your not playing well....but if you run it up to 2/4 and think your over your head...uhhh... then play 1/2. I think moving down 4 levels is a little extreeme

thats pretty sick, nice job

Okay, just to defend my original statement, which is all true. I didn't need the money for bills. I had only put $1000 in in the first place, and that's not a concern for me. I didn't spew it all away. I cashed out for a total of about $8k.

My original plan was to move up whenever I had 25 buyins for the next level. It all came very quickly, but as I don't have to tell you guys, variance can make the unusual usual. I know I was running hot.

As I studied videos and started to work with a coach, I realized more and more that I was nowhere near as good as my results. I moved down to 200nl briefly, wasn't feeling better than it either (but hanging on) and just felt like I needed to be working on my basics. Especially influenced by the coaching. He'd be like, 'why did you choose that bet size in relation to villains stats' and I couldn't really answer him, at least not as well as I should have been able.

In general I have no problem admitting my leaks, I think I look pretty hard at myself, and don't have a lot of ego. I'll post a hand that makes me look ******ed if I am questioning myself on it or whatever. I just don't think, when I'm honest about my game, I'm anywhere near a 400nl player at this point, or probably 200nl, and I feel like I should be comfortable I can regularly beat a game before moving up.

One other factor for why I moved all the way down to 50nl. When I decided to cash out, I decided I should leave the site I was on, which has a sketchy rep. I moved to a more reputable site, and the games are reported to be much tougher, so starting down at 50nl seemed to make sense on that level too (plus, then I didn't have to worry about increasing my deposit limit or whatever to properly roll myself).

Anyway, thanks everybody for all the input, and it obviously doesn't really matter if you believe me or not. But my question was sincere, I'm just trying to get a sense of whether my growth curve (now, not before) is normal or not. So anyone who wants to share their story, I'd appreciate it!

In relation to Andrew's post above, do you all agree that full ring is noticeably softer than 6-max? If so, is that true across levels?

andrew made 80k of that staking btw...

i sneeze at his 150k in 6 months haha. seriously tho, nice work dude.

eternity.

IMO its not softer but... FR is less variance

WAT!?

His post lacks a fake graph.

WAT!!?!

you made more in 2 months at .5/1 than most people make in a years time playing 2/4+.

25k is a big year at 2/4+?

lol? no way. u must be joking. this is my stats for july



15k hands at 3/6 6max is missing 9k+

down payed for my new car with half the winnings of last month.

Those aren't ptBB. My jaw almost hit the floor when I first saw it though lol.