I do not think that all of the advice you are getting is sound. I started at the $5-6 SnG's and have worked up to $15 and $20.

Lower Levels

Open the betting with A-J+ from any position. If someone opens before you use your head. Don't call all-ins unless you smell desparation. Call reasonable bets that don't give you a bad feeling, you'll be surprised how often you playing K-10+, Q-10+, and even J-10+. Also, at the $5's, 22-77 are raising hands so your going to get a lot more coin-flips even at the early levels. (Not calling reasonable bets with your opponents' range in the $5's is bad poker, IMHO.) How do you know, well observation, patience and learning. You'll get there, I did. (or at least I am getting better at it.) If you have A-J, and are called by three people with worse cards that's not the end of the world, and that's where you stand to make some money.

Flop - at this level, conservative play is better. Opponents aren't observant enough for tricky play to work.

A) Flop hits you with TP or better.

EP - if there are draws on the board, bet the pot, be prepared to call an all-in. Keep your head though, not every $5'er plays bad.

LP - same, if someone bets ahead, it most likely is TPNK or MP very often. They also bet draws a lot, so make sure raise removes their odds. Also, you will see a lot more trips b/c they don't understand you need a lot of limpers for these hands.

If there are no draws, bet less b/c you want some callers, but you have to protect hand!!!

B) Flop misses you - EP it's best to be conservative. LP - why not bet, especially on a ragged board if there are not a lot of callers. Just be careful is all.

At $5, you just have to be used to bad beats, and you have to be very used to the fact that the best cards pre-flop aren't the best after a lot more often. By the way, it's like at the $10, $15, and even $20 a lot too. Confidence in your game and the long-run is all you need.

I'll write more about the higher blind levels later...