Questions to everyone who's answered so far:
Why is x buy ins best?
Fewer buy ins allows faster progress, if your buddy who played poker just as well as you do made a bet with you that he'd make more money, playing the same but using 2 fewer max buy ins for his BRM, would you really want to bet against him?
Also, if you're going to play a large sample of hands, you are going to see sick downswings, wouldn't it be wise to be better rolled?
I'm ignoring a few obvious factors: psychological effects of losses (read up on prospect theory, for starters), the effect of your playing style on your standard deviation, your changing (increasing and decreasing) edge at current and future stakes. All of which demand a different optimal amount of buy ins to achieve the same risk:reward from one person to the next.
What do you want out of poker: fun, money on the side, income?
What level of risk is most appropriate for this path? Is it the same for the next guy, with different motives?
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