Buy-in size, when to chip-up

A very basic topic is how much to buy in for, and, if your stack gets whittled away, when to chip up. A related question is whether to keep extra chips in your pocket.
As a beginning player, you probably want to buy in for the minimum. A typical 1/2 NL game might have a $60 minimum.
Then, if your stack starts to shrink, you probably don't want to let it get ridiculously small. Personally, I like to keep some green $25 chips in my pocket, for example, if my stack gets down to about $50, I'll throw a green chip on it, bringing my stack up to $75.
Similar ideas apply when you play for a full buy-in, which is $200 in many games. Some players will carry black $100 chips in their pocket. Their stack gets down to $100 and they add-on with a black chip. I prefer green; my stack gets down to $175, and I throw a green chip on.
Other players will let their stack get whittled all the way down, and finally go all-in pre-flop for $15. I've always thought this seemed silly.
As a beginning player, you probably want to buy in for the minimum. A typical 1/2 NL game might have a $60 minimum.
Then, if your stack starts to shrink, you probably don't want to let it get ridiculously small. Personally, I like to keep some green $25 chips in my pocket, for example, if my stack gets down to about $50, I'll throw a green chip on it, bringing my stack up to $75.
Similar ideas apply when you play for a full buy-in, which is $200 in many games. Some players will carry black $100 chips in their pocket. Their stack gets down to $100 and they add-on with a black chip. I prefer green; my stack gets down to $175, and I throw a green chip on.
Other players will let their stack get whittled all the way down, and finally go all-in pre-flop for $15. I've always thought this seemed silly.
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But other than those times, I think the best idea is to determine your optimal buy in (who ever thinks about what that might be?), leave chips in your pocket, and continually chip up on the fly, any time you lose some chips.
but I re-buy a lot!
It's not silly, it's usually smart. A variation on this - I play in a PLO - PLO/8 game - 1 round of each. PLO/8 is my better game, and it has lower variance, so I will also wait to chip up until it switches games, and specifically not when I'm in the blinds or early.
Also, after you've sat down at the table, you can rebuy for usually less than the initial minimum. There was a lady at a 3/6 limit table that seemed nice enough, but stepped away to take a call shortly after sitting down. One of the regs saidd 'As long as you don't directly tick this lady off, she'll feed us $20 bills all night'. And that's exactly what she did after the initial $60 buy. $20 rebuys at a time. Dwindle down to all in and lose. $20.
I'll generally add on $40-$50 if I get down to $50 at 1/2. If I get below $40 and don't feel like adding on, I'll usually wait for until before my blinds, hope for a top 5% hand to jam on before them, and if not, just walk away.