[ohnonotthat]

You're correct. Medium pairs (77,88) do about as well against 3 random hands as against 5 if we disregard postflop action - i.e., if you are allin preflop.

I'll defer to your simulations in regard to the optimal number of opponents if all are playing top third, top half, etc. (I have never taken the time to run these sims).

If we DO factor in post-flop action my stats indicate a strong preference for a very small or very large field. Make no mistake, medium pairs play for profit against any number of opponents but they lose some value against medium sized fields (3 or 4 opponents).

Let's not overlook the fact that these hands do best against ZERO opponents; unless you're playing against imbeciles 77 will show it's greatest overall profit when it wins the blinds uncontested.