Re: (re)raising with second best hand to narrow field
You want to pull this play if knocking people out significantly increases the chances of you winning your hand, even if you still end up as the second favorite. Hands like flush draws don't have this property: they will win about the same percentage of the time in a large field as they would in a small field (having overcards changes this equation somewhat). The best example I know of when to use this comes from 7 card stud: if you have what you think is the second-best pair on 3rd street, you really want to get it heads up with the top pair to maximize your chances of winning, so you will raise + reraise to knock others out.
Also, pot size comes into play here. Big pots really favor this play, small pots do not.
I really haven't used this play much in Hold'em, but it would probably apply in the made hand situation you mention, especially if you could get a lot of weaker draws to fold.
I'm not sure how much this applies to NL games, though....
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