One of the questions you need to ask yourself as a poker player is what stakes, or limits, should you play? In today's poker world, you have a very wide variety of limits to choose from. With the online options poker players have today, you can play anywhere from $.05 and $.10 limits to no limit at all. How can you decide the best limits for you to play?
You should play at limits where you are comfortable enough to play your best game, but not so comfortable that a loss would not mean anything to you. If you are playing $1 and $2 limits out of a $50,000 bankroll, it is unlikely that you will be able to stay focused and interested enough to play well.
On the other hand if you are playing $30/$60 out of a $1,000 bankroll, you may not be able to make correct plays because of the money at risk. Furthermore short term luck fluctuations could wipe your bankroll out in that situation.
For fixed-limit games, a bankroll measured in hundreds of big bets is more useful than one based on a single session. The right number depends on the game, your win rate and how easily you can move down if results go against you.
For no-limit cash games, many players now use a more conservative bankroll than was common when this article first appeared. Around 20 to 40 full buy-ins is a practical starting range, with more required for tougher or more volatile games. Tournament players generally need a larger cushion—often 50 to 100 buy-ins or more—because long losing stretches are normal even for good players.
There is no shame in going down in limits if your results are suffering. The number of good players tends to increase as you rise in stakes, so you may have gotten good enough or earned a big enough bankroll to feel you can play in a higher stakes game than you are ready for. You cannot afford to have ego as a poker player. If your results are suffering, go down a level until you have a larger bankroll or a better sense of what it takes to win at that bigger game.