One of the most common pearls of poker wisdom that the pros dispense might be one of the more ignored. Those poker players who are out there online looking for some action are more than happy about it, but if you are trying to make a go of being profitable at online poker, or at the very least don’t want to lose your shirt, you would do well to pay attention. When asked what new players should keep in mind when hitting the tables, be they virtual or covered in felt, the poker pros have a lot of advice, but the one tune that keeps getting played over and over is, “know your limits.”

A nice voice-over of Clint Eastwood’s memorable movie character Dirty Harry from years gone by saying “A man’s got to know his limitations” would do nicely right about now.

Poker is played in limits; unless, of course, you are playing NO limit, in which case the principles are a bit different. Even so, there are limits to the blinds and that sort of thing. The point is that poker games are ranked in difficulty by the limit. A $2/$4 game is more difficult than a $1/$2, and much, much easier than a $100/$200 game, in theory. The advice given by the pros is to start small, master that limit, and then move on. Moving on before you are ready is a great way to lose the aforementioned shirt.

When you step up to a new level the game changes. It may become more or less aggressive, there may be more or less fish (besides you, of course) in the game. But regardless of the other changes, the big one is this; you are risking more. The limits are higher, the players are better, and you have more on the line. So before you take a few successful nights at $1/$2 and jump into a $10/$20, remember what the pros say. And Dirty Harry, too.