I have recently developed a strategy for building my bankroll that I think has worked out well for me (atleast for now it has). Say I play a 5$ SNG and I come in 1st or 2nd, that is usually good for about a 9$ profit, considering whether it's 1st or 2nd. Now, instead of playing another 5$ SNG, I use my profit and play a 10$ SNG. If once again I come in 1st or 2nd, that is good for around 18$, once again depending on whether it was 1st or 2nd. So, now I move up and play a 20$ SNG and hope to cash again. My point is I try to use my profit to pay for the tournament, this way even if I lose say the 10$ SNG, after cashing in the 5$ SNG, atleast it was profit and I am still even. Same would work if I came in 3rd place twice, but the bottom line is I never try to move up unless I am using my profit. Yeah you might say well, your only going to stay even if you can't win at the higher levels, but atleast it's better than losing. Like I said it's worked for me and it might work for you or it might not.

This strategy, unfortunately, is based in supreme overconfidence, and that's the problem with it and one of the main reasons it doesn't actually work to build a bankroll. People taking on this sort of approach assume that their chances of doubling up in a cash game or cashing in a sit-n-go are much higher than they actually are. If it was that easy to cash in a sit-n-go, then the pros would all be recommending a bankroll of 5x the buy in for whatever level you play instead of 30x or 50x the buy in. The "double and move up" strategy totally disregards any DSV and any learning curve for playing at new limits.

Wow, Adam is very smart and wise.(not being sarcastic). Sure this could be a fun idea to try, but I don't really see it working in the long run if your always changing limits.

Great response adam, I really like the part regarding larger expectation. Along with the lack of expectation is an overconfidence when you do return to the lower levels and especially the lack of focus.

Something to think about, this idea is VERY similar to the 'Steps' on party. I have thought this through before and the only advantage to playing the steps is that you get freerolls to the same step or lower ones if you don't quite make it. That on the same hand is very damaging to your psychological look at the step 1 or 2 when you just played 4 or 5.

for what it's worth,
beauright

I would predict you'll end up taking a stab at the big MTT/SNG's, losing and then returning to the lower limit games where you win, accumulate more money and do it again. Eventually, you get better and the lower limit goes up, regardless of the scheme you use to build the bankroll.

Good luck!

I agree with Adam to an extent. I wasn't 100% clear in my post after re-reading it. There of course is a stop point, I wouldn't just keep going up and up until I reach the top. If you play primarily 5$, maybe your stop point would be the 20$ and so on. Like I play primarily 5$-10$ SNG's, so I stop at 20$SNG's, I don't keep going up until I lose and I am back to where I started for that day. I should have noted that. Also, this of course only is good if you cash alot. I cash in over 50% of my SNG's, atleast that's what poker tracker tells me. I should have been a little clearer. Well to sum it up: There has to be a "stop" point and you should be a winning player at your primary limits.

yeah, all right on, Adam. I've had that mentality myself, and it has always been detrimental to my bankroll. I'm currently playing with 20x the buyin for Sng's. I guess that might be a little risky too. What do you think?

If you cashing 80% at any level, mad props dude.

Cashing 80%, or even 50% is a very unrealistic goal. I used to think I cashed over 50% of my sngs....I even wrote it in my article when I wrote it a year ago. But I have since start keeping records, and i realize that this was entirely inaccurate. I've cashed 10 SNGs in a row, and i've also missed the money in 12 straight. In the long run, if you're cashing around 40%, you're doing incredibly well---equally importantly, if you're making those cashes count, getting a higher position than the bottom payout, then you're doing very well. Most people have the "win now" mindset, that they'd like to just come home from work, play a few sngs, and be up for the day. But as it was said in that article that was up the other day, your real profit comes from a winning style of play and flat out volume to go with it. You may not like winning a max of $19.50 for first in a $5 sng, but if you only have a $200 BR, then you shouldn't be playing higher than that, and the way you can look to get more profits is to up your volume of play. Some days you'll win, some you lose, but if you're playing a winning style and playing a lot, you'll eventually see that you're not "making $19.50, making $9.50, making $4.50, or losing $5.50," but rather than you're "making $1 for every sng you play," or something to that effect. You have to play at least a few hundred before you can even start to think this way, but I really believe it's the best mindset to be consistently profitable in SNGs.