[Sunny Mehta]

great hand Jeff, and great analysis.....

I pretty much agree with all of your thinking and application. This is not a problem of you "missing" something (you seem to have looked at all angles), it's a problem of it simply being a contentious hand. Lots of options here, but that's what makes the game fun, right?

FWIW, I'd probably lean towards choosing the more aggressive play and raising pf. Your hand is good against their range, and you can't play in fear of "omg what if they outflop me" (not that you do). Remember, if they have unpaired cards, THEY won't hit that often either (in which case your initiative wins you the pot). And, as you said, you don't always have to c-bet. If the board comes such that it's likely to have hit their range, just give up. Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the button. Even if you c-bet on a board of, say, undercards, you still have good equity against his range. Much of the time he will still fold, and when he does call, sometimes you might still have the best hand (if he has some kind of middling straight draw or something), and sometimes you'll have anywhere from 6 to 9 or more outs (depending on straight and flush draws) - and two cards to get there.

-S