Reducing your playing limit, although not necessarily a permanent decision, can be a difficult decision.
Every good player has had to deal with this problem from time to time – dropping down the stakes. Why does one drop the stakes? There are two basic reasons:
1) financial reasons – the player’s budget/bankroll can no longer handle the swings of the game they’ve been playing.
2) Playing issues – the player hasn’t been running well and has lost a lot more than he/she’s won.
The truth of the matter is that if a level is not profitable for a player, that player should not be playing it. Sure, it can be a painful thing to admit that you can’t handle the level you worked so hard to get up to. However, it’s more painful to remain stubborn and stay at a level that’s not serving you or your game.
The goal of every poker player should be to be a winning player.
Even though the win rate is reduced, if you’re not winning consistently at a higher level, then you’re win rate is already reduced (or perhaps even shattered).
Dropping down the stakes, as Marcus Bateman, a frequent contributor to Betfair Poker’s blog, says “has one very important positive – it keeps you solvent.”
Truth is that dropping down the limits isn’t an indictment against your play. Every player goes through it. The hallmark of a great player is great money management. If it makes sense to go lower, then go and stop worrying about this one battle. In the ongoing war that is a poker career, Bateman continues, “a calculated retreat is often the only hope you have of being able to keep fighting.”
Remember, dropping stakes isn’t forever. It’s just a temporary resolution. Once your game, your luck and most importantly your bankroll pick back up, you can return to the higher stakes…unless you don’t want or need to at that point.
Sometimes, there’s something to be said for crushing a smaller game regularly than just keeping your head above water in a bigger one.
Summary: Dropping down the stakes isn’t necessarily a negative thing; it can keep a player financially solvent and fiscally responsible, both of which are winning qualities every poker player should strive to cultivate.