Shawn Marion loves reinventing himself. After hearing for years that he wasn’t happy as a third wheel, couldn’t stand the attention Amar’e Stoudemire and Steve Nash used to get, Marion lost his athleticism (according to many fans, the ONLY reason he was any good), and then ended up winning a title as a hard-nosed, defensive role player who had very few offensive opportunities.

Round 1 (Overall Score: 35.0): First Dunk: 0:13 Second Dunk: 0:30 Third Dunk: 0:45 February 8, 1997 - Cleveland Cavaliers hometown favorite Bob Sura finished. Jun 24, 2011 Where Are They Now: Bobby Sura Is A Poker Player uproxx June 24, 2011 Although he’s no Kyrie Irving, Bobby Sura was drafted 17th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1995 NBA Draft. Last month, we introduced you to the new Bob Sura, not the NBA-playing version, but the poker player. Perhaps Marion and Sura will meet down the line in a high-stakes game.

Finally he has a ring. But the Matrix isn’t done collecting jewelry. He’s a poker player, and might take up doing it full-time when he’s done playing.

Where Are They Now: Bobby Sura Is A Poker Player uproxx June 24, 2011 Although he’s no Kyrie Irving, Bobby Sura was drafted 17th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Bobby Sura was an NBA star in the 90s/00s. He is now very active in the high stakes poker scene. My favorite Bobby Sura fact was that he is one of the only players to have a Triple-Double disallowed.

The Las Vegas Sun writes:

Marion, the former UNLV basketball player who recently won an NBA championship ring with the Dallas Mavericks, would next like to get his hands on a World Series of Poker bracelet. Marion thinks he’s capable of becoming the first man with both an NBA and WSOP championship.

“That would be nice,” Marion said Tuesday while competing in a $1,500 no-limit hold’ em tournament at the Rio. “That would be sweet. If I could get some cards and some double-ups here and there, anything is possible.”

Looks like Marion will have to wait at least one more year before that’s possible. Marion busted near the end of the first day in the no-limit tournament when he ran his suited Ace-4 into pocket Kings.

Marion finished around 800th out of the 3,389 players who signed up for the tournament. That was well short of the money, as players had to make the top 342 to receive a payout.

“Tournaments are hard to play,” Marion said. “I’m a cash game type of guy. You have to be patient, wait for cards and sometimes you wait for so long, you get antsy.”

Marion had originally planned to participate in next week’s Main Event for the second straight summer, but alas wasn’t able to fit it in. Last month, we introduced you to the new Bob Sura, not the NBA-playing version, but the poker player. Perhaps Marion and Sura will meet down the line in a high-stakes game.

What do you think? Which NBA player would make the best poker player?

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Bob Sura Poker Stars

This isn't the first time former NBA player Bob Sura has competed in the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event but it is his deepest run so far.

Sura told PokerListings it's been a few years since he played this event last but that his friends talked him into entering.

“It's good to be in Day 3 with a bit of chips,” said Sura. “I've played it five or six times.”

Sura entered Day 3 with 107,000, not far behind the average and still plenty of chips to work with compared to the size of the blinds at this point in the tournament.

Day 3 is money day in the Main Event and will likely wrap up when the field is cut down to the 1,084 who get paid.

Bob Sura is hoping he'll be among them. He has a tough road ahead, however, with two very strong players on his table.

“I never made it past Day 2 so this is my best result after five or six attempts. It's already been fun to make it this deep and I've really enjoyed the process.”

Sura started the day sitting across the table from Kathy Liebert, a WSOP bracelet winner who finished 17^th in the Main Event in both 1998 and 2000.

Shortly after, former WSOP Main Event champion and living poker legend Scotty Nguyen joined the table. Nguyen filled a seat that became vacant thanks to Sura busting its original occupant.

Sura opened two consecutive hands during the first orbit of play. The first won him the blinds and antes but during the second he ran into some opposition.

Sura opened to 4,400 with blinds at 1k/2k and Liebert flat-called in position. The player in the big blind moved all-in for about 21k and after a bit of thought Sura re-raised to 50,000.

Bob Sura Girlfriend Jennifer Schafer

Liebert let it go and Sura tabled A♦7♦ which was out in front of the all-in player's K♦Q♣. Sura flopped an ace and it held up to take his stack up to around 135,000.

Sura Likes High-Stakes Cash and Tourneys

Sura said he picked up poker in 2005 when he retired from the NBA due to injuries but it was only in the last few years that he really started working on his game.

“I normally like to play high-stakes cash as well as tournaments. I play in Houston and LA and some of the big games here in Vegas,” said Sura.

“In the last few years I've started working more on my game, got some coaching and gotten a lot better so I actually enjoy playing a lot more now.”

Sura also said he's become friends with lots of poker pros including Antonio Esfandiari and Tom Marchese.

Bob Sura Poker

“I get some tips from them and take everything they say to heart and try to apply it,” he said.

Bobby Sura Poker

According to Sura poker was getting big in the NBA right around the time he retired. 2005 was right in the middle of the poker boom and Sura said it caught on among ball players fast. He said it's a perfect game to have fun and kill time on plane rides and in hotel rooms when teams are on the road.

Basket avec roulette fille. We are going to run you through the 5 Number Bet, also known as the Basket Bet, which is a bet you should avoid playing. You can only play this bet on American tables (on a Double Zero Roulette wheel), as it involves making a bet on both the zero pockets, and the number 1, the number 2 & 3, all with one chip (see below on how to place your chip).

With the NBA Summer League playing in Vegas right now, Sura said he's running into tons of people from his days as a pro ball player.

“I haven't watched too many games but I'm running into lots of old teammates, friends and coaches all over the place down here,” he said.

“The athletes are crazy in today's NBA. When I watch it now I wonder how I was ever able to compete with that. Who knows where it's going to be in five or ten years from now.”