[DevinLake]

I'm just going to tackle the one question for now. Your post is asking some pretty general stuff so it's hard to answer.

However, about the side pot. You really just have to take the situation into consideration. Ie, payout structure, your stack, other stacks, and your hand.

What I'm trying to say with no payout considerations to worry about (7,8,9 handed for example), you should play the hand that is in the best interest for your equity. If that means betting a vunerable hand to protect your equity in the pot then do it. A lot of people misapply the check it down rule with empty side pots.

However, on the bubble it could be a big mistake. On the bubble it may be correct to cooperate with others to eliminate a player and get into the money. Especially if you are a medium stack. If you are the big stack and don't care if the bubble continues so that you can utilize it to gain chips, then again, just do what is best for your equity.