Online Poker Guide - Texas Holdem Strategies
Texas Holdem Strategies: Moving up the Table Limits
Moving up the Table Limit
Once you’ve been playing online poker for a while you may find it tempting to move up from your regular stakes to the higher ones. Stories of high stakes professionals earning millions of dollars every year can be as inspiring as they are envy provoking! So when is the right time to move up the stakes?
Firstly, ask yourself if you really need to change what should be a winning habit. If you are able to play single table cash poker games at $1/$2 NL, for example, and earn a good income from that then why risk taking on what will likely be harder games? Of course the lure of bigger rewards is often the answer many players will give and understandably so. Poker is a game driven by greed after all!
Before you do move up the stakes consider playing more tables at the level you are winning at. Try adding additional tables to your usual number and find an amount that you consider to be your absolute maximum before you move up.
The next thing to consider is your bankroll. Do you have enough cash behind you to absorb any long losing sessions at your new stake level? Many poker experts will agree that you should have around 25 “buy ins” for each table you play. So using the $1/$2 NL game, with a maximum $200 buy in, as an example; you should need a $5000 bankroll to comfortably play that game. If you play two tables at once then increase that to $10,000. Of course those figures are generalised and take into account heavy losing sessions, which can and do occur in poker. You may find you actually need far less than 25 buy ins but it is important to be comfortable at your new stake levels to avoid “playing scared”.
When you do move up the stakes you can expect the players to be a little tougher than before. There will always be a few poor players at every level, even the very highest, but the higher you go the fewer in number they become. Adjust your strategy where appropriate and take your time to observe some of the higher stakes games before you jump in.
If things don’t go as planned at your new higher level then don’t be afraid to move back down. Poker bankroll management is one of the key elements to being a successful poker player so after a losing run drop back down and regroup. Once you rebuild your funds and confidence you may wish to try again or simply remain at the level you are comfortable with and winning at.
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Online Poker Guide: Moving Up the Stakes
Moving up to higher stakes tables from ones you're comfortable with is a risk, we won't lie. You can expect tougher competition, different styles, possibly more passive and tighter opposition (with more to lose you'll probably find you're game becomes less aggressive than it was) and some more sweat on your brow during games. That all said, if you have aspirations of becoming a pro or even suplementing your income with internet poker, then you'll have to check out the higher staking tables at some point. Make sure you have the bankroll to back the move up and don't be afraid to move back down to recoup losses.
