Very lively mixed home game. It's dealer's choice, and O8 gets played about once an orbit. Everyone at the table has been playing O8 for years mostly at this weekly game, but few of them can say they are +EV when this game is dealt.

The max preflop raise is $10 or pot, whichever is greater. Most of the time in O8 everyone just limps or raises small. This hand had 8 players to the flop for $2 including myself from MP with [9h][8c][6h]

Flop ($16) [7d][8d]
SB checks, conservative BB with $200 bets $10, fold, O8 beginner with $250 calls, fold, and it's to me. I have about $300 and the cutoff and button with full stacks yet to act behind me.

My play?

let's go street by street:

pf - honestly, you should fold this. you got one of the better flops for your hand, and you might actually end up getting free-rolled. this is especially true if your opponents can't lay down janky made lows.

flop - since you're in a loose game with donkeys, i'd probably call this flop bet and reevaluate. if i get raised, i might lay it down since villain might be freerolling you. your redraw to a boat is compelling, but i'd actually wait for the turn to jam.

turn - if the flop is called down (i.e., no raise), then i'd jam the turn if i still had the nuts. your hope is that you're chopping two lows. the problem, of course, is that you might still be getting freerolled. on the turn, of course, you probably have enough positive expectation to jam against most of villains' ranges.

fwiw, i'd fold this flop in most online games.

You made some excellent points. I normally wouldn't play this hand online or against a tougher field.

On the flop with so many people in the hand I was definitely worried about getting freerolled. I called the flop bet, and everyone else folded, so 3-handed to the turn:

Turn ($46)

BB checks, EP bets $28, and I...?

the only other question i have is how would ep handle a paired board. does he bet only with a boat or quads? will he call with a bare set on the river?

if these are yes, then i might wait to jam until the river. this would also give you added bluff opportunities if an A or 2 hits the river.

overall, i'm guessing you're in an ev-neutral situation against villains' ranges of hands. that's why i'd be playing for fold equity. you have to decide whether you have more of that on the turn or (possibly) on the river. if you can save money because villain will telegraph a rivered monster, then just flat-calling the turn seems prudent.

I think EP's grasp of the game is so weak at this point that he was going to continuation bet the river even if the board paired and he had a straight or rivered a flush. His turn bet was quick and confident and I thought the only hand he would be that sure about is A2. At this point I was hoping my high would hold up and we would chop BB's money. I called, BB called, river was and offsuit 4, BB checked, EP bet half the pot again, I called, BB folded, and I chopped with EP's A2. BB claimed top two and A4.

My play worked out pretty well considering what the villains held, but I could have folded the best hand on a lot of rivers to that half pot bet. Still I have a hard time convincing myself that jamming the turn makes any sense with BB's history of going into check/call mode with one way hands.

i understand your instincts are the raise to protect your vulnerable high hand. but the only way you're going to make money in this hand is if you win the high half in a multiway pot. BB and EP small'ish bets allow you to play small pot poker on the flop and turn. that's very generous of them and is exactly what you would like. there are a lot of cards we need to dodge on the turn/river. so i would call the flop and turn. jam the river if you still have the nuts. if the board flushes/pairs, well then you have a legitimately tough decision. this hand nicely illustrates why you are better off folding pre-flop. these hands are classic win a small pot/lose a big pot situations where you need to be extremely cautious.