[colgin]

StellarWind,

I hear what you are saying about the merits of betting with the hopes of three-betting. My question is how you balance this against the merits of trying to protect your hand from assorted gutshots that could be out there given the board. On the face of it this hand seems to be a textbook example of a situation where you would like to check-raise to protect your hand: pot is big; there are hands that you would like to fold which would be getting correct odds to call one bet but not two; and, you have reason to think you will get a bet from your right.

Is your overall view that the merits of three-betting and building a pot when you may have a significant equity edge outweighs the risk of potentially keeping in hands you could get to fold (and that you would like to fold). Or do you think that in addition to building a pot you may still be able to protect your hand if it is likely that you will get in a three-bet thus denying hands like gutshots the effective odds on that round and perhaps the immediate odds to call when it comes back to them for two more bets. Or are you just not concerned about the notion of "protecting your hand" in this particualr hand.

Thanks.

Colgin