Making the Jump to High Stakes Poker

Making the jump from small stakes to high stakes poker tables can be a daunting prospect for many players. There are many factors to consider when attempting this transition including skill differences, bankroll criteria and psychological issues such as confidence with large sums of money. This article will look at making the jump to high stakes poker in terms of ensuring you are ready for the move, and discuss how to make this jump a profitable one.

Bankroll

We start by looking at the key factor of bankroll management – how to decide when your bankroll is big enough to take a shot at the high stakes tables. Next some of the skill differences between high and low stakes are outlined. Finally the psychological aspects, including dissociating yourself from the money involved are covered.

While bankroll management is not the most glamorous of poker subjects, it is a key skill for any profitable player. Moving up to the high stakes poker tables without sufficient funds to do so will usually end in going broke – even if you are skilled enough to play well at the higher levels the natural variance in the game is difficult to overcome in the short-term.
Bankroll management guidelines suggest having 20 buy-ins as a minimum for the level at which you play. This acts as insurance against a bad-beat or cold run of cards taking away too much of your poker bankroll. Holding 20 buy-ins at the high stakes tables you have a good enough bankroll to move up. Having the discipline to move back down if your bankroll shrinks to 12 or 15 buy-ins will provide an extra safety net. Moving back down temporarily to rebuild at the level you are already profitable at will allow you to take multiple shots at the high stakes tables over time – sweating it out with a diminished roll can lead to going broke.

Skills

As a rule, the higher you go in stakes the lower the number of ‘unforced errors’ your opponents will make. This means that the high stakes tables rely more on your superior poker skills than the lower stakes tables. Skills such as hand reading, bet sizing strategy and thinking one level above your opponent become critical to your high stakes poker success. Before moving up you will need to objectively analyze your abilities in these areas and spend some time working on any areas identified as requiring this.

Psychology

Psychology comes into play when moving up. Winning poker players tend to play positive and aggressive poker when the situation warrants this. Ask yourself the question whether the higher betting limits could affect your decision making processes. For example if you would have called a pot-sized bet at the low stakes would you still call a pot sized bet many times larger under the same circumstances? It is easy to answer ‘yes’ to this question while away from the tables. If you find that the high stakes do affect your natural game then moving back down to build your bankroll further before taking the next shot may be the most profitable move.

Conclusion

To summarize, every high stakes poker player started somewhere and the jump between levels is a natural part of any player’s poker development. To ensure your move up is successful first make sure your bankroll is big enough to sustain variance at the high stakes. Secondly objectively assess your poker skills and work on any areas that are lacking, and finally make sure that the higher money amounts involved do not affect the way in which you play hands.