[Aaron W.]

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Why?

Aaron W. touched on equity edge PF, and the only hands I see limping here are 88 and 99. A raise preflop can give us the initiative on the flop thus a little more breathing room.

Say we limp and whiff the flop, how do we respond to a flop bet on a large pot?

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I'm raising 99 all the time and 88 sometimes. A lot of this depends on postflop game conditions. If the game is a little too loose passive postflop, then I might just limp 88 because I know I have to show down to win. If it's super loose postflop passive, I'll raise because when I hit my set I'm going to be paid off huge. If it's aggressive postflop, I'll limp in because I don't gain enough in 'initiative' to offset having to do battle postflop in a multi-way affair. 99 also has a significantly better chance of flopping above second pair compared to 77 and lower.

Limp and whiff = fold. Raise and whiff = think about relative position and pot size. I'll peel getting around 16:1 because implied odds will often carry me the rest of the way (3 BB on the turn and river).

Edit: I want to ramble on a little more...

The decision to bet with an ace, king, or queen on the board, as long as it's the only overcard, is for value. It's not immediately clear that someone actually paired the overcard, and the pot is large enough that even if it's "somewhat likely", it's not likely enough to make betting wrong. You're not representing a monster in any way, just a hand stronger than everyone else's. I'd do this in a limped pot sometimes as well, say holding 77 flopping A64 and having the action checked to me on the button.