Personally I started playing Poker for points on a games site, no money involved, so nothing really at risk, but when I heard of Pokerstars and how you could play for Free! I thought I would try them out, That was around twenty years ago, I built up a small bankroll of around $50 Dollars and really got stuck, not moving one way or another, so I tried a few more sites and fell in love with PKR.com and the software they used.
Again I built a small bankroll of around $150 Dollars and thought "Hey can I do this again?" so I tried a few more sites, and sure enough I did, I managed to build small bankrolls from Free-roll games an several sites, some were suspended like "Full Tilt" came under investigation over money laundering claims, and PKR actually went broke and into the
hands of the administrators. so I started to withdraw my winnings from some of the site's that I had a decent Bankroll with and had stopped playing with.
Eventually I returned to Pokerstars and over the last two years, with the help of them refunding my money from the PKR site I have increased my bankroll to over $570 Dollars.
I rarely played On-line and only ever played for fun, and the practice it gave me, so that I could play Live games in Pubs, Clubs, and
casinos for
real money buy-in games, but with the Pandemic shutting me down, I was forced to return to On-line games.
I returned to on-line Poker and my Pokerstars account as that was the only way I could get my "Poker Fix" and yes! I will admit I am addicted to playing Poker, it is a game that you really have to concentrate on, and it keeps the old grey matter working.
At 66, I feel I am too old to win a World series, or any other huge title but I can still enjoy a game I get great pleasure from. some like Fishing or Golf, for me Poker is my passion, and although I win a little money from the game, it is the pure pleasure of playing that drives me.
My advice to anyone wanting to start playing Poker would be Join Cardschat, find a site that you are able to play free-rolls on, and go from there, if you are any good the money will come, if you are not so good then you are not losing anything, only your time.
Poker is not a game I want to make a living from, I have worked hard over the last 50 years and provided for my family, and built up a decent pension for my retirement, now I just want to spend my days playing a game I enjoy, for the fun it gives me.
When the fun Stops, STOP!