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.

great story and a very detailed one

are you still in bowling because our family is very much in bowling and my nephew is in Philippine Team, he represented Team Philippines in 2 consecutive years 2018 and 2019.

i got hooked in poker because of facebook zynga poker maybe 10 years ago

Hello.
I started playing poker about three years ago. My coworker often played poker, and I became interested. And although I have been playing for about three years, I discover new aspects of this wonderful game every day.

Hi, I came to poker not too long ago. My best friend introduced me to poker. I was not interested in poker, and indeed I did not even understand the basics of poker. And somehow I didn't want to play it. But then I decided that it was worth playing, suddenly I like it, and I liked it. Now I am very successful in poker. Thanks to my friend.

I spent every Saturday afternoon playing various card games with my great grandma for many years till she passed away then one night poker came on tv and that was it i was hooked

Originally Posted by marvinsytan

great story and a very detailed one

are you still in bowling because our family is very much in bowling and my nephew is in Philippine Team, he represented Team Philippines in 2 consecutive years 2018 and 2019.

i got hooked in poker because of facebook zynga poker maybe 10 years ago

Unfortunately I haven’t bowled in a very long time, but I’d love to pick it up again sometime. Now work and poker take up most of my time.

I was 17 and after school. I used to go out and have a good time with my friends. one day when we were all gathered in a bar restaurant. they started to play poker. I fell in love with this game from day one. I didn't understand much about this game but I won every time thanks to the luck of the beginner. after having finished my studies and for lack of time. I stopped playing until the day I joined cards chat. It was really only from then that I started to improve my game and progress in poker.

I got interested in poker as a way to earn extra money. Since our salary ranges from 150 to 600 dollars. Basically it's 250. Then I play in cheap tournaments and more in freerolls.

The poker site was offering free money so I thought free money? why not and I fell in love with poker from that moment

For me it was in 2016.. my father and brother use to play together and one day i became interested .
Than i started to play With them and today i play online!

It was 2009, i was 13 years old at the time, no sports on tv but the WSOP on ESPN.
Two hours later I was playing at the Pokerstars.

Originally Posted by DeuceParade

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.

Hello! Curiosity brought me to poker, I played backgammon, but I changed my place of residence and did not find good opponents in the new place, then I tried to play poker and I was carried away by this game. I have a question for you: "Do you write books?" Regards Sergey

Originally Posted by Sergei 9417

Hello! Curiosity brought me to poker, I played backgammon, but I changed my place of residence and did not find good opponents in the new place, then I tried to play poker and I was carried away by this game. I have a question for you: "Do you write books?" Regards Sergey

I don't but I have for many years considered writing a book about my casino industry experiences and what really goes on behind the scenes. Perhaps some day I'll finish it!

I've been playing for about 20 years. I started with blackjack. Then i started playing computer casino games. But there were very weak programs and an uninteresting game ))
When the internet came along, i started playing online poker and have been playing for almost 16 years.

I used to play with my uncles as a kid, 5 or 7 card draw or stud. My best friend and I used to play a lot of 5 card draw in middle school. I didn't play much through high school or college. At about 22 I was invited to a Holde'm game. I had never played it. I was a natural. I could see the out and quickly figured out how to calculate pot odds. I picked up a few books and started taking down tournaments. It's been fun.

I was 18 years when I first heard about poker. I was watching TV and espn was showing an event of wsop. And I thought it was very interesting game and they have all that money on the table..lol
After the tournament was over, I searched about online poker and started to play in those free sites and after some weeks I found it out that you could play for real money and I'm here since then

TV craze had my son hooked. He loved watching all the footage. From that a cheap poker set and a kitchen table. Messed around on-line and made a deposit. From there, it went to spending way to much time playing in last 20 years.

For me it was the online poker boom after moneymaker but before black friday. There were ads about poker everywhere on tv and internet, everything was completely unregulated and there were a ton of sites offering freerolls. That made me think that poker is easy way to win big money. Of course i soon realized that this is not the case but at least the initial spark was this.

I got into poker watching high stakes poker on TV. I loved the commentary and the skills used in the game which got me intreaged.

A home game with my friends i won and was hooked right away

Most likely it was just the excitement of having a poker skill, so it brought me to the poker table