Moving up the Stakes
Poker is all about making profits and being able to exploit the regulars at your table, but in the long term you should really be looking to move up the stakes. For each level you move up in online poker, you’ll effectively be doubling your profits.
For example, if all of the young players grinding out a modest $5K in the NL25 6-max tables move up to NL50 then they should be able to make $10K a year with the same bb/100 win-rate. In fact, the extra profits that you can earn at a higher level are so disproportional to the level of skill level needed that it puts increased importance on moving up quickly. You don’t need to be twice as good to move up to NL50, yet you can still make twice as much profit. Hence, moving up the stakes should be your long-term (and short-term!) aim.
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When Should You Move up the Stakes?
In terms of sessions or a specific time period, it differs for everyone how long they should wait before they can move up the stakes. For some it will be only a matter of weeks – but for others, well I’m not going to lie, it could take a few months or even a year depending on your style and how often you play.
Let’s take an example:
Randy has a bankroll of $250, and currently plays 4 tables, 2 hours of NL25 each day. He has an ok win-rate of 4bb/100, which spread across 4 tables equals about 8bb/hr (50 hands per hour). That’s about $2/hr or $4/day.
Now, in order to move up to NL50 he is going to need to earn another $250 to give himself a roll of about $500. So, 500/4 = 125 days, in other words it will take Randy about 4 months to move up the stakes.
If you think you’re ready to move up the stakes but still aren’t a 100% sure then here are a couple of questions that you should ask yourself:
- Are you grinding a 5bb/100 minimum win-rate in cash games?
- Are you rolled to move up the stakes with a minimum of 15 buy-ins?
- Are you at the top of your current game?
- Are you multi-tabling at least 4 games profitably?
If you answered any of these (truthfully!) no, then I don’t think you’ll be ready for the next level. And here’s why.
First of all, a 5bb/100 win-rate is something most poker communities consider good. But, if you’re only managing a 3bb/100 win-rate, for example, then you are still leaving plenty of chips on the table. You might not realise it, but under-optimising your roll like this could be a sign that you’re not playing aggressiveness enough in your current games. Ask yourself if you are bluffing, 3betting light and double-barrelling enough pots with a balanced table image? Are you taking advantage of your position and value betting the right amounts on the river? A nitty TAG who folds a lot of his hands at $0.10/$0.25 will not be achieving a healthy 5bb or even 7bb/100 win-rate.
With regards to bankroll management, you don’t need to apply the stringent 20 buy-in rule for cash games. If you can play profitably with 15 buy-ins then this should easily be enough to isolate yourself from variance. But don’t take my word for it, both Nyugen and Cole have recommended this aggressive bankroll method in their 2010 book, “The Poker Blueprint”.
Finally, I generally think that multi-tabling is a really good skill to have in online poker. In 6-max cash games let alone 10-man games you will be sat out an awful lot. Multi-tabling 2, 3 or 4 tables should be a bare minimum skill to acquire. Remember that you can also double your win-rate by doubling the number of tables you play. This means that instead of trying to move up a level you should just try adding an extra table on your screen to whoop up your profits. Multi-tabling 4 games is not hard - you don’t need to have 8 arms and you don’t need to be a stats junkie or any of that crap! In my opinion, at least up to NL50 I honestly don’t think you’ll need to invest in a HUD, but it never hurts to invest in live tracking software like HM (Holdem Manager) or PT (Poker Tracker) anyway. Lastly, while I always recommend learning to multi-table I don’t want you to take this literally and be too scared to move up the stakes. If you’re multi-tabling 5 games profitably and are adding more tables just because you’re scared to move up the stakes than this can be a mistake. It can stunt your development as a player by not learning to play at a higher level.
Tips for Moving up the Stakes
There are plenty of things that can help you move up the stakes faster. There are live tracking tools to help eliminate leaks in your game and make better decisions using a HUD, poker books you can buy in order to learn aggressive tactics for topics like bluff-raising, 3betting light, range balancing, range merging and iso-raising hands pre-flop. You can even pay $20/month to sign up to a popular training site like CardRunners or Deuces Cracked and watch over the shoulder of high stakes pros.
A big tip that I recommend when moving up personally, is to just take baby steps playing a few games at the level above you each day until you can fully commit or adjust to the dynamics. For example, if I want to move up to NL50 then I’ll play maybe one table for an hour or two of NL50 each day, whilst playing NL25 the rest of the time. This allows you to adjust to more difficult games slowly and gain some practice, without suddenly forcing yourself to play all of your games at a higher stakes and crashing into a brick wall or LAG.
Finally, my last point is relevant to those players who are stuck at the micro-stakes games NL25 or NL50. You need to be aware that a high proportion of poker players get stuck at these levels and this is because the gap between NL50 and NL100 if biggest overall. At NL100, you start bumping into serious regs at the tables who are capable of grinding over $30,000 per year. In other words, you’ll need to bump up your game massively to play at these stakes, and if you’re still afraid of 4betting opponents who are stealing or double-barrelling your c-bets, then I suggest you work on those skills a little more.
Anyway, this was a long post for me, but I hope it has helped you at least think about how to take the next step in online poker and make yourself some more money.
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