For those who have moved from the Stars $5.50s to the $11s

[taipan168]

I'm pretty much have 30 buy-ins for the Stars $11s, for those of you who have moved up from the $5.50s, what is the difference in skill level (if any)? Do you run into markedly better players or are there still plenty of donks/ATMs going AI on the first couple of levels (or worse, calling AI with rubbish)? How did you make the move, did you play an $11 once you won a $5.50 or did you just make the leap?

Maybe it's a confidence thing, but so far I've largely avoided the variance monster (longest OOM streak in 100 games has been 4 buyins) and I'd hate for it to bite me with a 10-game OOM when I move to the $11s!

[pgil]

i moved up recently, but it took me a while. I have dabbled in the 11's for some time before finally making the move permanently. once you get there you realize that there isnt really that much of a difference in the play. you may be more likely to get your c-bet raised, but it still doesnt seem to happen too often. I'd say you are more likely to get played back at, especially if you've been running the table for a while, eg. bubble time. overall the biggest adjustment that had to be made was I had to realize that I could beat this game too if i just played well. it's something that I thought going in, but really needed to experience a few times to get the confidence that I had in the 5's.

[Warpe]

I ride up and down from $5.50 to $11 to the 180/$22s. Level of play is pretty well even, although the 180s are a little tougher from the bubble on. I play the $5.50 single table SnGs as warm-ups or confidence builders if I've had a downswing, then move up again.

[donkbee]

I'd hate for it to bite me with a 10-game OOM when I move to the $11s!

This happened to me twice when I tried to move up. It's frustrating. If it happens to you when you move up, you need to go over your HHs and make sure that it's indeed variance and not bad play. You have to make sure that you don't tighten up unnecessarily when you move up, put the larger buyin out of your mind when you are playing. Play your game, be confident, and you will be fine. For me, it was all psychological when I went from the $5.50s to the $11s. Now I won't play the $11s without 50 buyins, and it's because I can't handle dropping 5 $11 buyins in a row without it hurting me psychologically with a lesser bankroll. If you can overcome this, 30 buyins is plenty and you should definitely move up

The play isn't much better, but I found it to be tighter at all levels. People don't kill themselves off as quickly in the early part of the tourney, and people are much tighter when it gets closer to the bubble. After the bubble, I find the tourney takes a lot longer than the $5.50s after the bubble. Patience is key, don't forget that you still have to play excellent poker once you get ITM. People still make bad calls and overvalue certain hands.

Good luck!

[zenbitz]

$5.50s you win blind drunk and pregnant. $11s... one or the other.

[nogenius]

Yeah, my ride in the $11 has been difficult at times.

I had a 22% ROI over my first 220 $5.50's and a 60% ROI in my first 75 $5.50 shorthanded sit n gos, so I decided to move up with a $500+ bankroll.

So far over my first 100 $11s I'm breakeven.