I know the general rule is to have at least 50 buy-ins for each stake. But suppose you start with a $400 bankroll, and the minimum for a .10/.20 NL table is $8. Obviously if you lose even just a couple of bucks, you'd be below the 50 buy-in minimum to keep playing at these stakes, but I wouldn't expect that you need to move down to .05/.10 immediately. That's the whole idea of bankroll management, right? Is to always have enough money so that variance doesn't get you...and that you shouldn't go broke 50 consecutive times.

But if you really start hitting a stretch of bad luck, obviously you'll have to move down at some point. I'm curious to know what your strategies for moving down are, because this is the first time I've ever really been strict on myself in regards to BR management. I've sort of made a rule for myself: Never start a higher stake with less than 50 minimum buys, and never dip down below 75% of 50 buy-ins. Basically 50 min to start, and 37-38 minimum to keep playing after I've started that level. It still seems like overkill, because if every time I take even a 25% hit, I'd move down and it defeats the purpose of working my way up to 50 buys in the first place? I hope this make sense, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

imo 50 buyins minimum is nitty... online I keep my minimum buyins at maybe 20-25 for a new level with 15ish as the dropdown point... Live my minimum is 15 buyins with 10 being the dropdown point... 50 buyins minimum is almost approaching kre8r territory...