As far as risk is concerned, it's not risk when you have legitimate options. Real options are the cornerstone of confidence, so try not to think of it in terms of risk. Most guys (particularly rAFCs seeking advice on SS) get to a point where Game and plate spinning give them their first taste of real options to select from or fall back on when another doesn't pan out. The problem arises when they spin enough plates successfully to the point where they think they've maxed out to their "best" option and the old scarcity mentality returns. Most times a guy who newly practices Game and plate spinning never really spins plates; he uses it for the first monogamous opportunity that's been eluding him for so long and calls it quits.
If you feel that you have something to lose with a particular girl, you're no longer spinning plates - you're thinking and approaching dating in terms of exclusivity. POOK's great quote: "women would rather share a high value Man than be saddled by a faithful loser" A lot of guys (and almost every woman) have a big problem with the truth of this because they take it too literally. POOK was never suggesting that you OVERTLY declare that you'll be open to other options and that your girls should accept this. Every woman takes this quote in this way. When it's on the table like that it unsurprisingly becomes an affront to their pride and self-worth. However, in practice, non-exclusivity has to be COVERT. It needs to be implied, not declared. Thus you see the truth in POOK's observation - women's behavior will bear him out.
A high value Man can spin plates, and sometimes those plates suspect there are, or know there are other plates in his rotation. They'll tolerate it so long as he remain high enough value (or effectively presents that perception) or they'll move on to another high value Man. As I said, some plates fall off to be replaced by new plates. You must be willing and confident enough to let some of them fall.
When you do finally transition into exclusive monogamy there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. Are you doing so because you have a re-heated scarcity mentality? Are you considering monogamy because you've developed ONEitis? Do you really have options or is she your only real option? Are you in a slump or a dry spell? The most important thing to consider when you transition is understanding that women want a man that other men want to be and other women want to ƒuck. Her association with your high value comes at a price. Women don't want a Man to cheat, but they love a Man who couldcheat. They love the Man with high enough value that others would want to tempt him. Nothing is more satisfying to a woman's ego than to be exclusive with a Man that other women would try to seduce and yet SHE is the one he's stays faithful to.
The trick in transitioning into monogamy from non-exclusivity is to maintain that same competition anxiety that kept her vying to be your #1 plate when you were spinning them. Women are walking contradictions, the want, need, security in many different forms, but simultaneously hate predictability and crave the excitement that insecurity fosters in them. Far too many Men never think, or want to risk, founding their LTR on a healthy amount of competition anxiety. They think that security, loyalty and dependability is the key, and while ennobling, it's BORING. You are forsaking all of your options to be with her, but now that she's got you, she wonders if you were really worth the effort. You MUST set the precedents early on in an LTR. If you do not control the frame at the beginning of an LTR, you'll be fighting an uphill battle to gain control in convincing her you were and still are a high value male.
And that brings us full circle back again to risk. Don't be concerned with risking losing her in establishing your frame of control, that risk is a no-brainer. The risk of committing yourself to a monogamy where you put off all other options (including career, education, family, etc.) for what could be a lifetime is a FAR greater risk than losing any woman's affections. That risk has much more long term impact than having to replace a girl you considered worthy of monogamy.
