why do you play?

This is my first post on this site, and i really dont feel like wasting the time on the introductions page so ill start my first thread by starting out with why i started playing poker in the first place. i grew up in wyoming and grew up with the "cowboy" mentality, not the cattle herders particularly but i always looked up to the outlaws of the west of the past with favor for their syle when i was younger and so picked up the outlaws game, poker. The older i got the more i played and the more popular texas holdem was becoming soon to the point that i was playing nearly every day. I joined the army and with that came many opportunities to play people from all over the country and when i turned 18 i started playing online. Enough about myself though, i started this thread to see why everyone else plays and why they love it, i do it because its a good way to supplement my income, is deeply rooted in western history, and is a good way to hit on the ladies!