[ QUOTE ]
Bluff, I think dibbs was telling aces that he thought joe was being sarcastic to... ah, forget it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, yes, I think you are on to it. This branch is making my head spin a bit.

To me, the real question is what did MP1 have: 8-8-x-x or some type of straight draw.

It is also possible, though much less likely, that he had J-J-x-x or J-8-x-x. I know, I know, J-J-x-x should have reraised the flop and J-8-x-x should have folded on the turn, but crazier things have happened in those PL100 games. He could have been one of the crazy HE players slow-playing his set and letting our OP "trap" himself