so my BR is nearing $400, which is 16 BI for 25NL. It seems good enough to take a shot, I've read posts of people playing 25NL with only $250. Still a bit undecided because if I go in a 5 BI downswing or something which isn't that unlikely, I'll have to move back down to 10NL and grind out 12 BI again.. which would suck soo much. But.. I will see how it goes.. can't say I've ever had a 16 BI downswing before so maybe I won't have to move down even after losing 5 BI.

When I move to 25NL though.. I'm wondering if it's worth switching over from pokerstars to FTP so I could get rakeback? I heard that's an extra 2 PTBB/100 or something, am I correct? I also heard the players at FTP are a lot more solid than the players at pokerstars. What do you guys think about that?

This isn't really true; they are both big sites with higher standards. On the other hand, don't you want less solid players?

I personally prefer Stars as I might probably get supernova status by next year, which should cover the rakeback aspect anyway.

400 is a bit risky, but as long as you are disciplined enough to move down when you get past that certain mark (I'd conser 300 for 30 BI at 10NL), it shouldn't be too terrible, and may in fact work out great for you.

pfff you're ready for NL400 imo

I took a shot @25nl at $280 (got impatient to wait for 300) - but I had like $75-100 in Rakeback in reserve in case it went wrong/downswing, I wouldn't have to regrind my way back up - its a handy thing to do and I plan to have some RB in reserve for everytime I take a shot to move up