I found myself in a spot in stud8 where I was in a massive multi-way pot where I started with (88)8 and ended up unimproved on the river (I think it was (88)8T4Q(3). I was 4-way with only one low possible, the player to my left (who has a board like 28J6 so very likely has just a low), and 2 other high boards.

The thing is that everyone in the hand should know what I have because I played it fast the whole way because there were so many players, and when I caught a brick on 4th and raised the player who made open aces to my right to try to thin the field in a 7-way pot, essentially turning my hand face up.

So on 7th street, one open aces hand checks, I check thinking the low will bet for me, the low hand bets as expected, and then a player showing something like AsThAhQh raises (there were 2 pairs of open aces on the table), the next guy folds, and I fold figuring the low will auto-raise and it will cost me 4BB and the player who raises knows he can't raise aces up for value here. Well I folded, the low calls and the player who raised had just the open aces on his board. The pot was pretty huge, I think about 400-500 in a 10/20 game, so it really killed me that I folded half the pot here. I had no problem folding in a spot like this because I figured that it's just so rare for someone to bluff but should I be calling here when the pot is enormous?

Aces guy played his hand well that's all. If you checked hoping to induce action it worked and you should pay off if Aces guy is good enough to make this play. If Aces guy is a stone nit then maybe fold for two cold in a smaller pot but in a big pot you made his mind up for him by checking, so pay him off.

Agree Aces played well.

Also agree with electrical on the analysis but at the same time your mistake isn't as big as it feels like to you now. Don't beat yourself up too much.

hmm. it's a 10/20 live stud8 game. You assume they can read.

As you wrote, you are in a multi-way pot to the river with only one possible low hand and tons of dead high cards. This is know as a juicy game.

BTW, the level of the thought of the aces guy was along the lines, "he has 2 pr and I can blow him off his hand with my open "dead aces". A play that I lovingly refer as stud8's "Hail Mary"

You'll get them next time.

FYP

If the OP jammed 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th, Aces guy should have probably found a fold at some point, imo.

Well I do have a specific reason to think they can read hands, this is a private game and the players in question are regulars. These guys are going to chase hopeless draws and play 80% VPIP, but that doesn't mean they're stupid- they're older guys and most of them have probably played a lot more hands of stud than I have, and while experience doesn't necessarily teach you how to play well, you do figure out that "when someone does x, they usually have y". I'm known as probably twice as tight as the second tightest player at the table, so when I come in for completion with an 8 in a big field that is some cause for alarm right there, and when I catch a brick and raise open aces people are going to notice and think about what I could possibly have because it's unexpected. After I folded several players were impressed by villain's play, and asked me if I folded trip 8s. I complimented villain on his hand/play FWIW.

I'm not certain that villain made a great play in fact though, I feel that his play was predicated on the thought that I would only check if I hadn't improved but with a very likely board lock low to my left I would be checking with my entire range including boats, so he has to fade me filling up, me making a tough call with trips, or either of the other two players showing up with a better high. I could be convinced that this falls into the category of "take bold chances to win the big pots" but I'm not so sure.

Fairly obvious that Aces guy started with a low draw or 3-flush, peeled for pot odds and picked up enough of a board to represent a hand, and almost certainly had another or the K/J in the hole for legitimate equity. If he gets to the river this way and is unwilling to make this play he has no chance to make money in this game. This river play doesn't have to work often to be profitable by itself, but getting into spots where it's his only chance at a piece of the pot is going to be expensive if he makes a habit of it.

I like the river play but if you think aces guy is bad enough to call the two cold and low guy won't just call to get an overcall, lead. Also checking can backfire if low guy is one of these numpties who think it's bad to bet "just low" even though they can make 0.5 BB more for every bet they put in

Generally I would check and play as you did, but if I saw two aces passed there's no way I'm passing to aces guy's raise

I am not trying to be a D@$&! but these sentence tells all how good this game can be and the rest of your description shows their perspective on your play by some of them. (they think that you are ABC, leaning towards weak tight)

As an "old" guy and played with many "older" guys at bigger stakes, it doesn't matter how long they have played the game, many of them just play bad and don't ever care to improve. They are not "stupid" in a traditional sense as they are successful professionals or business guys but they are shall we say? Poker challenged? i.e there is a regular mix game at a local ivy league club for significant stakes that you would find better players at a local 5/10 mix game.

Lastly, part of you is looking to justify that you made a good fold but in the dynamics of this game, it was not. You asked for a opinion and those are my 2 cents worth.

There's no point in us arguing this, it doesn't really change the issue at hand- The aces guy knew what he was doing when he raised, regardless of what he did or didn't put me on specifically.

As far as the fold, it obviously was a bad fold against this particular player given the information we have now- but what I'm concerned about is more if this type of situation comes up again am I going to lose a bunch of money by calling down expecting a bluff against players who aren't capable of it, or is this a spot where "creative" players will frequently take a shot at the pot?

You stand to lose much more money by folding than by calling, because calling can only cost you what you call and folding can cost you all (or in this case most likely half) of the pot. You have to be right many more times than you are wrong. Of course, this is what limit poker is about, making an extra bet when you can, saving an extra bet when you can. But expert play has to include saving the whole pot, or making the whole pot (like your opponent did).

It's very hard to say whether you should have folded here. But it should give you a clue that your opponents think you will. Try to figure out what someone wants you to do, and disappoint them.

You're probably going to need to make a few on-their-face wild plays. Choose ones that have neutral equity or very low -ev. Put in an extra raise in some spots where you don't have a lock. Raise-fold in a few very close spots. Make a donkey call or two.

+1

In most situations I probably fold the river, obviously the higher the stakes and the more creative the players get the more likely I will call.

If I looked at the hand and some guy over 30 raised the end with Aces like that I just toss.

He played 7th well but depending on his board and hole cards I don't think hes good.

Also this depends on the hand history since this isn't really exact for all I know it was 4 bet everystreet and then I have a harder time folding. But from the looks of it I always think the AA has 3 aces or better.

I know the way I described the hand was a little confusing but there were actually 2 sets of open aces in this hand so AAA was impossible. As far as the action in the hand, I completed 3rd, raised the bet of an open aces hand on 4th, and bet 5th/6th with nobody raising me.

What stakes? Maybe this is beyond my level, but I'll chime in anyway for fun.

I'm not sure why everyone is giving villain so much credit here. In the games I play, trying to bluff people off rolled 8s is called "donating chips", not "playing well".

In spots like this, I'm usually asking myself two things: one, how likely it is villain knows my holding? You're giving villain way way too much credit if you're sure he knows you're rolled. I mean, he usually wouldn't get to 5th street if he knew that. If you caught suited on 4th, you could have a flush draw, or if you caught any card near an 8, you could have a 4-straight. Or if you caught low, you could have a 4-low. You could also have made 2 pair on 4th, which would explain your betting. So he might be betting to get you off 2 pair. I doubt he expected you'd fold trips.

And second, I'll ask how likely is villain to have the hand he's representing? With all the aces dead, that makes a boat less likely. So I'd be looking for exposed cards he'd need for a boat, exposed hearts, and exposed cards he'd need for a straight. If there were a lot of exposed hearts early, I wouldn't expect a competent player to be chasing a flush in the first place, much less to get there, for example. Of course the sequence in which he got his cards matters a lot, because if he wasn't suited up on 4th, you wouldn't expect him to be chasing a flush, and if he caught AQo his first two, then the 10, it's not that likely he's been chasing a gutshot.

It sounds like villain had a scary looking board, but there just isn't enough information in the OP to evaluate how likely it is villain actually made a hand that beats trip 8s. So I'd sometimes fold unimproved here, and sometimes not.