I have this belief that being over-rolled can have negative effects in a poker player's development. I'm not talking 100 buyins for a certain level as being overolled, but something a LOT more. More like having 250+ buyins for a certain stake.

As humans, we are programmed to be self-correcting bodies. When we play poker, we receive positive reinforcement when we make correct plays in the form of money. When we make bad plays, we lose money and receive negative reinforcement for these mistakes. In the real world its not this black and white due to variance having such a big impact in our games. Meaning, we are very often influenced by our results, and can sometimes receive positive reinforcement (win money) for bad plays, and vice-versa. But for the most part, over a huge sample, we slowly get closer to becoming better poker players because of the positive/negative reinforcement we get.

I think that once people have too many buyins for a certain level, the effect of this reinforcement dwindles. So say I am playing 50nl with a 15,000$ roll. A person losing several buyins will not feel the negative reinforcement as much and would be less inclined to improve. Although, this over-rollled person would be less inclined to tilt, and could make more money in the short-term, it hurts growth because it doesnt give the player any sense of urgency to improve.


Thoughts?

Depends on the person for sure.

The main problem with playing a game overrolled is that the level of competition remains the same while your br keeps growing. That is good for your game and you will improve against the competition at the current stake; however, I think you can reach a point where growth almost cease to exist.

That's when it is best to move up stakes.

Br size in a vaccuum is not as important as your skill set. You can have 300 bi's for a stake but moving to higher stake is not always the best option; cashing out may be.

Definitely depends on the person.

Some people need to feel some form of 'pain' in order to take things seriously.

Others could care less about the stakes and seek to make the best/winning play no matter what.

Reminds me a little bit of sports. THere are some people who would slack off in practice because 'hey its only practice' and these people would only do their best during the 'real games'

then there are others who worked their asses off in practice as if it were a real game and come game time they were able to work just as hard...

Same with poker and buy-ins.

There are a few higher stake players at my casino who play 10/20NL and 20/40NL. Occassionally, they will slum with us at 2/5NL while waiting for their game to open.

Some of the players play 2/5NL like bingo. They don't care, they just shove and raise and shove because it means nothing to them. They'll often donate $500 or $1K while waiting for the 'real game' and not even bat an eye.

But there are a couple of the higher stake players that play 2/5NL as if it were 20/40NL and do a decent job of playing and often make $500 while waiting for the real game.

In the end, it comes down to the character of the person.