Playing 500bb out of position for the whole hand is the hardest job in poker. Trim the hands that make it harder.
Nut potential is everything. Suited aces, pairs, and connected suited hands open wider; dominated offsuit hands are quietly toxic and keep shrinking.
Folded to you in the small blind: raise or fold. Completing invites the big blind to realize equity for free with position — a habit that gets expensive as stacks deepen.
Assumes a live-standard open to ~4bb, raise-or-fold. In straddled games, halve your effective big blinds and read the chart at that depth.