This hand in some respects cost me more than it should have, but in other respects involved some pretty good reads, and could have been worse. Annotated for clarification:

***** Hand History for Game 2362288411 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, July 14, 12:05:23 EDT 2005
Table Table 54794 (6 max) (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: sabetudo ( $96.55 )
Seat 2: cben23 ( $38.09 )
Seat 3: UncleBohh ( $291.48 )
Seat 4: whetyjo ( $24.30 )
Seat 6: pokeringit ( $83.25 )
Seat 5: stressball10 ( $100.40 )
cben23 posts small blind [$0.50].
UncleBohh posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to stressball10 [ Th Ac ]
whetyjo raises [$4].
stressball10 calls [$4]. -- I initially planned to raise AT, a standard raising hand for me in 6max. With a raise in front from a short stack who I knew to be raising more than average, I felt a call was appropriate.
pokeringit calls [$4]. -- I put this guy on something modest like KJ, AJ, or a low pocket pair.
sabetudo folds.
cben23 folds.
UncleBohh folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, 2c, Ad ]
whetyjo is all-In [$20.30]
stressball10 calls [$20.30]. -- Even for a short stack, that all in on the flop is highly suspicious. I initially thought maybe a weak ace like AJ, but then decided he had a middle pocket pair like tens or jacks and hated this flop. So a call again is in order. I'm now hoping the guy behind me doesn't have an ace.
pokeringit calls [$20.30]. -- oh no. Flat call, no raise? Could it be AJ?
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4c ]
stressball10 checks. -- this is basically a check for information. His next action is going to tell me something.
pokeringit bets [$10]. -- Interesting, eh? It's not a very big bet relative to the pot... but he did bet. I think AJ, A9, or a similar hand might check behind here, considering all the dead money in the pot and the fact that I pretty clearly have an ace myself. I'm starting to suspect he's value betting on a hidden set...
stressball10 calls [$10]. -- gotta call, pot odds are too good to fold this early. And I still have one more round to get information from him. The only thing I really don't want to see is like a $15 bet on the river, because I basically have to call that.
** Dealing River ** [ 5h ]
stressball10 checks.
pokeringit is all-In [$48.95] -- perfect. It would be easy to read this as a desperation bluff, but to me it confirms my worst suspicions: he has a set, probably eights.
stressball10 folds.
whetyjo shows [ Td, Ts ] a pair of tens.
pokeringit shows [ 8c, 8s ] three of a kind, eights. -- beautiful.
pokeringit wins $68.95 from side pot #1 with three of a kind, eights.
pokeringit wins $72.40 from the main pot with three of a kind, eights.


So yeah, I lost $34 that maybe could have been avoided, but I think I learned a couple things; and I saved some money on the end, where a lot of players might have just called and hoped for the best. It was nice to have basically all my reads confirmed - that alone made it worth the price for me.