Taking Shots and Moving Up...

My mindset about bankroll management, game level difficulty, etc. has changed dramatically since I started this blog. I was much more rigid about my game level, which really does not make much sense. The way I see it, there are 3 types of people when it comes to bankroll management.

1) Fish - Despite the fact that they only have a few 100$s in their account, they're willing to put it all on the line if they're running hot, or if the planets have aligned that day, or whatever. This is obviously the least effective and will always result in a big fat BUSTO.

2) Grinders (Nits) - This is where most of the longer-term winning players online would fall into. The players who set very rigid (and pretty much counter-effective) rules for themselves, such as - "I must have at least 25 buyins for my current level before I will move up in stakes." As if moving up in stakes was some huge feat that requires a magical bankroll number to accomplish. It really isn't, and this kind of mindset really holds back players who are otherwise strategically sound. For mediocre players (1-2ptbb/100 winners) this is a good mindset, as their downswings are generally worse. For a player who is winning 3ptbb+, this will only hold you back. I fell under this category for a long time.

3) Assertive Risk-Takers - I see this type of player as the type who has some bankroll guidelines, much like category 2. The difference is that this player knows when and how to make an exception. What is the difference between NL200 and NL400? Or NL400 and NL1000? Theoretically, there should be a higher concentration of better players at the higher stakes tables. Unfortunately, most players tend to build themselves a glass-ceiling and think that they cannot beat the games above xxx$. This type of player can identify a profitable table regardless of the stakes, and take an educated risk depending on their current bankroll and the quality of the table. I would classify myself under this category now.


For example - Say you have a regular NL200 player with a bankroll of just over 10,000$. This is quite common among the better regulars at this level. Such a player will rarely look too far above the NL200 level, maybe sitting at NL400 occasionally when the table is good. This player will rarely even look at the tables above this level, because the risk is too high.

If this NL200 regular were to keep an eye on the 1000$ buyin tables, however, he would eventually see a table that is just so juicy that the risk is worth the expected value of sitting. Believe it or not, there are some mega-fish who play at the higher stakes too, and by not even considering the higher stakes as an option, the winning player is limiting his own growth. Of course, putting more than 10% of your bankroll at risk at any one time is probably out of the question, aside from extreme circumstances. Strong winning players usually have much more than 20x the bankroll of the current stakes they are playing, allowing them to fairly safely take shots at at least 2x their regular stakes.

Basically, the point I'm trying to make is - winning players should always keep an eye on the tables that they generally wouldn't consider playing. You never know when that 80/20 mega-fish is going to sit at 4x your normal stakes and donate to everybody at the table.