Am I really "protecting" my 2nd pair/nut flush draw?

[jordanx]

Yes sir, you are protecting your hand by raising this turn, almost surely button and/or sb will fold so you're going heads up into the river with a solid hand.

Not only are you knocking out players that could beat you here, you are most likely buying yourself a free showdown unimproved.

[ErrantNight]

there's a lot of things UTG could be betting with besides a T, and even against a T, you've got a lot of outs. a flush draw, overcards with a gutshot, some combination of those two, 88 or 77, etc. etc.

I'm assuming you just neglected to mention that BB is still in this pot...

So the question is: do you want to build a pot hoping to improve on the river (or a blank that will let you call down) and encourage everyone to come along with you... or do you raise and hope to thin the field a bit. The answer is the latter...

It's a large enough pot to be worth taking down, now, and certainly on the river... not raising gives virtually everyone correct odds to call as well, and potentially draw out on you. You want to make it as incorrect as possible for them to make their longshot draws, and to clear up outs (overcards, anyone with a 6 or 2, etc.). And with as many outs as you have, you're ok with calls... in this size pot 14 outs is a lot to have even if you are behind... calling makes it increasingly likely that if you are ahead, someone else can catch up.

[me454555]

Raise, You've got 14 outs to 2 pair or better and you've already got a decent hand that might be best. Check behind on the river if you don't improve but with that many outs, and a semistrong hand, I'd like to put some pressure on people.