[jat850]

I share your concern about raising 99. I am working on playing more aggressively and now consistently raise TT, but by the book, 99 and 88 are "situational" raises that it looks like you should have made. It's hard to remember that your decision to raise PF isn't based on the flush draw that develops and possibly beats you. It's based on would a raise be EV+ on that hand in your position with those players? And I think the answer there is yes. It's hard to remember that EV+ does NOT mean that you will win more often than not in a multi-way pot with that hand. I am learning that I cannot let the multi-way aspect of the hand or the fact that there are players behind scare me off of an EV+ raise. IMO, that's a weak-tight play that by raising next time in that situation we may both be growing our styles from a "rock" into a "tag."

Also, there is no way I could fold this hand short of the showdown. If I go down, I go down in flames with my set, especially if I raised PF and created an even larger pot.