Quote Originally Posted by Pythonic
I'd advise you play 15-20K hands at 10NL and see how you do before moving up to 25NL if you are appropiately rolled. Poker is not a race, play good poker and play within your BR and you'll do fine.
I concur.

Let me add this: winning 7.5 BB/100 at NL10 is equivalent to winning 3 BB/100 at NL25. Until you're ready to pwn at NL25, NL10 is probably more profitable. And winning at the 7.5 rate is MUCH more fun, less influenced by variance (fewer losing sessions), and makes it easier not to tilt.

Several folks have asked me in pm's why I haven't moved up, yet. I know my "best game" win rate at NL10 is 5 ptBB/100 or better, but the guys who pwn this level often earn double that. I think I can play better and that 8+ ptBB/100 over 20k hands is doable. I respect this level and want to pwn it.

Even 20k hands is short term in poker. Win rates over even 10k hands are almost meaningless in the big picture. I've had an 8k hand heater, thought I was Johnny Chan, just to find a 8 buy-in downswing over 3 sessions just around the corner. Look at playing 20k hands at a level as the bare minimum for each level to determine how you're running.

Finally, br management. I won't take my shot at NL25 until I have $1,000. I've done it twice with $750, and both times hit my stop loss at $600, some due to bad play, some due to negative variance. If I were taking a shot with only $500, I would have a really short leash with my stop loss, like $425. If I lost enough that I couldn't buy in and have $400 left untouched, I would move down.

How many tables you're playing has something to do with it, too. I multitable, and will start at NL25 with 3-4 tables, hoping to be playing 8 - 10 quickly. So I need more like 40-50 buy-ins, just to keep a solid br untouched during multitabling sessions.

People talk about buying in short, and it's an option. I don't like it personally, but more than a few FTR people do it successfully.