ok hypothetical situation: you feel as if you're beating your current level 6BB+/100) but you arent properly rolled to move up. Do you grind it out or depo and graduate?

I Got Grind on My Mind

Keep crushing the current stakes assuming you're not just on a heater and take a shot every now and then to see how you do.

heres the test. you can move up if you get atleast 70%

[ ] ready to move up
[ ] Bankrolled for the level


fill out the test and score yourself!

How many hands at this particular level?

It's always possible you are on a heater, yes. It's always hard to tell at a newer level if it's your greatness shining through or just luck (regs aren't on to you yet, good cards, etc).

So you have a few choices:
Take a shot with a very clear stop-loss.
Get your work in - if you are a clear winner, just put the hours in, make your money, and move on up.
Work on adding tables. If you 4 table, try 5 or 6. If you play 8, try 10. Adding more games can increase your hourly rate.
Work on your game - you aren't playing perfectly. Get those leaks plugged, add new concepts, etc.

[ ] OP is ready to move up.

Deposit enough to be bankrolled and take a shot at the next level. The only thing that will happen is that you'll have to play back down a level if it doesn't work out.

you're not ready to move up until you have the appropriate sized bankroll.

This.

This.

And maybe this.

Seriously though. Part of being "ready to move up" is having an appropriate bankroll to move up. I do agree that taking the occasional shot w/o the proper BR might be worth it. But anyone can go on a downswing. If you move up to a level and aren't properly BR'd, you risk losing all of your BR once some variance hits. Not only will you be forced to go back down, you may even be forced to go back down to a level lower than your current one. If you're beating your current stakes consistently, you'll build a BR soon enough. Then, you can make the jump and simpy concentrate on solid poker. Do it now and you may play suboptimally b/c of BR worries. Scared money is dead money.

Unless you've cashed out, then you don't have enough hands at your current level. If you had enough hands, you'd be rolled.

If you have cashed out, then you just need to suck it up and wait until you're properly rolled unless you're willing to risk playing short-rolled.

6BB/100 is about 1 buyin every 800 hands. This means that it would take about 8000 hands to get the 10BI you need to graduate to the next level (assuming you're decently rolled for the current level, and the next level has blinds about 2X your current level). (It also means that you probably played less than this number of hands, unless, as CMAR suggests, you withdrew - but if you withdrew, why would you go and deposit again).

Remember - as the games get tougher, your risk of ruin is increasing with each level you jump; If you don't learn discipline now, you're likely to get impatient next time, too - and there will be more on the line each time you put yourself in this position.

A wise man in Vegas once told me...

"Scared money can never win."

So, IMO...Wait, til your properly bankrolled.