Who Isnpired You?

Hey everyone, I decided to make a little post about how we all got started in such a wonderful game. My question is who or what inspired you to give poker a try? Was it the best player in the world, Chris Moneymaker? Phil Ivey? Phil Hellmuth? Mr. Doyle Brunson?

I got started about a year ago mainly because of my friend who liked to watch it on T.V. One night I watched Daniel Negreanu call out his opponents cards and from then on I was hooked. I told myself, there is a lot of money to be made in this game, and I became interested in the game. It is not a full time job, just a hobby for now, freerolls and extremely low stakes for now.

so now it is your turn. How did you become interested in the exciting game of poker?

I wasn't inspired by a poker great - it has just always been a game I enjoyed. When I first started hearing about it online I played a few free sites - but it wasn't much fun. I thought it would be silly to use a credit card and pay to play online lol.

Then Paradise gave me $2 to play real money. Now that was much more fun and challenging. That was all it took. Out came the credit card and I have been playing regularly since then.

i have enjoyed cards most of my life..i was introduced to texas holdem in myrtle beach at a bail bond office,they were all playing online at pokerstars 3 years ago..

I think it was the "nobodys" during the first couple seasons of the WPT. Not so much Moneymaker, but the anonymos Joe Blow who came in 3rd or whatever.


Goldog

My Dad and his relatives and friends. When I was younger I watched at my Dad's and cousin's knees on how to play poker. And it was old school poker; 5 card draw and stud. I learned a lot there.

lol.

It wasn't any pros that inspired me, one of my friends taught me how to play and i been hooked ever since, with all the variations!

I started playing poker over my friends house once and awhile. Then I bought a deck and played some solitaire. I went online and was looking for other card games to play and started playing online. I also played some cards at work on lunch break (for no money).

I enjoyed it and had fun.

i think nobody inspired me. just started playing and was instantly drawn to the game.

How come I see, "Who Snipered You," when I read the title of this thread?

no wonder no one ever reads this...lol

how do i change it?

The 1st time I ever heard about poker was when I was about 8 years old (30 years ago) and my Dad showed me a set of poker dice. We used to play this a fair bit, pretty much based on 5-card draw if I'm not mistaken. Anyways about 3 years ago I was watching the Ladbrokes poker million on sky sports and to be honest I've been hooked ever since. I didn't deposit straight away, it was about a year after watching this that I summoned up the courage. Anyways the 1st poker characters that stood out for me was the Devilfish. I absolutely love his aura at the table. He is a complete character of the game (love home or loathe him). Another charcter of the game I was introduced to was Phil Hellmuth.... wow this guy is a complete ?*?*?*... but he's won umpteen WSOP bracelets. He's superb the way he vents.. I love it. Then there's Dan the Man and Greg raymer... both perfect gentleman, who all have really inspired me to take up the game.

i was inspired by the best poker player of all time my brother :P

Because hot women don't read well?

But it might be because the rest of us have dyslexia... like me

Just noticed I typed the rest of my comment in a SnG lol

It wasn't really the pros that inspired me to play poker. I've been really into poker in about early 2001-2002. I followed the pros before then and watched it on TV but just as merely entertainment. Yeah, I learned a lot about the game as I watched, but I never really thought about playing.

It was only until my uncle and a cousin of mine starting introducing it to my family. Whenever my family gets together, it usually constitutes some sort of competition or gambling. Not for any big bucks, but we play a whole wide array of games including the dreaded game of "In-Between" which we only bring out at New Year's, just because it's so ruthless sometimes.

Plus, my cousin really inspired me into online play back in 2003 as well as reading books more recently. When he told me of online play, I got so afraid of getting addicted to playing poker. I started out on PokerRoom where I learned a lot even though it was only for play money. Then one time during the summer (when I had more money), I made my first deposit just because the site would give me a 100% bonus. It wasn't much by any shape of the imagination - I'm a student!

I haven't gotten addicted, thankfully, since I've learned a lot and hope to learn a lot more of getting better. Hope that the game continues to thrive.
I merely look at the pros just to see the various ways that people play - but I've been taught not to believe or accept everything on TV since it's probably 10%..if that...of all the hands played.

hahahaha funny man funny man

I have noticed a lot of people say that a pro never really inspired them to play, but a lot of people say they started around the time moneymaker and varkonyi won the big one, the first real amateurs to win it, which really created that poker boom...maybe they can thank varkonyi and moneymaker but it isnt a direct influence on their decision to give poker a try...
thoughts?

I blame my brother, it's all his fault.

Most inspiring thing ever was at a live casino tourney we both played - he went out before me, but I heard him talking to some guy on the rail saying "Yeah, my brother's still in - he's a better player than me"

I was inspired by my friends. I was invited to a poker game at a friends house and lost. After a few months of losing I wanted to win so I learned the game. Now they don't invite me to the games anymore. But I do get asked what to do in a situation via text message now.

All of them, actually. All of them & the game itself. One day I started watching and just saw the magic and majesty of Poker develop both on the screen and in my head. There are some champions I prefer over others, obviously but I enjoy watching all of them.

for holdem and other poker it was my dad - all other card games my gran!

my dad taught me to play poker when i was about 5 ... and then years (more than i care to mention) later i was watching TV & late night poker happened to be on & i started watching it from time to time. things really took off for me when i started watching party poker regularly ... since then ive been addicted ... now im a full tilt regular and in recent months ive started to play a few live tourneys