[doppelganger]

I disagree with a lot of what you said here.

I love to raise small pairs from the SB/BB on a passive table, for several reasons:

1. No one has shown strength so you likely have an equity edge PF
2. You have a solid chance of taking down the pot or thinning the field to one opponent
3. Sets are well disguised, increasing your chances to get paid
3. Most people assume that a raise from the blinds indicates a very strong hand, which makes it much easier to take down the pot w/ a cbet since your villain missed 2/3 of the time. (And their assumption is generally correct - I generally will only raise pairs, AK,AQs+, so small pairs are a tiny part of my range.)

I generally won't raise them on tables where floating is rampant or there is a tricky or station-ish player who has already limped in.

Obviously if your cbet gets called or raised then you're done w/ the hand, but you'll be surprised how often you scoop the pot on the flop after an EP raise.