Quote:
Originally Posted by InkyPoker
All numbers based rules are arbitrary. Pick a ballpark, figure it out for yourself and adjust as needed.
Pretty much sums it up.
I've always felt that you can and should move up whenever you feel like you have enough to take a shot and are confident enough to play higher limits. The key for me has setting a super conservative stop loss and then dropping back down if I go below.
If you have 30 buyins for the next level, why not take a shot with 2 or 3 buyins. If you hit a heater you might be able to stay. If you lose those 2 or 3 buyins just move back down rebuild them and try again. The other adjustment I would make is just play 1 or 2 tables at the higher limit. Even if you were comfortable playing 4+ at your existing level there is no need to add the extra variance into a your shot at the higher level.
Just because Omaha can hand you 20 buyin downswings doesn't mean you need to be prepared for a 20 buyin downswing at the next limit. Bankroll management is done to minimize your risk of ruin. You can do the same by setting hard guidelines for shot taking stop losses and this is easier to manage when you only sit at 1 or 2 tables. Be aggressive with your shot taking but conservative with a stop loss.
I don't want to build 100 buyins for the next limit or even 40 for that matter. I start shot taking when I have 30 buyins at 70% of a buyin and I sit with 70%. If I lose 2 or 3 buyins I just drop down to the previous limit, rebuild and try again. Eventually I will either stick at the higher limit or realize I'm just not good enough and have to adjust (improve) my game or accept that the limit I'm at is as high as I'll ever get (something I'm not sure enough poker players do).
The business world has a concept called the "Peter Principle" of promoting employees up to their level of incompetence. Poker has the same and I will name it the "Poker Principle" whereby a player grows a bankroll large enough to eventually play at a level where they are no longer equally or more skilled than their opponents. The end result often being a bankroll in shambles because that player refuses to accept the fact that they are profitable at X limit but not Y or Z where they think they should or have to play.