25NL, Going from good to better

[PotatoStew]

Here are two similar hands where I start out with a decent holding, it improves on the turn, and the villain simultaneously gets frisky. Should I be matching with my own aggression, or should I lay off and let him do the betting for me?

In both hands, the villain in question is rather loose preflop, but that's with only a very small sample size (<30 hands).

Hand#1

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

CO ($23.60)
Button ($25.70)
SB ($13.30)
BB ($23.05)
Hero ($25.25)
MP ($14.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
Hero calls $0.25, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, CO calls $0.25, Button calls $0.25, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.25) 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $1</font>, CO calls $1, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds.

Turn: ($3.25) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $2.5</font>, <font color="#CC3333">CO raises to $5</font>, Hero ???



Hand#2

In this hand, I was hoping my flop check raise would get the villain to fold, since my hand was very vulnerable. It didn't, and I was planning on being done with the hand. But then I improved, and decided to stick with the checkraise motif for two reasons - 1) I was hoping to trap a little more of his money, and 2) I thought it would be nice to instill some fear for future hands.

Comments are appreciated on the sanity/insanity of the flop checkraise, as well as the turn play.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

CO ($12.75)
Button ($4.55)
SB ($18.25)
Hero ($36.50)
UTG ($12.10)
MP ($23.40)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP raises to $0.5</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, Hero calls $0.25.

Flop: ($1.10) 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets $0.75</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $2.25</font>, MP calls $1.50.

Turn: ($5.60) 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets $2.75</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $6.5</font>