I've played several thousand hands in my poker career..
Back in 06 where bankroll guidelines were more lenient and online gambling was legal, the common thing was to deposit $50 and jump right into 10NL. I did that. Although I lost my first time deposits, on my 3rd, 25k hands later, I had $262 which at the time, meant I could move to 25NL (back then having 10 buyins was considered a good bankroll for the stakes, boy have things changed).
So I was beating 10NL back then by playing ABC poker.
It's different at 5NL. If someone thinks they have the best hand, it results in both players going all in. All the time. THere are no cheap showdowns - I've tried. That means if someone with a $5 bankroll and no avatar and playing only 1 table reraises your bet, he has something; his junk hit. And now you have to commit an entire buyin to get your money in.
By the way, whatever happened to reading players? THat was a fad back in the day - now it's more mathematical. Get your money in when you have the odds on your side, fold when you don't.
Anyway for example, here are most bad beat hands go for me at 5NL. AKs. I raise 4x the blinds. Villain calls. Flop hits. TPTK. Great. 66% flop bet. Villain calls. Turn comes. It's junk. This time i pot the turn. Villain calls. Hmm, he's calling me down? What does he have? Trips? Two pair? A straight? River hits. Could be trouble now, potential straight, backdoor flush or fullhouse completion. Check. Or bet the river. Regardless of what I do, villian shoves all in at this point. I can either call and say goodbye to another buyin or I can laydown which means I was betting TPTK for nothing. Either way, I lose a lot here. And when I call? 96o straight. 63s flush. J7o fullhouse.
The above scenario screws me over several times a night and is the reason why I cannot grow my BR.
EDIT: Also, a lot of the advice given on this site is intended for 50NL and above. Questions are asked such as "what was the villains range, is he loose or maniac? TAG?"
There are no reads at 5NL. People play any hand they think is good. Their range is 72o+. The only readable players are the ones who are multi-tabling and figured out how to insert avatars. They all play TAG ABC poker and are easy to manipulate (I call their PF raises with pocket pairs and shove the flop if no broadways appear, they will fold everytime).
However, at 50NL, while there are some fish, most people have their game straight and know what cards to play in what position. They are more easy to read because you rarely expect to see UTG Q4o hitting a full house
