Forgive my ignorance. I hear/read this all the time. "I will take a shot @ x level if I see a fish"... blah blah blah
Please explain. For those who do this: Does this mean that not ONLY are you playing games at your level...you also watching games/lobby at the next level?
I'm just started, but I feel better than most at my level. I've been spending my time playing or watching videos... but should I also be scoping out the weak regs at higher buyins for shots?
There's no reason to do this in the lower stakes, in my honest opinion.
The main thing is that because there is always a large pool of fish in the lower stakes.
As you get to playing higher stakes, it makes more sense to do this.
You touched on some good drawbacks to doing this: Time spent looking at other lobbies. In addition to that, it's going to hurt a lot more when you lose those games, as you'll not only have the bigger loss to your bankroll, but often the emotional aspects of moving back to your level are negative after taking a big shot above your regular level.
Now, taking a shot at a higher level is fine, it's just not usually worthwhile to wait around and look for weaker players at higher buyins.
If you're playing well and beating some tilting fish and he wants to move up, that's another story, just make sure you have the roll to play any game that you're in.