I think part of my problem is that I have small bank roll, and therefore I'm limited to the smaller buy ins, where the really bad players (possibly myself included) tend to hang out.
So it sounds like I do need to play some of those connected.suited number cards and project some kind of strength in the hopes of stealing some blinds or get lucky.
I guess I'm just frustrated, because when someone tosses in 3-5x the BB, and I'm holding crap I toss my crap. Hell sometimes I toss my mediocre hand. I expect others to use some kind of intelligent betting strategy too. But inevitably the dumbass calls me then ends up getting three of a kind on the flop, or worse the river. My head knows I want these guys in the game because in the end probability plays out and and smart play will beat lucky play in the long run. But the frustration of while learning getting sucked out over and over again by obviously inferior players just gets to me sometimes. I just can't let them get to me I guess.
I'll just continue reading, playing, and learning, and hopefully in the end I'll come out ahead.
You're looking for pots that you can open. When no one else has raised. Medium stacks in the small and big blinds, or ridiculously tight players on short stacks in the blinds. You are right to toss your crap hands when someone is raising 3-5 times the blinds. Those are not easy hands to win when you hold average hands. When you hit middle pair... now you have more decisions to make. Do they have an overpair? Do they have top pair?
When the blinds arent hurting your stack, you can afford to go slow. Wait for premium hands and bet them for value. Its when the blinds go up and your M goes down that you have to make moves. If you pay attention enough to your opponents you'll learn to make moves regardless of the cards you are holding. You wont say "Ok, I have 7-8 suited and I'm in middle position, nows the time". You'll think "Ok, the big stack already folded, the loose player on my right limped and the blinds are medium stacks who play tight." You'll know you're going to raise before you even know what your cards are. And it doesnt matter what they are.
And sometimes it wont work. Sometimes you'll be reraised. At that point you'll consider your
pot odds and go from there. If you're in position (Which is very important) you'll read what your opponent does. During these cases you will make tough decisions on whether or not you will continue with the hand or not.
Making bluffs with weak cards makes it much easier to fold when you get reraised. Making bluffs with medium cards such as Q/10 suited are the hands that can be very difficult to play post flop when you flop a 10 and your opponent puts you all in with a K on the board.
It takes a lot of experience to play these hands. The less difficult choices you have to make, the easier the game is.