by Kuso » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:41 pm
i think there has been quite a bit of discussion on similar topics in this forum.
the first issue is how replaceable is your BR? if it's easy to replace, go for it. if not, be more conservative.
likewise with "running up" a BR. you can take two buy-ins to a given game (e.g., NL50), and run-it up as high as you want to play just so you can get some experience at higher levels. ultimately your BR is intact other than that $50. there are debates about exactly what you are risking (won money is won money), but the idea is that one can peter principle out for experience for a relatively low risk.
in your case, for a substantial BR, i wouldn't risk more than 20% for a juicy big bet game, but i'm conservative. and i would want that to give me a few maximum buy-ins . i can imagine blind structures and table textures in which i was OK with the min buy-in, but i think these cases are rare. if you play well, it is possible just to get unlucky in a short time span. i wouldn't want to put a large part of my BR at risk if the amount involved can't handle natural variance and/or if it will possibly make me play scared.
for limit games, i would not want to risk more than 10-20%, but i would want AT LEAST 50 big bets to play with, preferably 100. limit can have a lot of variance, and i like to be aggressive, so i need ammo.
also, some people who "go broke" are not really broke. they may have non-poker savings, they may have a back-up BR, they may be able to borrow to play in a regular game they know they can beat, etc.
i hope you're not thinking of doing something crazy.
wwcrd?
"that basically sums up poker for me - 12" needle in the testicle."

mvp