Slowly moving up

I finally had a free day to concentrate on poker. Played 3 tables of NL200 and 6 of NL100 on Pokerstars this morning and did fairly well with both. I think I will be mentally prepared to play 9 tables of NL200 by the beginning of next month. I haven't noticed a big difference in the skill level between NL100 & NL200, maybe just a little more aggressive. The main issue for me is getting my mind used to dealing with the bigger swings at each higher level. AT NL100 I'm used to being up or down $200 in an average session with a maximum $400 swing. Nine tabling NL200 with the tables being more aggressive, I can see that I am going to have days where I could lose up to $1000. I'm still getting my mind mentally prepared for this.

I easily have a bankroll to play as high as NL400 but I don't like to play at a higher level until I am extremely comfortable at the previous level. As a rule this cycle seems to take me about 3 months per level. I played exclusively Sit n goes for about a year getting all the way up to 6 tabling $100 SnG's before getting bored of them at the beginning of this year and moving to cash games. I enjoyed sit n goes but at the time the biggest games going were $200 SnG's and the level of competition at these was very high, giving a small ROI.

I decided that to progress in poker my best option was to move to cash games. I started playing NL25 at the beginning of the year for about 3 months. It was a great level to learn at, and after losing money for about 2 months, thing finally started to click in March. I moved up to NL50 and was a steady winner until I moved up to NL100 in June. My first month of NL100 was a shocker and I actually lost money playing poker and had to rely on bonuses to survive. I found that adjusting from NL50 to NL100 took a bit of time as players put a lot more pressure on you at NL100. I reduced the number of tables I played to six and quickly got used to it, before moving up to 12 tables at one stage. I plan on playing NL200 from the start of October and stay at that level until the end of the year. People tell me that NL400 is a lot tougher than NL200. I hope to start playing NL400 at the beginning of next year and I guess this will be the true test of whether I can make it as a serious poker player or not. I imagine if I struggle playing NL400 I'll switch over to multi table tourney's and try my luck at those next year.

Things could well change before then, but I think it is important for all aspiring poker players to have a detailed plan for their poker future. It gives you something to aim for, and can help keep you going during the difficult times. Work out what you want to achieve from the game, and then plan how you can realistically achieve it.

I've just reached the cash in a $24 Full Tilt tourney with a fairly decent stack, so I'd better go and concentrate on that. Good luck at the tables everyone.