Pocket Tens Poker Showdown is Eerily Familiar

Decided to try to boost some residuary online earnings this past weekend so I competed in a NL Holdem event. For those of you who have caught a couple of my earlier articles regarding online play, you would have discovered I'm not the biggest fan. That's not to say I still don't find it entertaining.

That being said, I was moving along at a relatively good pace and playing some solid poker. That just means I was keeping it tight and doing my best not to freak out when three players show down huge pocket pairs all against each other... again.

I was in late position with a good size stack when an opponent second to under the gun raised up going about two and half times the big blind. Every body folded around to me and I decided to flat call with pocket tens and see what the flop brought.

At this point I was already concerned that he was sitting with a larger pocket pair but I wasn't certain yet. The good news was that I had him covered nearly 4.5 to 1 and odds were if the overs didn't come, he'd be hard pressed to scare me out. However, I wasn't completely sold on the commitment. I hadn't invested that much.

The flop came down nine high with two diamonds and he bet into me immediately. I started to get that feeling. This is something I characteristically wrestle with any time I decide to play online. That flop made be believe one of two things was actually happening. Either my opponent just flopped the nut flush draw or he was sitting with the over pair.

I wrestle with the belief in the back of my mind that the online program will always make it difficult for me to fold a hand like this. I decide to raise him up to find out where I am. He immediately goes all in. This convinces me that he is on the draw and I have the sick feeling that I am going to be drawn out. I tend to only get this way with online play and don't carry the same kind of concern in a casino. I call taking into consideration it's not many more chips to me and I'm pretty sure at that moment I have the best hand. The turn brought a brick, which also brought an inside straight draw for me, followed by a third diamond on the river.

Now I'm sick. My opponent's card are revealed to show the A,K, of diamonds. I knew it. I've seen it so many times online when I have those pesky pocket pair that linger above the flop. Of course if a picture card had flopped, I wouldn't have invested another penny. However, I was sure I was good on the flop when he pushed all in and I was just as sure that I was going to get sucked out. It just happens too frequently, particularly when my opponent is pot committed.

This is the kind of hand that drives me crazy those pocket tens or jacks when there's a raise up front and the flop comes down all under me. I especially dread it online. Let me know how you would play it and if you feel the same way as I do about online play.