What turned you on?

I remember the first time I played poker was in High School and I completely bluffed my way to winning 100 bucks at some kegger. That's when I got turned on to poker. I'm just curious about other people's experiences.

i was 9 years old when i started playing.it was a christmas party.my cousions were playing n asked me 2 play.i had 2 dollars n turned it into 5.lol what a good time.i know 5 dollars dont sound like much but it was 1972 n 5 dollors was worth a lot more than.good luck with the game..

Always would sit and watch my parents, grandparents and uncles play and also my sister and i would take our change and play against my dad and his friend when we were little, so I grew up with the love of the game.

Nvm I thought this thread was about something else.

i got turned onto poker at an early age watchin the grandparents play. soon my grandma taught me how to play her favorite game called 31 and as far back as i can remember i think thats how i learned to count

Like alot of people. Watched this Moneymaker guy at the WSOP take home the bracelette. Started reading and studying and then took my first trip to Atlantic City and played 2/4 Limit. Came home and downloaded online poker to my computer and have been at it ever since.

The competition aspect of the game. With a sports background growing up I liked winning. On top of that poker brings a pretty good rush and I really like a thinking mans game. All those factors pretty much turned me onto the game.

Back in HS nothing topped going to a party, getting a lil drunk, and start coinflipping multiple HU hands for $1, $5, $10 whatever. Always enjoyed doing that.

A few years back I used to find myself watching the poker on English tv usally late at night and enjoyed it. When I eventually got on the net read about freerolls and downloaded T6 poker (6 max site) played free rolls there alot had no idea about the game at all though and still managed to start a small roll going.

Cue a year or so later and I decide to type the words poker forum into google and find this place which leads to playing at stars. Still have little idea how to play

Me tooo

The 1st thing I thought of was finding playboys when I was 11.

We had some family games when I was a kid and really liked it, but I never stayed with it. I was up late one night and couldn't sleep. There was nothing on tv so I was "stuck" watching poker. At the time I thought it would be on par with watching golf, or paint dry. But 4 hours later I was hooked and haven't looked back

I think i was more pumped by winning first place (and $7 OMG) in a >500 person freeroll than ever since. I really enjoyed learning to play, and i quite enjoyed my first month of actual poker playing micro sngs. Idk, pretty sad but winning $25 in a $5 sng was more exciting than winning an $800 pot is now. Was the same back in the day when i played some computer games...i loved it when the game was new/novel and trying out new strategies, etc.

A friend of mine was trying to get points on the NLOP site and if she got a friend to sign up, she would get X amount of points. I joined and found that I really liked it. I started studying and began to have hopes of someday turning professional. Now it seems like a bit of a pipe dream, but if I can get my head back into the game, who knows how far I can go.

Poker goes way back in my family,
I grew up around it all the time in my basement,with my dads home games.
My grandma was a poker player as well.
We learned at a young age to play rummy and gun and games like that.

Yeah for me it wasn't necessarily moneymake winning it, it was more of ESPN doing a great job advertising the WSOP, and I happened to enjoy watching poker on ESPN. I was in high school and I couldn't wait until Tuesday came along for a new WSOP episode. It was great listening to Lon and Norman constantly make bizarre jokes. Shortly after ESPN aired the WSOP series with moneymaker, kids at my high school started getting interested in poker, and I happen to win the first tourny I played in at a friends house, and have been playing poker ever since.

Figures you two would mistake this for something else.

Huh??? wtf - this thread is about poker??

All is not lost. I started with an invite to a 'strip poker' game where 2 of the hottest slutties in school were going to be playing. Trying to get a crash course, the 'guys' also decided if we couldn't win any other way - cheating was OK.

At their ages, these 2 hotties had the finest undies ever seen by most of us. The rest is ... UMmmm ... history, ... best left untold.

It wasn't til a few days later that I learned 'poker' could be played for cash as well. Won some lunch money, lost some lunch money, but still preferred the 'high stakes apparel' game ...

I got started from watching season 1 of the WPT, now its just home games and critiquing my dad's online play

Oh c'mon you did too, I know that because you never did post a response to the op.
just a comment on ours

Cool. It's the perfect date for me to run across this question.

I never "got into" or "turned on by" poker. Can't even say I decided to play poker. It's just part of who I am and how I was raised. Poker is basically the common language in my family and has been a source of income during hard times in my family for generations.

Gramps always told me that part of becoming a man was being able to hold my own at a table against him because when I could do that, I could support my family no matter how hard times got.

Don't know how old I was when I started playing, but I know I hadn't started pre-school yet because my grandmother was quite vocal on that particular point.

Most of my good family memories involve poker in some way now that I think about it, and the same seems to hold true for my mother. (She's a very dangerous live-game player by any measure)

So I didn't start playing poker out of any intellectual interest in the game itself, not out of greed or necessity, or even because once in a while it gives me enough of an adrenaline reaction to feel alive for a moment. Those are just a few of the bonuses I discovered along the way that keep me coming back.

my friend was 16 years old, underage(obviously), and made over 20 thousand dollars in one summer. pretty much sealed the deal for me back in freshman year

+1

The disappointment is to much to take.

I started playing when I was 4 or 5. My grandparents and my aunt taught me. We played 7 card stud, 5 card draw, and a couple wild card games. We bought in for $5 and usually if I lost money they gave it back to me at the end but wouldn't tell me so I would take it seriously. I played with them for years and stumbled on hold em a couple years ago. I am now seriously hooked.

ive always liked to gamble... and poker seemed a good game and fun to play with and hang out with friends

me and my buddy hustled a kid for like $150 in grade 9 and split it between us. (whoever had already folded would look at both hands still in, then give the signal. he never caught on)

this was when i realized poker was amazing

I was in high school when my elder brother taught me about poker. He told me how interesting it is and I got to try it. Didn't think twice, I love it.

I first played on internet, i saw a commercial from Everest Poker on

television and started to from this pont.

honestly i got started playing poker when my kids asked me about it an since then we all get together every sunday and play poker. for candy, pennies or someother small object that we just happen to have alot of.

Just was bored one night and watched on ESPN and was like, damn If these clowns can win this much money so can I.

Poofy's avatar, rowrrrrr!

Dutiful CC FYP

I always had a friend of mine that played for a living, he was not great or a pro, but he grinded the 100nl tables to pay his rent, and poker was all he ever talked about, finally he invited me to a home game, and while I didn't play (thankfully) I did bet on sports a lot so to me it seems a perfect fit. Sparked my interest and a few bankrolls later here I am.

That was about 5-6mos ago or so I would say.

All night College Poker games with friends, that continued years after we all graduated....well before the days of MoneyMaker and much of any poker on TV (well ESPN did have the early days of WSOP broadcast <when events had a reasonable amount of entries>, but I dont think I ever saw the real early versions)

Knee high leather boots, garter belts, hand cuffs.

yes I read the OP but meh...