[cbboy]

Raise PF is vastly superior to checking your option for multiple reasons. You can take down the pot PF sometimes with the raise from the BB. You can thin the field and take the pot down with a c-bet on the flop. Also, you create a larger flop for when you flop a set. The money is SOOOO much easier to get in the middle in a raised pot than an unraised pot. Its very difficult to get the money in the middle in an unraised pot without overbetting the pot on a few of the streets OR the villain has a good hand and is raising you somewhere in the hand. Whereas in a raised pot, it is easier to get the money in since there is more money in the pot going to the flop.