Taking Shots at the Bigger Poker Games
As your experience and playing ability grows, naturally you will begin to move up to games with higher stakes. One way to speed up this process is by taking shots. The term taking shots refers to the act of a single attempt to play a higher stakes game than your bankroll calls for. The distance between required bankroll levels makes these shots possible.
For example, assuming you have a $2000 bankroll, you should be playing at the $1-2 No Limit games with a maximum buy-in of $100. The next level, $2-4 No Limit, will require a bankroll of $4000 with a max buy-in of $200. As you are grinding your way to the $2-4 poker game, you could reach a level where you have a bankroll of $3000. Thus, you could take a one-time shot at the bigger game with $400.
You don’t intend to keep playing at that level unless you reach the $4000 bankroll limit, but the single shot may help you get there. However many shots you take, you should never let your bankroll fall below standards for playing in your current level.You could try your luck and skill in the upcoming WSOP Tunica 2010 event that will begin in this month and see for yourself that these methods work.
“Shot Roll” Management
One way to manage how to take these shots is to set aside a small portion of each win. This “shot roll” should be built up until the amount in the roll is equal to the buy-in needed to play in the bigger game. Thus, from time to time, you will be able to take these shots to move up to a bigger level more quickly. A good idea is to set aside 10% of all winnings. To use the previous example, in the $1-2 game a solid win would be $200, so after 10 solid wins, you would have built up enough money in your shot roll to take a shot at the $2-4 game.
While this money is never actually removed from your entire bankroll, the idea is that you create a mental separation between your shot money and your day to day bankroll. Also, using this method will always ensure you never endanger your bankroll by playing above acceptable limits. The danger with taking shots is when people continue to play at the higher level without having an adequate bankroll. This method will easily prevent that from happening.
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