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Reasons to move down stakes

Whilst scores of poker players lay out elaborate plans for moving up in stakes, creating spreadsheets and databases to aid their planning, hardly any of them have will have spent anywhere near as much time when it comes to dropping down in stakes. Some will say why should they as moving down is thinking negatively but sometimes playing for smaller stakes is required and being strong enough to admit this and to act on it shows great mental strength.

If you are constantly reloading your account, GSOP Poker may not be for you but before you completely give up you should consider playing for lower stakes. Online poker is much tougher than its live counterpart so if you are accustomed to playing live poker with blinds of $1/$2 then you would probably be best trying the $0.15/$0.25 cash games online, there really is that much of a difference in the skill levels of players.

Along with losing another reason you should consider dropping down a level or two is if you are winning but not winning at a decent rate. For example, you may be playing NL100 and only just winning at one big blind per 100 hands but are a three big blinds per 100 hand winner at NL50. Although you will have more prestige playing higher stakes, and it will be easier to clear any online poker bonus you may have, financially you would be better off playing for lesser stakes.

Those looking ahead to Grand Series of Poker note that another reason for lowering the stakes you play is if you are struggling to come to terms with the money involved. Everyone has a breaking point when it comes to money, some higher than others. Some people are at ease firing bluffs on all three streets with the possibility of losing $1,000 where some people struggle to come to terms with losses ten times less than that. I know some very technically good players who will never play higher than NL100 because they cannot handle the fact they could lose $1,500 in a single day. If you are constantly attaching monetary value to your chips it could be time to move down.

Finally, if you are experiencing a downswing, that is a number of losing sessions in quick succession, it could be an idea to play lower for a couple of sessions. Doing this will not only limit the amount of money you can potentially lose but you will also be facing weaker players so the probability of a winning session is much higher.