The game is a private 1/2 PLO8, 10-handed with a $5 bring-in. I bought in for $120 and ran it over $800 in the first 2 hours, before falling back to $630 over the next 3. I've told the host the time I needed to leave, and we are 7 minutes from that time. My problem is that, over those past three hours, the loose AFC player to my left (who has had to leave twice to go get more cash) has been straddling my BB for $10. Moreover, though, is that this private game lets players straddle from ANYWHERE if button and BB don't put one out. And over the past 30 minutes or so, newish player on my right has started straddling whenever he's UTG to BTN, and it's getting pretty tilting, as it's turning the game into effectively a 5/10 game with me UTG on over half the hands. This guy has been mixing it up and playing a lot, but not really building anything up, sitting on $140ish. He straddles again as the UTG+1, and I pick up;

A238

I don't think too hard about calling for $10. And then, neither does most of the table is 6 others call and it's back to our villain who thinks a bit and asks, "How much is the pot?" "Eighty." Which would NOT be enough to put anyone all in, by the way, though the one closest to being in that spot, holds up his stack and laughs, "You know I'm coming after you, right fam?" Villain thinks more and says, let's make it $80 more."

I'm the 2nd biggest stack at the table, but the biggest and most active is 3 seats to my left and in the hand, too. We are leaving in a matter of minutes and if I get crippled, I won't be sticking around to grind it back up. But if I bink, no one can say I hit and run since everyone has known my departure time for the past hour.

I feel like a lot of people will fold to that $80 bet, but expect at least 2 players behind me to come along. So what's the play? How much do we like Ah2h38 here?
Call off $80 (and pray big stack doesn't try to squeeze me) with a hand that might very well miss a lot (the fact that 6 others limped concerns me about how live my low outs are)?
Re-raise to $320 in an effort to blast the other 6 out to try to get heads-up and all-in with villain (the RR should scream I was trying to be sneaky with AAxx, right? And when I've won, I've done it with raging monsters that people have taken notice of.)?
Fold and call it a night, pocketing my $500 profit?

What would you do?

Fold and live to fight another day. Just by reading this post I know you aren't in the right frame of mind to be playing a pot. Doesn't seem like sounds life strategy to get involved in a pot when you can be influenced by emotion towards an individual rather than rational thought.

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do you need to money to pay the rent? if so, fold.

otherwise i'd call and try to see a flop.

If you need to think about folding, you are in the wrong game. If you think you are in the wrong game, just quit instantly. Why do you care if someone thinks you hit'n'run anyway?

kisada, I play poker recreationally, have a decent retirement account, and an above-average salary for my profession. So, personal finances never entered the equation. I knew I'd be mad at myself if blasted off a big portion of my winnings. OTOH, if I was even or down for the night, I'd have called and gone for the gamble.

Amok, Eh, it's a private game and I'd like to be invited back.

Why do you want to be invited back to this game when the stakes of it are outside your comfort zone?

I've got a better idea.

Use the money you've won to pay for a table, chips and chairs (if you don't have them already) and host your own game at stakes you feel comfortable with, and then you have supreme control over straddles and so on.

Personally I didn't like pot limit/no limit, 3 straddles and all kinds of other foolishness in a home game I was attending so I made my own fixed limit or pot limit with max one straddle home game and now the people I used to play with in the other game come to my game.

In terms of the hand, I really do not think this hand should be folded for an amount which is something like an eighth of your stack. If somebody reraises and it gets crazy with a 4 way all in or suchlike you can fold if losing the money bothers you, but it would still be a fine call if it didn't. But if you can see it for $80 you will definitely show a profit on that call. The implied odds are too great to pass.

First thing I've learned, even in home games, is to never tell anyone when you plan on leaving. That is just information they can use against you to try and push you around as time gets closer.

On to the Hand, Once it gets Potted and the other guy makes the statement "I am coming after you" to the Potter, I am putting him on a marginal to semi marginal hand that wants to gamble with the Potter expecting nobody else in the hand to do anything to crazy. This makes your decision easy and one of 2 options. Fold or Re-Pot.

If you just call, there is a good chance "the talker" will repot, knowing you are close to leaving and probably trying to lock up the win without doing anything to crazy. Betting $300-$320 with the strength of your hand just seems like a better play than calling the 10, then calling the 80, then probably calling another $300 on top. Then potentially folding if the flop bricks to hard. If you re-pot, that shows commitment on your end which will probably scare off the rest of the table allowing you to get heads up for just the $80.

Folding is also fine if you just want to lock up the win and go home. But I'd rack up immediately and leave. Play no more hands.

i mean if you play the game for pure recreation and it's worth more to you to walk off big winner than it is to play for long term EV i think that pretty much answers the question, right?

maybe i'm misunderstanding the question to begin with, but the premise seems to be "how good of a hand is this with consideration to wanting to walk off winner vs potentially getting stacked or losing a ton of it"?

now, generally i think it's a lot easier said than done to remove emotion/circumstance/goals from rational equation, but it's there and if it matters, you can't get away from it. unfortunately there's no quantifiable value to your wanting to walk off winner, but again if you're just playing for fun i think folding and going home sounds like it'd be more value to you than playing this hand.

I would re-raise to $320 in hopes of some others coming along


and put the rest in on flop if at least 1 low card


I would go home a winner of $1K+ or down $120


you are playing an action game, but want to play tight?
as a 'recreational player' don't you want to have some fun?

Thanks for the replies everyone. I did fold and rack up. I probably valued the idea of a $500 profit too much in that spot, hating the idea of playing so well and sloughing off a lot of chips on one hand that doesn't REALLY want to be heads up, unless we think original potter has no pair/no ace? I'm interested in thoughts of what going to war, multi-ways with a hand that has a real dangler in the 8. Everything I've ever read has pretty much said to avoid 3-card hands. If the 8 was another wheel card, I honestly think I'd have limped along (instead of repotting), primarily because I'm concerned about all of the people coming along and I was questioning how live my low outs were, and I assumed villain must have some sort of big pair or Broadway hand to be pulling this when last to act vs so many people. I might have been giving him too much credit, though!

I probably need to change my attitude a bit in this sort of game or simply avoid it. As was pointed out, I'd never be found playing 5/10 PLO (My usual game is .50/$1 PLO or 3/6 limit mixed), yet the incessant straddling late turned it into that sort of game, making me uncomfortable when sitting on a stack I'd be THRILLED to cash out.

If you were double suited I'd hang around. You can fold and not feel too bad about it. I used to play a good amount of plo8, but not much any more, but your hand strikes me as good, but not great. If it were double suited, I'd probably hang around. Also, I never limp.