Move On Up

Bankroll: $10.27
FPPs: 1913

I spent a lot of yesterday playing badly in free-roll tourneys. The main reason was that I played a short 2c/4c session in the morning, won 60c in next to no time, and realised that I'd made it over the $10 threshold I'd set for moving up to 5c/10c holdem. So I shut down my limit game for the day.

It wasn't so much that I wanted to savour the moment (though I did) as that I'm always slightly nervous about moving up to a higher level - even when that "higher level" is as laughably small as 5c/10c. For some reason it feels like jumping into a shark-infested pool - or, better, like the first day at a new school. I know for a fact that the 5c/10c tables are full of the same sorts of players as 2c/4c (actually, many of them are the same players) but still the prospect makes me slightly uneasy.

I suppose the higher level does represent a risk to my bankroll. $10 is 100 big bets, which is at the short end of the estimated requirement. Some say 100 big bets, some say 200, and I've even heard 300 quoted as the amount needed to ride out the vagaries of fortune. Terrible streaks can and do happen, and I'm mindful of the fact that I've had ten winning days in row. It worries me (as it always does) that I might be raising the stakes just when I'm due a run of bad luck.

To be honest, though, I don't think that's the main reason for my unease. It's more that I've grown used to 2c/4c - I feel comfortable there, king of a tiny world. And now I've got to leave it behind and prove myself all over again. Well, that's the task I've set myself, so I'd better just stop whining and get on with it.