Raise to protect small pot?

[Beck]

Sets have to played strongly, but the pot was small. Raise the flop anyway? The turn?

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, Hero calls, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB checks.

Flop: (3.50 SB) 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, T/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 8/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, Hero calls, Button calls.

Turn: (3.25 BB) 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, Hero calls, Button calls.

River: (6.25 BB) 7/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">BB bets</font>, Hero calls, <font color="CC3333">Button raises</font>, BB calls, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 12.25 BB

[Entity]

Don't openlimp with this in MP2. That's bad. Raise preflop. Raise the flop (this board is pretty damned drawy); raise the turn, bet the river.

Rob

[Piiop]

Same as Entoodles - raise preflop, raise flop.

[Beck]

Raise preflop with 88?? Why?

[Entity]

[ QUOTE ]
Raise preflop with 88?? Why?

[/ QUOTE ]
You likely have the best hand; you wouldn't mind everyone folding; you aren't getting close to odds for limping to flop a set.

Do you see that you aren't playing this hand for its set value? With everyone folding to you, I'm raising with any hand I'm playing here.

This is a clear raise preflop. It should be absolutely clear why (hope my post helped).

Rob

[Beck]

Yes, now that you point it out, it's very clear to me, that I don't play for set value.
I guess I just had my mind set, that low and medium pairs only have set value, not high pair value.
I'm going by the SSH preflop recommendations, but I guess that doesn't really take into account, whether you're first in.

At what point (position-wise) would you raise any hand you were to play, when first in? MP1 too?