When I win big taking a shot playing in a higher limit game, it is hard for me to drop back and play proper poker. The same problem comes up when I make a nice score in a tournament. I will try to keep playing at that next level and don't move back down until I lose it all. Just say, a good night for me is winning $300-$400 playing 1-2. Maybe I get up 2K and decide to take a shot at 2-5. I do good and win $1200. Great. Then I don't move back. Then I think my game is good enough to play at this level. Honest. I start playing a little looser and bring in plays I use playing 1-2. These players pick up on my leaks and exploit them. Instead, of taking the big buyin hit and moving back down I end up getting more BI's. Next thing I know, I am headed back to 1-2 with less money than I had in the first place.
Now, if I take a shot and lose it's easy to move back. The game is more exciting to me when I move up because the pots are so much larger, much more than double 1-2 pots. Dragging the larger pots are more stimulating. Instead of realizing the pots are larger because it's a bigger game, I start to thinking this is where I should be playing. Even when I switch back, I start trying to force the action. Also, maybe a little arrogance saying to me "you are much better than these 1-2 guys". It is all around harder to switch back and forth. Obvious problem, I don't win every time I play.
Defintely a leak. A mindset like "I'm to good for 1/2" shows the wrong approach to the game. Also I would'nt reccomend to move up the stakes based on the results of a single night. I don't move up before I'm confindent I bet my current limit AND have enough cash to drop 10 stacks and still be able to play the higher limit. Sometimes moving up includes something like the "cost of transation". New players, different level of agression, better adaption. Might take time to get comfortable.
You are developing a gambling addiction. Like other addictions, it is starting to take more stimulus to get the same excitement level that you had in the past. You're probably moving up more frequently to get the buzz and that is why you are "forcing the action" to keep you buzzed. You are certainly not alone in this. Almost everyone who plays poker regularly has some level of gambling addiction. Moving up won't solve it. It won't be long until you get used to the higher level and start seeking a buzz by moving even higher.
The first step is to recognize you that you have it. There's been hundreds, if not thousands of threads on this subject. You'll get good advice. But if you don't believe you have a potential problem, you'll ignore it when the itch to gamble gets too great.
There are 3 potential end-games to this. First, you'll hit bottom and quit. No one know where that might be for you, probably including yourself. GA can help in that regard. Second, you can get to the point that you end up like the guy you see pulling bills out of his pocket to buy in, often for the minimum. They play until they run out of money and leave. They come back when they can scrape up enough money to play again. Third, you can control the addiction. The best examples you'll see of that is the OMC at your table. They're not playing a lot of hands and are sitting at low stakes. They aren't the players you talk about with your buddies because they rarely have a monster stack or are making "sick" plays. They might be slight losers or even slight winners. They stay in the game.
The fact is that every poker player has a bit of a gambling bug. To win long term, you need to be the kind of person that, say you like booze, you become a connoisseur rather than an alcoholic. You need to be a nerd, not a user. You're chasing the dopamine rush, which is not a good sign.
Arrogance is easy to fall into in poker because so many other players are terrible but is an awful mental weakness to allow. Really try to remember that plenty of people are piss-poor at poker but win at life.
You should move up in stakes when you have built a proper bankroll and you believe you have the skills needed to win more money long term; not because you had one hot session. If you are properly bankrolled, you won't have to move down unless the bigger game proves to be more difficult than you thought.
