Here are 2 links to old htreads i made.

Standard deviation of all the (8) games:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/15...games-1118583/

Short debate about playing short-/half-stack:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/15...stack-1120223/

I used to move up with 20 buy-ins untill i reached 1/2$ (including).
2/4$ becomes a lot more aggressive and should be played with at least 30 buy-ins,
if you buy in full and dont want to fold way too much in NLHE and PLO (and 2-7).
I would not advise you to play 4/8$ with less than 40-50 buy-ins regulary,
at these stakes there are already a lot of pretty solid players who can make your life hell, especially in the high variance games like PLO (and also 2-7, NLHE, STUD HI).

I switched to mixed-tournaments ~2 month ago, but i will be back playing the cashgames somewhere in between next month and next year.
If you want to talk strategy or anything, send me a pm, id be happy to have some company.