How did you start playing poker?

[USCTrojans]

I am curious guys, how did you all get hooked up on poker?

[NeverWinHere]

My family got me into it.
I have 7 brothers and sisters, and we ALL play including my parents, so that's how I got into poker!

[USCTrojans]

I remember my grandma inviting her 7 friends home to play some weird poker variant LOL

We can say she got me into it, she loved it too

[liljp000]

alot of my friends play ever thursday and i started learning how to play..

[USCTrojans]

alot of my friends play ever thursday and i started learning how to play..

Cool, I was also a part of a long friday game every week for a year it was cool and learned a lot from good players

[ferrengi]

I am curious guys, how did you all get hooked up on poker?

I had been playing various forms of poker on and off for many years. Mainly with family.
Then it about 2001 or 2002 I started playing for play money on pokerroom.com
I was killing the play money tables but I didn't want to deposit my own money.

Then in 2005 I started looking for freerolls and no deposit bonuses. That's when I found out about this site. I won money in a few freerolls and I got an awesome $75 no deposit bonus on party poker (from this site, thanks NDN!) and that's how I started playing for real money online.

It still amazes me how much time I've spent on online poker since 2005. Sometimes, I get depressed thinking how many useful things I could've spent that time on instead of poker.

I'm taking a little break right now because I think I've been playing too much since my big win at HORSE on pokerstars.

Who could've imagined that I'd be playing (let alone coming in 2nd) in a big $215 HORSE tournament when I had never even heard of most of Omaha, Razz and Stud H/L in 2005?
It's a little mind boggling when I think about it!
(See big poker wins thread for details).

I believe it causes me to get a bit too overconfident when my luck is running well and I'm playing well.

I used to think that a $20 buyin was a lot of money for an online player and I didn't understand why anyone who was not a professional would be willing to play $50, $100 and $200 buyins when they can play the same games for $1 to $5 and risk a lot less money.

Now I get it. For most people, once you get your first big score, you think you're the greatest and you're not willing to play a low buyin where you can win say a couple of hundred dollars for first place if you already hit your first 4 figure score. It seems that the excitement just isn't there unless you can win at least as much as you did the last time you placed in the top 3 of an MTT.

Oh well...
I'm sure I have a lot to learn about balancing my hobbies and particularly poker with the rest of my life.

[USCTrojans]

Hey very nice story about how you got hooked up on this amzing bhut cruel game LOL

Thanks mate,

USC

[twenty47]

I always played poker.... in my younger years it was usually for drinks lol at a party.... but my other half introduced me to online poker and texas holdem a few years ago..... I used to always just play 5 card

[USCTrojans]

I always played poker.... in my younger years it was usually for drinks lol at a party.... but my other half introduced me to online poker and texas holdem a few years ago..... I used to always just play 5 card

5 card was indeed one of the most popular home game variants

[67christine]

A really good friend of mine got me started on poker. I never really played the game before except for strip poker with an ex and I do not have to tell you he always won. LOL

[eejit101]

Mine was rounders. love that film.

Ferrenghi - what tourney did u come 2nd in? Big cash??

Im gonna download rounders now actually

[herlis]

i just learned the game online by myself was curious why so many wants to play poker and i started playing at yahoo.

[bkniefel]

I played roulette before I started playing poker lol. But I started after gaining interest from seeing the poker room in the casino's. My first real money was obviously a home game but I really got into it by playing online and loosing my *** for a month or two, not knowing what I was doing. I have fallen in love with live cards and play whenever I can.

[herlis]

I played roulette before I started playing poker lol. But I started after gaining interest from seeing the poker room in the casino's. My first real money was obviously a home game but I really got into it by playing online and loosing my *** for a month or two, not knowing what I was doing. I have fallen in love with live cards and play whenever I can.

im no different from you when i started playing losses left and right all the free money that the poker site is giving never lasted a day for me until i started to put my own money. now that i somewhat know the game , i realize now that i only wasted the free monies that the poker sites gives you when you open an account , for me i think when you get free monies like that you should not take it for granted and try to win if you can and not try to learn from the free money cause when you start to deposit and everytime you make a deposit it really hurts.

i have yet to try to play real live poker though i have once watched a live poker game in the casino but only for a few minutes but i will play a live poker game soon.

[NeverWinHere]

im no different from you when i started playing losses left and right all the free money that the poker site is giving never lasted a day for me until i started to put my own money. now that i somewhat know the game , i realize now that i only wasted the free monies that the poker sites gives you when you open an account , for me i think when you get free monies like that you should not take it for granted and try to win if you can and not try to learn from the free money cause when you start to deposit and everytime you make a deposit it really hurts.

i have yet to try to play real live poker though i have once watched a live poker game in the casino but only for a few minutes but i will play a live poker game soon.

Live poker is the best! Very, very fun!

[ScareCrowAKA]

I have always been into casinos. Since I saw the original Oceans Eleven. I loved Casino movies as a kid. When I turned 21 I couldnt wait to go. Of corse I lost everything that night. The first year I was down 2,500$, 2nd year 1K, 3rd year 900$. I stop going for about 3 yrs. Just started again 6 months ago. In those 6 months I am up 300$ on the floor. 3 mos ago I went with my buddy who is real into poker. He got me to play a small rebuy tourny with him. I won over 1k. My first tourny. I have played in 6 others since then and cashed in half of them... I wish I would have found this game a few years ago.

[knowledge]

my family is card players. folks own a bridge club and always have had card partys. I played from birth

[Dallas12]

Well what got me into poker was when i was about 10 years old i use to see my parents play poker. So one day i asked if i could learn to play the game and my father said ok so he taught me how to play the game. So I played with my friends alot till I went into the navy. When I was in england a friend told me about a poker tourney this bar was having so I entered the tourney. I won the tourney now this was my first live tourney I played in. And since then i have been playing poker tourneys when ever i get a change. The last tourny i was in was at the Bogata last year I came in second in that one. As of now i have played in about 25 tourneys and i have placed in the money 16 times. I will be playing pker till the day i die. Hopefully while i am playing. lol

[tomas225]

I had playing five cards poker , sens i was a little boy my father and mom brother and sister when we was on vacation we took alwasy a little parti of poker we played for cents.. and i one almost every time then i groved older the holdem poker would be a sucses in sweden then i was hooked on like every one else we played in school for money and so on then i checked after a while on internet and saw great no deposit bonus and then i was hooked on this game i am just 21 just now so i have play for real money in 3 years now my biggest win where lik 1500 bucks .

[taylovesthebeatles]

A few years ago my grandparents got me one of those 5 card draw poker handheld games, and I kind of learned from there. The rest of what I know is from my fiance. He's a pretty good teacher, I just don't use some of the same strategies that he does sometimes. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it isn't.

[tomas225]

i think mostly it is the family some give you ideas

[tomas225]

Or Now it is tv and internet and all advirtsment ..
We seem it all every where play this and play that same whit lott of stuff.

[Edshez]

my dad got me into poker... letting me play on his account on paradise when i was just 15 and once i turned 18 i deposited and started my own accounts... oh if only id never been shown im sure id be rich now

[GloBug]

well it started out at my home games that i had but as for online poker i just tried it and made some easy money and then i was hooked. easy money is always a good reason start anything.

[iwazaru]

i started playing with "free money" on different sites when my classm8s asked me to join em, since then its developed to something i would like to do more often but didnt have the time / money for it.

so when a friend told me to join here i finaly could try it out for real

thx alot!

peace out