PP .5/1 with 2 people out to get each other

[LondonBroil]

I sat down in the middle of a table where 2 players seemed to have it in for each other. They were seeing about 40-45% of the flops and whenever both of them were in, they would usually cap pre-flop and the flop. One of them (lets call him Upper-Limit Pro) is trash-talking non-stop and talking about how the money at these tables didn't matter to him as long as the other one (Semi-Reasonable Player, emphasis on "semi") loses along with him.

Anyway, I'm dealt pocket 8's in MP and limp. 1 LMP limper, SRP limps in the cutoff and since SRP is in, ULP raises in the SB. His raise means he definitely has 2 cards. I call, LMP calls, SRP 3-bets and ULP caps it as expected. I call, ULP calls, SRP calls.

Flop comes A /forums/images/icons/spade.gif K /forums/images/icons/club.gif 9 /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif .

ULP bets out. I know I'm probably beat here but I just know neither of them have anything. LMP is the one that scares me. I call, LMP calls, SRP raises, ULP 3-bets, I call, LMP folds, SRP caps, call, call.

Turn is the 8 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif . Perfect.

ULP bets, I call, SRP raises, ULP 3-bets, I cap, both call.

River is the beautiful 8 /forums/images/icons/heart.gif .

ULP checks, I bet, SRP folds (???), ULP types "you don't have an eight" and I quickly reply "actually I have 2". I figured that by saying that, it might make him want to call me to find out. He calls, and I scoop a nice pot.

ULP (who is down to $7.25) then proceeds to berate me along with SRP and asking me why I stayed in on the flop and if I wanted to go to higher limits blah blah blah. He eventually busts out and leaves.

I was just wondering if me staying in in a capped flop was a good decision or not. Would you have done the same thing? I know hindsight is 20-20 but the more I think about it, the more I think I should have thrown those 8's away.

[samdash]

This is the flop of doom for pocket 8's. You know you have to improve to win, and with these lunatics in the hand you won't be able to see the turn cheaply. I think you have to throw it away on the flop because its so likely that you're behind on the flop and have less than a 5% chance of improving on the turn.

[Homer]

10 bucks says these guys are two college kids sitting next to each other in their dorm room making a half-assed attempt at collusion...

-- Homer

[LondonBroil]

I never really thought about the possibility of collusion at a .5/1 table. They really didn't seem to like each other though so I don't think that was it.

Trop_Facile, if your reading this, I'm going to be watching you from now on! /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

[CrackerZack]

Agreed.

On a side note, related to homer's comment. Me and my girlfriend both have computers that are on a wireless network sharing a DSL connection. Paradise allows us to sit at the same table. Party Poker does not. I can't really see how paradise can allow this since i obviously could play 2 or more seats at the same table. Even without colluding to build a pot, the fact I know 3 hands is *such* and advantage. We don't play for real money and prefer party poker but this could really be a problem. Just an FYI.