Texas Hold’em
There are many trends hobbies that people develop, maintain, and improve upon. For myself, Texas Hold’em is a great game to understand and have fun with.
I’ve played Texas Hold’em honestly for fun. I make sure the factor of cash does not impede on the hobby, well for right now. Any money I decide to put in, is what you can call “extra” or money that is not needed to pay that credit card bill or used for any other cash payments. What a person needs to realize is of course, utilize money wisely, and if poker can be a hobby with perks, that do it.
I started how just like how any normal person would start; play small games, $1 or $2 tournaments when I was a senior in high school. It was the “trend” and “fad” at the time. However, as time progressed, you see how much this type of “gambling game” you can control. Yes, of course there is that amount of luck involved, BUT in the end, probability is never wrong, if the skill is there, you win and have a profit. If you know to go into a hand when you have a 60% winning a hand against your opponent, you will lose only 40% of the time. Many people explain that they get unlucky all the time, this is because people tend to remember their losses the most, because it will frustrate that, make then lose their concentration and have them go on “tilt,” which is a play where a player will lose focus and mindlessly bet, which will impede the person’s judgment and not play to their full potential. You can ask yourself, “This is a gamble, you cannot see the other player’s cards, how can you know your percentage?” This is where one of the main aspects of poker comes in. Reading and understand your opponents.
For anyone who plays hold’em, many people can tell who is a good player after sitting at the time, watching plays, seeing people win pots. But another important aspect is to see who is weak, who you can abuse, take advantage of, and read easily. The psychology of not only Texas Hold’em, but other card games such as 5-cardstud and Omaha have the same idea, where understanding your opponent’s tendencies and actions can save yourself a lot of money. The first thing I would tell anyone who wants to learn Texas Hold’em is just to watch and observe. Poker books are fine, I personally never read them, the closest thing I read was a few of those Poker magazines where I would see real life hands that were played out. A good player will learn who he can bluff, can’t bluff, who will play anything, who will play only a certain family of hands, or betting patterns. Also, looking at a player’s mentality and personal stature at the table can be a major tell. There are MANY involuntary actions that people do that a player will learn from observing. Next time I will speak more. But until then, watch, and play poker yourself to get the most of your learning experience.
The Jason Kidd Movement….
The story of Jason Kidd.
Drafted to the Dallas Mavericks in 1994 with the 2nd Pick. There was promise with Kidd, as he played with the “Three J’s,” which consisted of Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson, and Jamal Mashburn. Unfortunately, that did not turn out too well, as there were many disagreements within the group.
During the 1996-1997 season, Kidd was involved in a multi-player trade with the Phoenix Suns, where Kidd became a Sun, and Sam Cassell became a Maverick. Kidd had a good run with the Suns, however, and incident with his wife in early 2001 became the talk of the town for a while which caused the Jason Kidd Movement to begin once again…
After the 2001 NBA season, Jason Kidd was traded to the New Jersey Nets for Stephon Marbury. During the 2001-2002 season, Jason Kidd led the Nets, who had their on “Three K’s,” Kenyon Martin, Kerry Kittles, and Keith Van Horn, where the team also had newcomer Richard Jefferson, to the NBA finals. However, they were no match for the Los Angeles Lakers led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, as the Nets got swept in 4 games. The Nets would still make the playoffs for the next few seasons, with many changes, since the “Three K’s” were not all gone, and the notable Vince Carter joined the franchise.
Beginning last year, there was talk about trading Jason Kidd, as the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers had an extensive talk about. However, the Lakers would not want to give up their center Andrew Bynum, who by the way, was having a GREAT season until he got injured around 1 month ago. Recently, the Nets have had talks with Jason Kidd’s original team, the Dallas Mavericks for the trade.
Late week, a trade was supposed to fall through, which would consist of Jason Kidd and Malik Allen from the Nets going to the Mavericks for Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Devean George, 2 future first-round picks, and 3 million in cash. However, the trade did not fall through, as Devean George invoked what is call his “Early Birth Rights” from his contract. The clause states that Devean would have to pretty much agree to be traded, and if he does not, the trade will not occur. The trade was essentially blocked from occuring which caused a major stir between both teams. In my opinion, Mark Cuban was looked to be a hypocrite, as he previously stated that they would not make a run at Jason Kidd, as he would have to “Trade half the roster,” which was not feasible to do, but look what he tried to do, TRADE HALF THE ROSTER. Also, with anyway to revive this trade, there was talk to include a deal where the Mavs would resign Keith Van Horn, who has not played with the team for over a year, but Cuban also denied this, as it would not be as beneficial to the team. BUT there is reported talk with another trade, as the Nets would reported trade again, Jason Kidd and Malik Allen to the Mavs for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, Keith Van Horn, 2 first-round draft picks, and 3 million in cash. Take note that Jerry Stackhouse is not apart of this deal also. This is because he has a big mouth, and stated that the Nets agreed that they would buy-out his contract, and then after 30 days, resign with the Mavs, so essentially, the Mavs would get him back without a problem. This statement did not make NBA commissioner David Stern, or many of the other team General Managers happy, as it was seen as an “abuse” of the league rules. This caused David Stern to essentially block Stackhouse on being involved in the trade, where the Mavs had to scramble and try another trade to obtain Kidd.
In my opinion, Mark Cuban was very hypocritical with his statements of not trading a great deal of his team, and not using Keith Van Horn after the trade was first blocks, since as you can see, both occurred. However, on the other side of the coin, you cannot blame both teams for trying to make this trade work, since it was already made public before it was official. How would for example, Jason Kidd and Devin Harris feel about returning to their team without the trade occurring, knowing that their team wanted to trade them. It looks like the Nets will begin the rebuilding process, and it will center around Richard Jefferson, as Vince Carter seems to have lost that “passion,” as I see him just going through the motions during games. Don’t get me wrong, he is still a great player, but not as great as he was back in Toronto. As for the Dallas Mavericks, they get that perennial guard they have been looking for every since losing Steve Nash a few years ago. The western conference is VERY strong, and has been for the last few years now. From the current standings today, there is a 4 1/2 game gap between first and NINTH place. Where the Portland Trail Blazers are the 10th seed, and only 4 games behind the 7th seed and the 9th place Denver Nuggets are tied with 2 other teams for the 7th and 8th seed creates more reason to have the best team possible this year. Dallas right now is the 6th seed, which will definitely change after this trade occurs. We will see what happens between now and April…
Anything and everything.
Hello my fellow readers and welcome to my blog. You will see pretty much anything, and everything here. So be prepared…
