There are plenty of dangerous opponents you’ll meet along the way during your online poker experience, but the one you should be most concerned with is yourself.

You drink too much, you raise when you shouldn’t and you bluff the un-bluffable. But worst of all, you have self-esteem. And that can be damaging to your bankroll.

We’ve all been there in poker. You’re cruising along at one level, hit a few bad beats and suddenly you’ve got less than 15 buy-ins at your current level.

Now, I know It’s pretty depressing to drop down a level. After all, you made your money at $1/$2 and you know you can beat those guys. But if you want to protect the money you have, you’re going to have to drop down.

Even the best fall down sometimes

Don’t be embarrassed about “slumming” it. Dropping down may be just what you need to fix the holes in your game. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made was when I had to drop down from $10/$20, I thought I would easily crush the lower stakes games.

I didn’t respect any of my opponents and it cost me — I had to drop down two more levels and had the worst three months of my career. My ego was in the way. I thought I was one of the best online, but I had a lot to learn.

Take a look at durrrr, who has lost more than $6 million this year and has been spotted playing a lot of $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha, after losing most of his bankroll at $500/$1,000.

Even the best hit downswings, but they have the discipline to move down in stakes and reevaluate their game. Put your ego aside when it happens to you, suck it up and grind back your money.