Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 29 January 2009 / Leave a comment

A lot of poker players share a common dream of being able to live a life full of luxury holidays, fast cars and Cristal champagne, all funded by playing poker from their favourite armchair for nosebleed stakes.

"Sometimes as a player, you need to be true to yourself when it comes to evaluating your skill levels"

Unfortunately for them, very few even make it past the micro-stakes due to lack of skill or poor bankroll management. As a poker player myself, I have had bankroll management rammed down my throat for a couple of years but whilst most players are aware of the general concepts of bankroll management, most are blind to the fact they can and should, at some point, drop down in stakes as well as moving up limits.

The most obvious reason for playing for lower stakes is that your bankroll is not sufficient to play your current level. We are all too aware that poker can be a cruel beast at times and even playing perfectly does not guarantee you will win your hand or come out on top for the session. For this reason we need to have a sufficient amount of cash to back us up for when we inevitably lose.

Another reason for dropping down, which also sounds blatantly obvious, is if you would make more money at a lower level. One common misconception is that you must play higher and higher in order to make a lot of money in this game and if a player's ego has been inflated, then they can often find it difficult to drop stakes, even if they would make a lot more at lower stakes.

When I used to play fixed limit Hold'em, I was a winning player at the $1/$2 stakes but my win-rate at $0.50/$1 was such that I actually earned more playing it than the higher stakes. The reason I, stupidly, continued to play $1/$2 was because it sounded better than admitting to playing smaller stakes. Sometimes as a player, you need to be true to yourself when it comes to evaluating your skill levels.

Another legitimate reason for moving down stakes is simply because you want to. Yes your bankroll maybe sufficient to play NL200 and there might be plenty of available tables to play at those limits, but that does not mean you have to play NL200. You do not have to prove yourself to anyone but yourself in this game.

Playing poker is a long term commitment and the old cliche, "it's a marathon not a sprint" runs truer than you would like to believe. Remember when you are choosing which game to play, that you can move down as well as up in stakes if you wish.

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Dropping Down the Stakes - Marcus Bateman
Buying in short - Marcus Bateman
Buying in deep - Marcus Bateman
Full ring or short-handed cash games? - Matthew Pitt
Controlling your ego - Marcus Bateman