Three Extremes Holding Players From Moving up in Stakes

Too Loose or Too Tight Bankroll Management

A poker player’s relationship with money is one of the most complex yet crucial aspects of the game. It is precisely this issue that makes going into extremes — when it comes to handling funds — a common issue for many players.

At one end, players treat money too casually; while this allows them to pay buy-ins without hesitation, it also leads to a rapid depletion of funds and an inability to build an adequate bankroll. Such players pose a danger to themselves during a downswing, as they may view any poker-related expenditure as justified if they are trying to win back their losses.

At the other end of the spectrum, players practice overly tight bankroll management, imposing strict limits on themselves and allowing for expansion only after amassing a disproportionately large amount of capital. For these players, a downswing prompts them to cut spending even further, as they begin to watch every penny.

How can you protect yourself from this extreme?

Review your finances and poker results from the past six months. Assess which way you are leaning — and try to find a balance.

If you are too careless with money — set limits directly within the poker client, use a budget-tracking app, or ask a relative, friend, or fellow player to help you manage your gaming expenses. For many people, a social commitment fosters more discipline than mere self-discipline.

If you are overly cautious and afraid to risk money — consider speaking with a mental coach or therapist to uncover the root causes of your risk aversion. Excessively tight bankroll management often stems from past financial losses or a fear of losing control over spending; resolving these issues on your own can be difficult, so do not hesitate to consult a professional.

Seeing Bad Outcome as Only Your Own Failure or Bad Variance

Poker tilt works in a very interesting way. It compels you to seek an explanation for negative situations, and it steers you toward the most simple explanation, because that’s exactly what people tend to do. So, players usually choose one of two options: blaming themselves entirely or attributing everything to bad variance.

And only a rare few — like unicorns! — can adequately assess the ratio of failures to bad luck, especially when stuck in a downswing.

How can you protect yourself from this extreme?

In this situation, the numbers are your best friends. You should regularly evaluate your results and performance metrics, checking your decisions via special tools.

It is also a good idea to occasionally hire a coach or turn to a more experienced, objective peer to review your database and discuss specific hands. A fresh pair of eyes will more easily spot where you made a mistake versus where you were simply unlucky — and help you understand where your perception is skewed and why that is a problem.

Many people also find it helpful to join a community or interact with various poker players on forums, where discussions offer a wide range of perspectives on a given hand.

Placing Opponents on a Pedestal or Underestimating Them by Default

When you are aiming for higher stakes, it can be difficult to assess opponents from those levels realistically — gauging them accurately based on their actual abilities and the information you have available.

Players are most often inclined to deify regulars from the next limit up — and even top coaches suffer from this, as Marc Goone admitted on X/Twitter:

However, his quote also reveals another problem: swinging to the opposite extreme, where you underestimate your opponents and refuse to even entertain the possibility that they might be better than you.

The issue with these extremes is that they prevent you from objectively assessing your opponents and the field, locking you into a playstyle that doesn’t suit the current meta. Consequently, you view players as either superior or inferior to yourself, thereby becoming biased regarding both their abilities and your own.

How can you protect yourself from this extreme?

Remind yourself of two coexisting truths.

First: People make mistakes at absolutely every stake and level of the game. Even elite players make them. No one is immune to mistakes which alone do not fully define a player’s skill level.

Second: There are always players who are worse than you — just as there are those who are better. You can only determine who is who based on objective data: the poker statistics you gather during play, as well as hand analysis with calculators and solvers.

To strike a balance here, you need to shift your focus to the numbers rather than relying on preconceived notions.