In poker, this is certainly true. With hard work and a ton of critical thinking, anyone can potentially work their way up to the hallowed grounds of the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker. However, if you make the wrong decision about what limits you should play, you won't ever get to see the sky because you will be entrenched firmly in the gutter. So much of success in poker relies on the first decision that you ever make, which is whether to even sit down at a particular table or not.

There are so many factors to consider when making this decision that it would be fruitless to attempt to list them all here. I will run through my thought process when I have been deciding what level to take on, and also what happened to me to influence my decision to move up, or down, to another level. I will explain the differences in limits as well, at least as I see them.

Let's take a look at the decision to move up in limits first. Please keep in mind that this column is written from my point of view, so the limit definitions may not apply to others, and certainly won't apply to high-limit players. For instance, my high limit is $100-$200 and up, which is a limit I don't even play at yet. For the purposes of this column, I will only be addressing my low and middle limits, because those are the only ones at which I have any experience playing.

The following are my definitions of limits in my poker world, thus far. I'll be sure to update when I am whooping up on the $200-$400 games...

Low Limits:
$9-$18 and below

Middle Limits:
$10-$20 to $60-$120

High Limits:
$75-$150 to $200-$400, and up

I began my playing career at the $3-$6 level at the Lucky Chances casino in Daly City, right outside of San Francisco. Now, it's certainly possible that I should have started even lower, say at the $1-$2 level, which I think were the lowest stakes at this particular casino. It should be noted that it is rarely a mistake to try and take on a level below where you think you should be. If you are correct in your assessment, then you should win there, and thus necessitate moving up pretty quickly.

With that said, these extremely low, monetarily speaking, levels of poker really require the least amount of true poker skill, which is probably pretty obvious. They are mostly filled with individuals who are either learning the game or are just playing for fun, and thus aren't really concerned with the amount of money they lose, because it is typically pretty small here. The winners at this level are those who understand the fundamentals, namely betting position and which hands to play where.

If you play in these games, you should be able to win consistently by simply playing the correct cards in the correct positions, i.e., early, middle, and late. Other players will be playing so many strange combinations of opening hands that you will never need to make any kind of fancy moves. In fact, fancy moves will actually be the death of you because no one will be at a level where they can even understand what you are trying to represent. Forget all of that and just stick to the solid stuff, it'll be enough to win you pots.

One factor to consider at the low levels though is the frustration factor. Either because the limits are low enough, or the players are just beginning and thus are bad enough, most hands will get shown down to the river. Now this will earn you many, many extra bets from opponents who are chasing their long-shot hands, but several times they will end up catching those hands. This will cause you to pull your hair out and drink 32 red-bulls in 15 minutes. Such is life at the low-limit tables. You should be winning a lower percentage of hands like this, but your pots should be much bigger when you do win. Hopefully at the lower limits you will get enough practice getting drawn-out on that you won't complain about when you move up. I think I am almost there...

You also need to be able to discern how you are losing, if you are losing. Are you getting sucked-out on by longshot hands, or are you being outplayed? I got to the point in my early career where I was fairly comfortable with the fact that usually when I was losing, it was due to opponents hitting cards late on hands that they really shouldn't have been involved in. If this is the case, then you may want to move up to the next level. Keep in mind that with each level you move up, players are going to supposedly play better and with more discipline. I say supposedly because occasionally my $15-$30 game will resemble the tables of my early playing days, much to my surprise. Like I said though, you want games like that. You will win more money in the long run, but lose more hair in the short run.

At any rate, I decided to move up once I was (a) winning regularly, (b) had improved significantly from when I first started playing, (c) felt that I knew what my opponents were trying to do to me and was usually correct about it, (d) and felt that when I lost it wasn't due to being outplayed, but rather being drawn out on. Conversely, I will occasionally move back down a level if I feel that I have been deficient in any of the above criteria. If, for example, I felt off my game and my reads were way off, it would be back down for me to work on my game a little more. This shouldn't prove to be too difficult as long as you aren't an ego player, which you should be striving to not be anyway.

Once you do move up to the middle limits ($10-$20 level up to $60-$120) you will begin to play some real poker. I recently moved up to play $15-$30 and occasionally $25-$50. Concepts like position and hand selection are givens at this stage. If you play poor hands, and play them out of position often, you are going to wind up as meat. It just isn't a philosophy that you can make work. Yeah, yeah, I don't care what Gus Hansen does. Always remember this: you are not Gus. Besides, for every hand you see him magically win on television there are probably several he loses, or you would lose if you didn't knock the winning hand out of the pot, as he does.

I immediately look at my table upon sitting down and try to identify the weakest players at the table. These are the people I want to get into pots with, and I will even make ill-advised raises sometimes in order to get heads-up with these seats. Ideas like this aren't even considered at the lower levels mentioned earlier. Players who reraise early position raises with hands like AJ and worse, are targeted so quickly by the other's around them, it can be humorous. If all the players seem to be trying to knock each other out of pots that you are involved in, you should ask yourself why this is. It isn't because you have the nicest smile and are the most fun player to play with.

The aggression level kicks up several notches here as well. There will be far fewer players of the check-and-call variety. People will be attempting to take away pots whenever they sense weakness here. They will be far more willing to take chances in order to put themselves in position for big scores. At the lower limits, players are just playing their cards and are scared off by any aggressive moves. This won't be true as you move up. If someone feels they have you beat, they won't be dissuaded by a few raises in front of them.

There is also a lot more energy put into switching up my play now. I try and play the same hands in different ways so as not to alert my opponents to what I am trying to do. I used to always raise with position and a flush draw on the flop, regardless of other circumstances. I often got free cards, but now would be allowing the other player's at the table with me to take the pot away when my flush card doesn't come, and also to get away from me when it does come. I don't want them to be so sure that I have a busted draw all the time when I do, and I don't want them to throw their hand away so confidently when I hit.

You won't be able to make the same plays in the same situations consistently any more now either. Your opponents will be able to pick up on you too easily. Switching, and re-switching, gears becomes much more necessary now.

I once heard John Juanda say that as long as you are willing to learn and adapt in poker, you will be alright. This is what I am constantly trying to remind myself as I am playing. You have to be a chameleon at the table, shifting your skin from one style to another, and then back again. This is what the best poker players are able to do. By keeping everyone around them from ever getting comfortable, they are able to slip into the most blissful position of all - the winner's circle.