I'm still relativly new to poker and one of my weaknesses is what to do once I've hit. I'm often afraid that if I make a decent bet that I will scare people off. On the other hand I've often allowed people to draw for too cheap.

The issue that I am currently working on is how to handle when I have a pocket pair and hit the set.

Here are a few hands that I had this evening and their results. I am "ME"

EDIT: I just realized that bodog posts hand histories with icons of the suit of the card. I didn't think of this as I was copying the hands. As far as I remember the suits of the cards was not an issue unless I noted it.

PLAYER INFORMATION
Screen Name Seat position Cards Dealt Start Amount
ner 10 9 1 $ 38.18
kjandjp 2 $ 25.00
ME 3 8 8 $ 29.18
geyerpd 4 $ 4.65
ducky11 5 $ 7.10
Rainman1550 6 $ 15.29
bishup 7 $ 37.90
xxBEANxx 8 $ 32.00
buddyswoop 9 $ 9.65

HAND ACTIONS
Player Action Action Data
ducky11 Set dealer/Bring in spot 5
Rainman1550 Ante/Small blind $ 0.10
bishup Big blind/Bring in $ 0.25
ner 10 9 Card dealt to a spot
kjandjp Card dealt to a spot
ME Card dealt to a spot 8 8
geyerpd Card dealt to a spot
ducky11 Card dealt to a spot
Rainman1550 Card dealt to a spot
bishup Card dealt to a spot
xxBEANxx Card dealt to a spot
buddyswoop Card dealt to a spot
-
xxBEANxx Fold $ 0.00
buddyswoop Fold $ 0.00
ner 10 9 Call $ 0.25
kjandjp Fold $ 0.00
ME Raise $ 0.50 (I raised here because the table had been somewhat tight - I was trying to bump the blinds out)
geyerpd Fold $ 0.00
ducky11 Call $ 0.50
Rainman1550 Fold $ 0.10
bishup Fold $ 0.25
ner 10 9 Call $ 0.25
Betting round completed Last active pot = $1.85
Card dealt to table 10 J 8
ner 10 9 Bet $ 0.50
ME Raise $ 1.50
(I cant remember why I raised ner. I am not sure if I should have called him or raised a smaller amount. Up until this point I had found ner to be
a straight forward player. Big bets when he had a big hand and small bets when he had a small hand. Never caught him trying to bluff or even raise his draws. EDIT: I do remember that two of the flopped cards were suited. )
ducky11 Fold $ 0.00
ner 10 9 Fold $ 0.50
ME Return uncalled portion of bet $ 1.00
Rake amount $ 0.10
Betting round completed Last active pot = $2.75
ME Showdown Muck card: Three of a Kind
8 8 8 J 10
ME Hand result
_______________


With the 2nd hand I was a bit cautious because I believe I scared people off the last time I hit my set.

Hand #2

PLAYER INFORMATION
Screen Name Seat position Cards Dealt Start Amount
ner 10 9 1 $ 34.23
kjandjp 2 $ 34.70
ME 3 7 10 $ 11.38
geyerpd 4 $ 3.55
ducky11 5 $ 6.75
Rainman1550 6 $ 16.14
bishup 7 $ 34.90
xxBEANxx 8 $ 40.50
buddyswoop 9 J 10 $ 17.75



HAND ACTIONS
Player Action Action Data
ner 10 9 Set dealer/Bring in spot 1
kjandjp Ante/Small blind $ 0.10
ME Big blind/Bring in $ 0.25
ner 10 9 Card dealt to a spot
kjandjp Card dealt to a spot
ME Card dealt to a spot 7 10
geyerpd Card dealt to a spot
ducky11 Card dealt to a spot
Rainman1550 Card dealt to a spot
bishup Card dealt to a spot
xxBEANxx Card dealt to a spot
buddyswoop Card dealt to a spot J 10
geyerpd Fold $ 0.00
ducky11 Fold $ 0.00
Rainman1550 Fold $ 0.00
bishup Fold $ 0.00
xxBEANxx Fold $ 0.00
buddyswoop Call $ 0.25
ner 10 9 Fold $ 0.00
kjandjp Call $ 0.15
ME Check
Betting round completed Last active pot = $0.75
Card dealt to table 3 7 2
kjandjp Check
ME Bet $ 0.50
(I was much more moderate with my bet this time around. Raising only .50 after checking in the BB)
buddyswoop Call $ 0.50
kjandjp Fold $ 0.00
Betting round completed Last active pot = $1.75
Card dealt to table 7
ME Check
(I was hoping that my first bet had looked like a feeler bet and that at this
point I was backing out of the hand. I wanted a raise here.)
buddyswoop Check
Betting round completed Last active pot = $1.75
Card dealt to table Q
ME Check
(At this point I felt that he didn't have a hand and if I made any bet at all he was gone. I checked so that he would think I was still backing out of the hand. Hoping he would make at least a small bet. I believe this was my mistake in this hand.)
buddyswoop Check
Rake amount $ 0.05
Betting round completed Last active pot = $1.70
ME Showdown Show card: Three of a Kind
7 7 7 Q 10
buddyswoop Showdown Muck card: Pair
7 7 Q J 10
ME Hand result $ 1.70

_______________

This third set actually landed and paid off. But I dont think it was anything that I did. I was actually editing my prior hands to post here when this one hit. Figured I'd add it.

HAND DETAILS
PLAYER INFORMATION
Screen Name Seat position Cards Dealt StartAmount
ner 10 9 1 4 4 $ 36.33
kjandjp 2 $ 25.00
ME 3 7 7 $ 10.23
geyerpd 4 $ 5.30
gdrwbleez 5 $ 12.40
Rainman1550 6 $ 29.44
bishup 7 $ 44.85
xxBEANxx 8 $ 40.10
Osaka 9 $ 20.95



HAND ACTIONS
Player Action Action Data
gdrwbleez Set dealer/Bring in spot 5
Rainman1550 Ante/Small blind $ 0.10
bishup Big blind/Bring in $ 0.25
ner 10 9 Card dealt to a spot 4 4
ME Card dealt to a spot 7 7
geyerpd Card dealt to a spot
gdrwbleez Card dealt to a spot
Rainman1550 Card dealt to a spot
bishup Card dealt to a spot
xxBEANxx Card dealt to a spot
Osaka Card dealt to a spot
xxBEANxx Call $ 0.25
Osaka Fold $ 0.00
ner 10 9 Call $ 0.25
ME Call $ 0.25
geyerpd Fold $ 0.00
gdrwbleez Raise $ 1.00
Rainman1550 Fold $ 0.10
bishup Call $ 0.75
xxBEANxx Call $ 0.75
ner 10 9 Call $ 0.75
ME Call $ 0.75
Betting round completed Last active pot = $5.10
Card dealt to table 2 4 7
bishup Check
xxBEANxx Check
ner 10 9 Bet $ 3.00
(Like I said earlier. I knew ner bet pretty straight forward. I though he had two pair or even had hit his set.)
ME Call $ 3.00
(I took the max amount of time I could to call this. I didn't want to act to quickly and tip off that I had him beat. I thought about raising but I was hoping to keep another player or two in the hand.)
gdrwbleez Fold $ 0.00
bishup Fold $ 0.00
xxBEANxx Fold $ 0.00
Betting round completed Last active pot = $11.10
Card dealt to table Q
ner 10 9 Bet $ 7.90
(I hesitated when the Q hit the table. But I knew that ner wouldn't have made such a big bet on the flop if he only had an overpair, that and his normal bet for pocket queens would have been about $1-1.50. I didn't believe he had that)
ME All-in $ 6.23
ner 10 9 Return uncalled portion of bet $ 1.67
Betting round completed Last active pot = $0.00
Side pot 3 = $23.56
Card dealt to table 9
Rake amount $ 1.00
Betting round completed Last active pot = $0.00
Side pot 3 = $22.56
ner 10 9 Showdown Show card: Three of a Kind
4 4 4 Q 9
ME Showdown Show card: Three of a Kind
7 7 7 Q 9
ME Hand result $ 22.56


I believe I played the third hand the best I could have. But that was easy simply because I had someone raising me after I hit the set.

What I am really looking for is critical advice of the first two hands I posted. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.