While I have no idea what your ultimate aspirations are, I will assume for the sake of this article that you are either a semi-pro or have aspirations of being a professional. I agree that the comfort issue is perhaps the most important, but there are certain other X-factors that are equally important.

The first one is rakeback. If you are an older player at Stars, you are probably not getting this. To me, getting the right rakeback deal is the #1 facet of being an online pro. While purportedly Pokerstars has the best VIP program, this is subsidized by all of the rake that they grab from you; rake that totals $1,000 or more depending on the volume and stakes that you play or plan on playing. If you plan on moving up to $2/4, the rakeback that you make (or that is denied to you) actually becomes a hugely significant part of your bottom-line or bankroll. I would suggest http://raketherake.com.

Furthermore, if you make that jump, now many of your games will be highly populated by full-time professionals, many of whom will be playing 8 or more tables at once and using heads-up displays and advanced data-mining methods to evaluate your play and the play of others, even while they are away from the table or sleeping. The result? Smaller pots, more aggressive foes, and less opportunities to exploit you opponents. You should be doing these things as well, particularly to track who the fish are as they are fewer and fewer in between. Don’t be like some of these meatheads who sit down at a table where there is one unknown player and 7 others who are rock-tight regulars.

Even better, opt for some of the smaller sites that have fewer active games at your stakes, yet significantly better games and rakeback deals. And if you play tournaments, you can find better overlays at these sites, often times week after week.

So back to the bankroll situation- don’t worry yourself to death with the 300 big bet theory. If you are un-egoinvolved and can immediately step down if you find yourself either uncomfortable or the victim of a bad downswing, feel free to take a 50 big bet shot or so at that larger game. Best of luck!

http://smallstakeshero.blogspot.com

This is really a great article (among many of yours, of course). I think that this is a tricky subject, because of the subjective nature of “comfort”. I play primarily limit hold ‘em, and I started playing at a limit where I could comfortably afford to put 300 big bets worth of money into my ‘roll. And I decided I would play at a limit until I earned enough so that I had 300 big bets at the next higher level. When I reached that amount, I would make a decision as to whether or not to move up, or to hang back a little longer.

Every time up to this point, I have decided to move up. Why? Because, by the time I played thousands of hands at one level, I had that “comfort” Ed talked about. I had a good sense of the skill level of my opponents, I good sense of what hands I could get away with playing, what tricks to use on what opponents, etc. And I had those crystal clear, “I know my hand’s better than Player A right now, but I’m behind player B” moments.

And, yes, every time I’ve moved up so far, when I’ve started I’ve had a “wow, these players are better/tighter/more aggressive” moment or two. And I usually start out losing a little bit at my new level. But then I learn how to counterattack and I’m able to get over those “bigger bet” jitters.

Sorry for the filibuster, just wanted to share my thoughts. Thanks for the great blog, Ed!

Rob Wilco
$0.50/$1.00 and $1.00/$2.00 limit player on Pokerstars

That is so huge. It is very hard to learn and make mistakes if the money bothers you. Another one of the coaches over at stox, Hunter, made a very nice case for playing over rolled so that you could use every tool in the bag without worrying about it’s immediate impact.

Oh, and James Davis’ reads are just ridiculous.

I struggle more with the loss of income at my regular stakes. My wife lost her job a few months ago and I told her she could stay home with our daughter since my part time poker income had finally equaled her income. She never complains about how much I play anymore, by the way.

I want to move up and make more but I find myself asking why I’m taking shots, losing a few buyins, and having to grind a few days to get even.

I have a good winrate at my current limit and an adequate bankroll for the higher limit. That said ,taking a shot so far has meant breaking even for 4 days, instead of winning my usual 8 buyins over the same time period. Then my income for the week is a bit short of what I expect.

I’m not trying to turn a long term game into a short term one, but as someone who depends on x dollars per month from poker, I hope you can touch on this subject in future articles.