Intuitively I kinda want to just raise the flop and guarantee getting value from AA/KK. There are some turn/river combinations where you can't get value anymore and villain has an option to checkback on the turn since he has the position. That said in many/most cases you stack AA/KK anyway and it's pretty valuable to keep villains bluff in.

Your 3rd point is exactly the reason why raising the flop is appealing, but I'm not 100% convinced that it's the best play. I'm curious what other people think.

I'm gonna go with raise for now. I think the way people at lower stakes play incentivices us to raise because I don't think we're gonna see a lot of bluffing in such a big pot, and most bluffs are draws anyways. And they might get scared on a third spade and checkback with overpairs for pot control. On a rainbow board I would probably favor checking.

Since you are oop, I'm inclined to raise his CB on the flop.

I agree that I prefer a flop raise here, especially on the flush draw board. Would be slightly more inclined to flat a rainbow board.

Worth noting is that if you have no history with this player (ie, he presumably doesn’t know you or your skill level), then I would be even more inclined to raise the flop. The reason being, I think many players at these stakes bet small in spots like this, partly because they think/know that bad players may play worse against a small bet. Essentially, he may be hoping to induce a raise from you here, so if you have the nuts, you should oblige :)

In addition, as you have stated, his preflop line is so often AA or KK, and on this board, there are so many action-killing turns for you (any spade, Jack, or Ten).

OTF: I flop the nuts and villain elects to bet around 1/5 of the pot. I'm thinking he does this to protect his whole range when he 4b clicks pre. Do I just call here or would you prefer me raising? To me a raise doesn't make much sense, since we scare away his bluffs (AKsx), random garbage holdings and occasionally JJ. Calling doesn't necessarily uncover my hand as strong.

I'd just raise the flop, as other have said there's lots of unpleasant turns and the pot is already huge. Also, I wouldn't expect too many players to have JJ or garbage in this spot.

Okay, thanks for the response everyone. I appreciate it!