[andyfox]

Hand 1: "Running a little rough" should have very little to do with whether or not he raises this hand preflop. It sounds crazy, but you have a better chance to narrow down the field by betting on the flop when you've raised preflop and created a bigger pot because they're sure you have the goods since you raised preflop. I think not raising preflop with, say A-Ts is a big mistake; with A-9s slightly less so; and with A-8s still -EV.

I'd sure check the turn here because I'd want the chance to hit a straight without the guy check-raising me out of the hand. The guy's probably playing this game for the fun of check-raising anyway.

2nd hand: Sometimes I'll check-raise here, sometimes fold. Depends on whether I can get a vibe of disinterest from the others who checked. In 20-40, many players will automatically check to the pre-flop raiser no matter what they flop, so that would put more emphasis on folding rather than check-raising. In general, when you play a small pocket pair in a multi-way pot in 20-40 or lower, if you always put it in the muck unless you flop a set or an open-end straight draw, you probably can't go too wrong.