Do we want to go broke with pocket eights?

Did you ever think about pushing all-in with 88 from the small blind against an aggressive 3-bettor in the big blind? Then what do you think about the following example?

There is a growing trend towards aggressively defending the big blind against open raises from the small blind with calls and 3-bets. Under which circumstances is it profitable to 4-bet with 88 in this spot?

You are sitting at a No-Limit 6-max table and the other players fold to you. You are in the small blind with a pair of eights. Furthermore you know that your opponent 3-bets you 18% from the big blind. Thanks to our hand reading lessons 'Things to Consider at Showdown' and 'The Funnel Principle' you can narrow down his range as follows:

		3-bet/all-in
		3-bet/call 4-bet
		3-bet/fold
		sometimes fold / sometimes all-in

Now you are unsure whether your opponent is capable of pushing his stack all-in as a bluff with his small pairs against your 4-bet. What do you consider the EV of a 4-bet with 88 to be in the following scenarios?

• Your opponent always folds 55-22
• Your opponent pushes 55-44 and folds 33-22
• Your opponent pushes all pairs

How do you rate the EV of 4-bet/call and 4-bet/fold in these cases? Let us know in the comments!