Peter's Principle

In an organization, each person rises to the level of his own incompetence.
--Laurence J. Peter

Sound familiar?

In poker, this is a problem. Everyone wants to play at their highest level, and yet when you find that limit, you're bound to lose because you're either over your head or the rake severely cuts into your winnings.

Then it becomes difficult to play at a lower level while keeping your pride.

I've talked before about my disgust with having to step down to no limit or $2/$4 limit after playing $5/$10 6-max and $3/$6 full. It's hard to retreat to a level where your winnings are safer and your peers are fishier.

"I'm much better than these fish at this level. What am I doing here?" I think.

That's when it's most important to realize a universal truth about poker. Poker is all about money.

I'm reminded of when my friend Irene asked me how I manage to keep winning at online gambling.

"I play against people who are worse than me," I said.

It's not important to prove yourself against tougher competition. Moving up in limits is only worthwhile if it's in pursuit of greater profits. Stepping down in limits is always smart when you need to recover from failed advances into higher stratospheres.

If you don't stop your losses soon enough, the Poker Gods win. They will bust you for playing out of your limit. They will delight in giving your money to players who deserve it more than you. When that happens, you're the fish. When the Poker Gods aren't busy fattening fish for the slaughter, they're busy with the slaughter itself.

I can live with that (for now). I can be happy at $100 buyin no limit games for a while -- after all, I'm making good money again after the first three weeks of May brought a downswing.

But I don't know how long I can stay content at this level after getting a taste of victory in places where the pots are larger and the players are nearly as fishy.

There will be no quiet retirement in the green fields of NL$100 for me. Eventually, I'll return to these more expensive limit games to try again. For now, I need to be patient, continue winning and keep building my bankroll.

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