D
DeuceParade
Enthusiast
Silver Level
For me, it was in 1997. I was 20 years old, and I was a very good bowler at the time. I was stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Airforce Base in Whidbey Island, WA. I was with some buddies down at the bowling alley on a Monday night, and as we were up at the front counter getting ready to leave, I saw a door back behind the counter cracked open. It was dimly lit and I could see a hazy blue reflection off of the table in the room. I heard laughing and as I shifted my head and eyes to see what I could through the crack in the door, I spotted several middle aged men around a table. I was intrigued and I asked the person behind the counter "What are they doing back there?" and he just brushed me off. I kept asking, and finally insisting he tell me. I had to know. It looked seedy, and I loved it. I had to know what they were doing. Finally he pulled me off to the side and said "It's a poker game. 3/6 limit Texas Holdem.You want in?"
My head just about exploded. I'd seen it in the movies or TV shows before, but now it was right in front of me. "Can I have a look?" I asked, and he nodded and walked me in. He introduced me and I was instantly in love. The sound of the cards shuffling, the sounds of a big pot being pushed, and the towers of chips in front of each player. I knew in that instant - and I hadn't played a hand of poker in my life yet - that poker was going to be a massive part of the rest of my life.
Fast forward 23 years later, and I've been in the poker industry ever since. I've been a full-time poker professional in Las Vegas for several years, and also a poker dealer and floorman for several years. I still play poker every day of my life, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the first time I stepped foot in that seedy back-alley poker game. Like a great wife that you still can't get enough of after all those years, I am still madly in love with the game.
My head just about exploded. I'd seen it in the movies or TV shows before, but now it was right in front of me. "Can I have a look?" I asked, and he nodded and walked me in. He introduced me and I was instantly in love. The sound of the cards shuffling, the sounds of a big pot being pushed, and the towers of chips in front of each player. I knew in that instant - and I hadn't played a hand of poker in my life yet - that poker was going to be a massive part of the rest of my life.
Fast forward 23 years later, and I've been in the poker industry ever since. I've been a full-time poker professional in Las Vegas for several years, and also a poker dealer and floorman for several years. I still play poker every day of my life, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the first time I stepped foot in that seedy back-alley poker game. Like a great wife that you still can't get enough of after all those years, I am still madly in love with the game.