I think Beer's right here. I sometimes think that the collective wisdom of the board is too tight, both on third and sometimes later on. People suggest that you should fold something like 80% of hands on third, which suggests that you voluntarily put money in the pot about 14-15%. Intuitively, that seems very tight for an eight handed game, whatever the ante is. I've been trying to play some more hands - things like JT9, K44 and flushes with two of the suit out, obviously, depending on the situation. I think this can be profitable if you can play better than your opponents generally. Also, is there not an advantage in playing hands that are roughly break-even, in that they make you harder to read, and more likely to be paid off when you hit a hand.

I also think that, if you want to eventually play at higher stakes games, having more practice dealing with marginal hands can only help.