Value, and trouble hands

[Fjaman]

I´ve picked up my 50max PL shorthanded NLHE game the last week and has had some sucess at the tables but there are a few things that keep causing me problems...
1. If you spike a pair on the flop and have a good kicker or maybe 2pair the problem is always to get value out of your cards, what is the best way of balancing the cance to win with greed when you have 2 players with you to the flop, ie. You have AK middle position and raise it up 3xBB before flop, BB and button calls and the flop is something like A107 rainbow, whats your move? Raise 0.5xpot or min bet to build a pot and try and get em out on the turn?
The most common way this has went down the last week is that i raise half the pot and everybody folds...
2. Middle PP (1010, JJ) always seems to get burned on theese hands eventhough i play extremly aggressive, any suggestions?
3. In a shorthanded game should i always play suited connectors in a unraised pot or do they have a -EV even in shorthanded? Thus far i´ve tried to call with them when there are 3 or more in the pot....

"luck is more often then not the result of lack of aggression"

[andr3w321]

1. In general I will always bet 2/3-3/4 of the pot whether I have midpair, top pair, or if its just a continuation bet... It really depends. If you post some hand histories it would help.
2. 10s and Js getting burned? Try limping with them and just playing for a set. If the flop comes all unders you can play it pretty aggressively after that.
3. Suited connectors can be good sometimes but not always. Calling a raise with them is usually a bad idea. If there are a lot of limpers then its fine to see a flop. Just make sure you have odds when you are chasing with them, you can end up losing a lot of $$ on these types of hands. I'd also recommend only playing 67s or better and no 1 gappers unless j9s or higher until you get more comfortable with them. Try to avoid getting sucked in by playing them for inside straight draws or pairs. You want to flop an oesd, 4flush or 2pair with these.

Hope this helps. Good luck and post some hand histories if you're having some trouble.