[Andy B]

You didn't like your hand enough to raise with it on third. You didn't like it enough to bet with it on fourth. Is it that hard to let go of it after a bet and a raise? You're playing for half of what is currently a very small pot and it's two bets to you. When you're faced with your initial decision, you probably realize that it's fairly likely that it will be capped with 5Q folding, which is of course what happened. In that case, you are laying 2:1 to win your half of the pot, and I just don't think you're a 2:1 favorite.

If 5Q does come along for the ride, it becomes fairly likely that he either has a set or brain damage. Maybe he has the other two Aces. I wouldn't be too excited about my prospects in that case, either.

Assuming that both 68 and 27 have four-card lows, there's about a 10% chance that they will both bust. Also, 5Q can make a low (I'm talking about your initial decision on fourth), so it's very, very likely that you're only playing for half of the pot. Of course, I'm not at all surprised that you scooped it, but I don't think you should have been in there.

I'm not absolutely 100% certain I'm right here, but I do know this--if I call along in a hand like this and end up losing a bunch of bets to Sevens-up or some such, it's likely to make me tilt at least a bit. If I fold fourth and watch a bare pair of Eights take down "my" half of the pot, it's not going to affect me too much. I didn't have much invested, and fourth really didn't look too attractive. I find stud/8 to be the most tilt-inducing game there is, both for me and my opponents. Keeping myself off tilt (and my opponents on it) is a very important part of my game-plan. If you can throw off $300 with one pair and not have it affect you, my hat's off to you.