For me, 77 is better to start with.
If I catch my set with a pair I could win a great pot, especially when the board is safe and someone else get a pair, two pares or anything else. Sometimes this hand can win by itself at the showdown (when I don't get anything good on the board). Another good thing is, I can easily fold it when I see some action and I have nothing to play on the flop and there is no need to go further. So I don't lose much in those cases.
There are some problems with playing A8s. Your main change for winning is catching a flush but it's a miserable chance. Well, cathing a set with 77 is miserable as well, I would say, but when you get a flush it's more obvious for other players that you have this. In some cases, all you get is just a few folds, not a big pot, so sometimes it's a bit hard to win much. But what you should be scared about is that you can lose much with your A8s when you don't get a flush and just got a pair of A's because of your weak kicker (when someone else get AK, AQ or something like that).
Most of time I would raise with A8s only from late positions like BTN, CO to steal the blinds.
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Do sharks complain about bad beats? No way. They stay aggressive, bite the fish, act scary, and remind everyone they are a shark!
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