My thoughts on Stephon Marbury at this time…

Marbury is still young, yes, but also on the otherside, a cursed player.  Every team that traded him suddenly became good.  He’s making 21.9 million just to sit on the damn bench.  The Knicks have to get rid of him already.  It’s unfair for a talent like Marbury to just sit there when he’s perfectly healthy.  If the Knicks were that desperate to get rid of him, they should get rid of him like how the Nuggets got rid of Camby, find a team with a similar exception so the Knicks can get the minimum amount in return (ie. 2nd round draft picks).  Marbury is a talent that should not get wasted, send him to a decent team so maybe he can get a real of reality of being a role-player.

Marbury has had a negative impact on the Knicks, D’Antoni interviewed his players during the summer and many expressed displeasure playing with Marbury.  The main reason the team went against Isiah Thomas last season was due to the Marbury incident when Marbury left the team before they were going to face the Phoenix Suns.  He then returned and Isiah let him be in the starting line-up the next game, much to the displeasure to the rest of the Knicks.  Since Marbury is sitting D’Antoni is setting an example and unless one of the knicks guards get injured, Marbury is going to stay on the bench because if D’Antoni lets him play, he will lose the team like Isiah did.  D’Antoni gave him a chance in the preseason when he started one game of the last games, but his initial thoughts of Marbury were correct after Marbury had a shouting match with Eddie House of the Boston Celtics:

— “Less than two minutes into the Knicks’ 101-90 beat-down by Boston, Stephon Marbury started trading Tuesday night trash talk with Eddie House.  After Marbury drew a foul on Kendrick Perkins and hit two free throws, he turned and screamed at House, from mid court: “You’re a bum!”  When play returned to the Celtics’ side of the court, House chirped, “Don’t worry about me. You better worry about Ray Allen,” whom Marbury was guarding. Marbury shot back, “You’re nothing!” then added, “You’re caught up in basketball. Get caught up in life.”  “I’m worried about you,” Marbury blurted back before later calling the Celtics’ guard “[unprintable] garbage.”—

This was pretty much the last straw for D’Antoni and he decided to bench Marbury.

On the flip side, Marbury needs a new start, with all that happened last year with the Knicks, and also his personal life, (aunt and father dying) he needs to be put in a new situation with another franchise.  He’s still younger than the likes of Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, and Kevin Garnett, and only one year older than Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzski.    He’s still got a few years left.  Though I agree the knicks should get rid of him, they shouldn’t have put themselves in a situation where they pretty much are forced by their actions to sit Marbury.  Just having Marbury at the bench is a distraction for the Knicks.  If D’Antoni is telling the truth about playing for the future, he should have let Marbury play, so his trade value could still be decent, and let the Knicks organization find a suitable taker for him.  By having Marbury not playing, his “attitude” becomes more of an issue for other teams, causing his trade value to fall.  Marbury could be taking the minutes that Anthony Roberson and Marty Collins are taking, players that skill-wise do not deserve the minutes if Marbury is sitting on that bench so he can audition himself for different trade scenarios.

As for the Knicks themselves, I think they can surprise a lot of teams this year if they can control their “hot streaks.”  The knicks have many streaky players, Crawford, Nate Robinson, and Q-Rich.  Wilson Chandler has been playing consistently well, and Nate Robinson is still streaky at times but is getting better.  Crawford had a game where he scored only 1 point, not good.  I think D’Antoni’s offensive scheme is the best the knicks can do to compensate the lack of a “superstar” by having many supporting players on the team that can finish.  The lack of size and a defensive presence in the paint hurts (only 1 knick has more than 1 block total this season, wilson chandler with 3, which he got all in 1 game).  Eddy Curry is sitting on that bench and is not good for the D’Antoni offense, trade him for an atheletic big man!… maybe for Al Harrington, he wants to get traded, but i’m sure the Knicks would have to sweeten the deal more since Curry is not really a wanted player at this time.

In summary, hopefully Marbury learns from this and gets everything straightened out, snap back to reality, leave the Knicks, join a competitive team as a role player, and try to break his own curse.  Marbury is in a tough spot but if he learns from this and get out of the situation, everyone will benefit.   Oh and I think this can all happen much easier if Marbury was not his own agent, so.. get some help.

I went to Japan a few weeks ago, and let me just say that it is an experience of a lifetime.  Granted I was only in the metropolitous of Tokyo, Japan for the duration of my trip, and did not even visit everything in the city, it showed me a real life illustration of how there are other countries out there that compete with the United States of America.  The United States illustrates itself as the elitist country, one that cannot beat any other.  However, countries like Japan are at the same level, or even higher than the United States in terms of technology, lifestyle, and value of living.

The cost of living in Tokyo is very high, and I would consider to be one of the highest in the world.  However, considering I was a tourist and was in an expensive region of Japan, I am sure many things in Japan are inexpensive when one relies on its own food and culture.  During my trip, my friends and I visited many restaurants, many expensive, and many inexpensive.  Expensive restaurants had either an American flavor to it, or the feel of being “the high quality restaurant” in the city.  A cheap Japanese fast food restaurant I went to were the big chains, Yoshinoya and Sukiya, both known for their “gyudon,” a beef bowl platter.  My friend would always get the gyudon, while I would get the gyudon combo with eel that also comes with rice.  The price you ask?  Only around $7 to $8.  In the states, the price for eel and rice alone is around $10-$12 itself in my area at least.  In addition, since this was “fast food” the food came quick, and it was quite good.  Chain restaurants in Japan seemed superior in my view to the ones that have locations in the United States.  I visited a McDonald’s and Denny’s there, and there were better choices that did not disappoint.

Culture in Japan, in Tokyo at least, is very good for a foreigner like myself who visited.  The people are very nice in general and were very helpful on giving me assistance on how to get to a location among other things.  I cannot remember how many times I would enter a restaurant, store, arcade, or any other building, and enter with a genuine “welcome” gesture with a bow.

The train system in Japan is much more reliant than the train system here in New York City.  Trains are on time and run smoother.  It took a little getting used to, but once my friends and I got the hang of it, everything was fine.

Last thing I will speak about are the arcades.  The arcades in Japan are amazing, and even a normal arcade there beats most or all the arcades here in the United States.  A “small” arcade I went to was 2 floors, and many arcades were 4-5 floors, with the large arcades being 7-8 floors.  Many racing games like Initial D, Midnight Club, Mario Kart were present.  Also, there were “card game” arcade games, such as Lord of Vermilion and Baseball Heroes 3 where one uses cards to control the game.

One of the biggest things now in Japanese arcades are the Gundam Arcade Pods.  For anyone who does not know Gundams, basically it is a large mobile weapon system, resembling a human body that is controlled. These were really fun to play, as you go into a machine and control your own Gundam.  You are given Gundam cards, which in turn as your progress, as your level rises and obtain access to more weapons and accessories.

The greatness of the arcades in Japan can be described by the biggest pull, fighting games.  In these arcades, fighting games are abundant and full of players, from recent games to Tekken 6 and Street Fighter IV, which are not even available in the states, to other popular classics such as Virtual Fighter, Guilty Gear, Marvel vs SNK, and King of Fighters.  People would be playing for hours at a time, and thus become very proficient.  I even had a good time watching these people play and beating others up.

In summary, Japan was awesome, and I plan on coming back there again.

I sat at my usual $1/$2 blind table for no-limit Texas Hold’em. A few minutes later, a friend of mine was sitting at my table; I wanted to make sure I’d avoid playing against him and taking each other’s money. It was a mutual understanding that we would not bluff each other and basically tell the other by betting to get out of a hand. Anyways, the first hour or two was really bad, I was not able to catch anything. I went through my initial buy-in and did two rebuys of my initial amount of $140 before I finally got going. I was not catching any hands at all and was down to $25 before I had to go all-in with A/10 offsuit, where I was called against someone with A/J and lost. During my second buy-in, I was doing alright and there was a hand where my friend pushed all-in for $25 preflop. I looked down at my cards to see pocket Js, so I had to call. However, another player after me did a milk reraise of $25 on top, which I had to call. The flop came to a bunch of low cards, where I then checked, knowing that if he had a high pocket pair he would bet, and he fired a $40 bet a me. After contemplating for 30 seconds, I decided to fold, and he flipped pocket Qs. Luckily, my friend had K/Q, and a King came on the river and kept him alive. I lost the remaining of my first buy-in when I had pocket 2s and the flop came 6-6-2. I checked in order to trap someone and I did, where someone put out a solid bet and then I re-raised all-in. I was called against pocket Ks, which I was ahead. Unfortunately, the river card was another 6, so the pocket Ks won with a better full house than me (6s over Ks against my 6s over 2s).

Finally, my 3rd buy-in was where I got going. I won a solid pot when I flopped a flush with 9-J spades with a board of 10-2-8 all spades; so I was doing pretty good with a straight flush draw also. I decide to check the flop, where nobody else bet, and then turn was another 10. Because of the potential trips on the board, I decided to bet, and got called. The river came to be a 2, so there was a full house on the board if my opponent had a 10 or a 2. The guy comes out with a $40 bet. Contemplating on whether to call, I looked at several factors. If he had top pair, why did he not bet the flop? It is very likely that another higher card would come out, or that another spade is possibly coming. Many players would like to put a solid bet out there in order to weed out the people fishing for a straight/flush/over card. Then, when the turn came, a 10, how come he did not raise when I bet? If he would have a 10, he should raise since it is likely he would be ahead at the time with the 10 pairing. However, he did not bet, and after the river came, I did not place him on a 2 either, since he likely would have folded with only a pair of 2s. So in the end, I decided to call him, and he was only trying to bluff the hand, and I win with a flush even though there are two pairs on the board. Phew.

So another hand comes a little later, where I have pocket As. I re-raise as there was already a raise on the board. The guy two people over calls, and I knew him as a very tight player, so I figured he at least had pocket Js or AK. The flop came to low cards, and he comes out betting. Figuring he would not call a re-raise with a medium pocket pair, his bet made me place him on Qs or Ks. I decided to call the bet, and the next card was another low card. The player then bet again, and I decided to re-raise him all-in. Sure enough, he calls, and flips over pocket Ks. The river was meaningless and I won the pot.

After leaving the table, I was up around $25, and decided to join the midnight tournament with a few of my friends. I played decently, but was not used to a live tournament play-style, where people would raise all-in often. I had a solid stack and survived for a bit, but I had a hand where I lost probably 4/5 where I called a decent sized all-in with A-K suited, but then another player re-raises all-in also, so I was stuck in the middle to call. I was against 8-9 and A-10, and of course, A-10 beats me. Doh. A few hands later I got pocket 5s, pushed all-in, and the guy who won that prior pot called me with A-K, and HE hits the King, bah. So I was out.

I decided to return to the cash tables and had a good run through them. I had A-Q one hand with a flop that had both A and Q. The player bet and I just called to see if I could trap them. Then the turn showed another A, so I had the best hand. I decide to check to see if the other player would bet, and he decided to push all-in, where I then called in less than a second. He had A-J, and it was just an unlucky time to hit trips. A good play that was not in favor of me was when I had A-J, raised to $10, where the other played re-raised 20 more, so I call. Flop is Q-10-10; checks around, turn is a K, so I have a straight, he checked and I check the straight. River is another Q, and he places a $50 bet out there. After thinking a while, I decide to call, bad timing, he had pocket Qs and hit quad Qs, ouch. I should of figured that player would trap me, I know he knows me and I know him, I’ve seen him play a lot when I would visit Atlantic City.

In the end, I was still up a few hundred, so it was not a total loss, till next time…

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.

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…