What cards to play?

I have seen this time and time again, but it never seems to work for me. When at a table where there are several players in the hand before you(say 5 of 9) what cards are OK to call with? I see others call with low cards like 7-9 or 3-6 and win the pot a high percentage of the time. How do I know what cards to call with when calling doesn,t cost me a significant portion of my stack size? I have tried this several times in the past and never seem to capitalize.

Do not call. Raise or fold.
That is one of the biggest mistakes of a beginner "It does not cost me much ". Tehy call with c.r.a.p cose they are donks. If U have premium cards raise like hell if there are a lot of limpers. Limping at freerolls or microstakes out of position means they have nothing If do not have than fold. Do not be curious when there are 3-4 limpers because your chances of winning the hand are small even if u call with aces. Raise to make them fold or fold and wait another hand . Do not call beacause it is a big chance that one of them hits the flop and u lose your chips.

it depends on were I am at, on the table, my chip count, and who I am playing with

Keep to only playing top tier hands and when entering the pot you raise to eliminate trash. If you miss the flop don't be afraid to fold too many people AK like AA and end up getting stacked by j10s cause the 10 was on the flop. Play your position and always put the pressure on.