One seemingly basic concept in poker bankroll management is that, when you’re winning, it’s time to move up in cash game stakes. After all, higher stakes eventually pay off for successful online poker players because they have the potential to make more money per hour. But as with anything in online poker, things don’t always work out so simply.
The biggest problem with moving up in cash game stakes is that you’re going to be facing a different level of competition, and some of the things that you did in previous stakes may not work at a higher level. In fact, it could take tens of thousands of hands before you start crushing higher stakes than where you currently are. This being said, it’s important to take a couple of things into consideration before moving up.
The first thing that you should think about is how badly you need money from your bankroll. Assuming you already have a good job and money is not an issue, you could benefit tremendously simply by sticking at the current stakes, and continually adding more to your bankroll. Once you’ve collected 30 or 40 buy-ins (100X the big blind) for the next cash game stakes, you can comfortably move up without worrying about your bankroll.
If you rely on online poker for a portion (or all) of your income, you may not have the luxury of sitting back and waiting – especially if you want to make a better living. On the other hand, you don’t want to force a move up in stakes and risk losing what you already have. This being said, you should try multi-tabling the current stakes (or add more tables if you’re currently doing so), and see where this takes you.
Now multi-tabling will take your win rate per table down slightly, but the extra volume of hands will obviously make up for this. To sum this up, only move up in stakes when you’ve comfortable got enough buy-ins for the next level, and money isn’t a serious issue.
