Is it wrong to take shots at higher limts?

My main problem with cash games is that I dont play the 25k or 50k or 100k hands a month like a lot of people on here. Last month I only played 10k. This means that my progression is a little (or a lot) slower than other people. My BR is about $800 after bonus whoring party poker at $25NL, although I also made a 5ptbb profit over 10k hands (about $240).

Now I am playing at iPoker and am forced to play 20NL for a while, but hope to soon close in on the 1k mark so I can play $50NL. Is it ok to take some controlled shots at $50NL right now? I admit that I did play about 100 hands of it tonight, but after all of the BR management material that I have read on here, it just doesnt feel right. I even had a very good 100 hands, winning a buy-in and am now at $850. I was not playing scared or anything, as I was focused on playing MY game.

Is $800 a little to low to be taking shots at? Or as long as I am comfortable losing $50 it is ok?

I am in the same boat as you in that I only get to play about 10K hands a month if I am lucky. But, I think that means that I must play by even stricter bankroll rules than those who play 50K+. The reason being it will take longer for my variance to even out as I am not putting in enough hands. If I hit a 5000 hand downswing it will last days or weeks, not a session and a half. I am playing 100NL and am not even thinking about 200NL until I hit 10000, and even then I would probably want 1-2K as a buffer before taking a serious shot. But then again I believe in playing extremely overrolled.

If you are serious about poker, then there is never a reason to play underrolled. If you are just having fun and don't mind that there is a (probably not insignificant) chance that you will go broke, then go ahead.

Even $1000 is pretty low to try 50NL. I would be even more concerned with the low number of hands. What are your PT stats like? I'm at $1800 myself and still playing 25NL, but don't plan to make the jump to 50 until I fix some leaks in my game. These are some things you might think about.

"taking a shot" usually means playing for a buy-in above the stakes you're rolled for and if you lose it moving down again, except it never works that way

Short answer, yes, its wrong, and it increases the chances you will be going broke.

Bankroll management is meant to protect you from going broke (assuming you are a winning player of course) due to short term variance, 20 buy in is the minimum to have, and I think 25-30 buy in is much more recommended.

You are not in competition with anyone about who will win more money faster, nothing will happen if it will take you 2-3 more months to move up in limits

taking a shot will only make you go broke if you are lack the discipline to move back down. my general rule for taking a shot is i stay in that limit until i am below 20 buy ins.

One of the problems with moving up and taking shots is if you hit a little upswing or BE for a length of time, a lot of guys start to believe thay can beat the stake or are really a higher limit player. Thsi only makes you stay too long and possibly risk ruin.

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Originally Posted by will641

taking a shot will only make you go broke if you are lack the discipline to move back down. my general rule for taking a shot is i stay in that limit until i am below 20 buy ins.

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he is only at 16 for 50NL though. and if he can't stay at 25NL until he has 20 BI's for 50NL then he most likely won't have the discipline to move down when he drops a few more. especially if, as TJ said, he starts off on a win streak and thinks he can beat the new level.

You must have extremely good self-discipline if u want to take shots w/out BR requirements. Usually ppl always end up going broke, but if u feel u have that discipline to actually drop down if u lose a couple buyins, and not tilt, go for it.

"Is it wrong to take shots at higher limts?"

Yes it is There is a reason why people preach bankroll management. Listen to them.

if youre comfortable losing $50 then by all means mix in 1 table of 50nl for a session sometime. Dont do it every session, or load up 8 tables or anything but if you dont mind risking $50 then do it. Just dont talk yourself into "awe, i ran KK into AA after only 25 hands, ill just try one more buyin." If you lose the $50, then quit. On the other hand, if you run it up to $100+, i would also quit.

I played above my BR for quite a while.

I also took a stab at 50NL when my BR was around $800. I had a rule "if I drop below 700, I move back to 25NL".

I dropped once, back to 25NL, then tried again. Then again.

3rd time was the charm.

I don't recommend this approach. All the time I spent making back what I lost at 50NL initially would have might as well been spent at 25NL building a roll patiently.

Plus when you're underrolled there's more pressure, more stress, more disappointment when your roll gets devastated by a bad beat.

You play better with a clear head, and playing properly rolled is more conducive to a clear head.

20 buyins is a minimum for a reason. I think most require more. To circumvent the minimum and not the standard is asking for trouble. You can't feel comfortable or play your best poker on 14-18 buy ins. just grind it out, do you have somewhere you have to be?

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Originally Posted by d0zer

Plus when you're underrolled there's more pressure, more stress, more disappointment when your roll gets devastated by a bad beat.

You play better with a clear head, and playing properly rolled is more conducive to a clear head.

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so so so so so true

fold

Don't do it.

If you don't care about loosing the money and are mostly playing recreationally I don't see the problem. However, if that's the case why are you here?