Hello once again For quite a long time I've been interested in gambling and looked for some blogs to read but didn't dare to start playing myself. Then once my cousin won a good deal of money I thought "Why not?" I played various online games and it took time before I won for the first time, but I won! I can't say that I play a lot, but from time to time I do. Frankly speaking, I'm bad at poker, but I really want to learn to play it. And I'm also interested in writing about gambling. Yes, I'm a bit on the other side, but still in gambling. And what about you? Why did you start playing?

initially because i wanted to chase the ultimate poker dream, but nowadays its more about competition for more. The $ is just a way to keep track of my "game score".

to make the most +EV play in every hand.

I like strategy games. I like them even more if I get paid to play them.
My story is that I played Zynga poker for fun and when I realized it was possible to do it for real money, I made the jump. The gambling aspect did not attract me at all, as I avoid roulette, blackjack and slots.

Because late night poker looked cool

Played a little low stakes poker before " The Boom"! Mostly I was a regular Hearts and Euchere player. Poker took me over with the WPT and WSOP on TV. Now only poker interests me enough.

Love skill games and more specifically card games. Used to play home games a lot with friends and would win a bit and decided to deposit a few dollars online.

I started real late in life, never had any interest in card game gambling or computer game, no interest whatsoever, oh and I despise math too lol

Was taught too play by a young kid I looked after, he was 14 and played on Full Tilt play money and with his family and pals, he was slightly autistic and at first I honestly thought I was just humouring him playing along with him, he would sit and try too teach me with a deck of cards and chips and also on computer, after a while our boss decided to play with him so a few of us sat down and boss explained rules etc and off we went , this kid ruined my boss long after the rest of us lost interest, but the game became a weekly thing

sick of loosing I started too look on the net for more information and found out a lot more about the game and its levels, also read a couple of basic books, even set up accounts on to sites and quickly lost everything lmao, not seeing wood for trees

For some strange reason this game has stuck with me and my interest has grown, the last year Ive played more than ever, had a couple of small good runs then always back too reality doh, however the seed is planted and I am playing more to a plan now trying to improve, reading up a little more seriously and watching vids n web, even joining up here, my desire to learn gets stronger the longer I play, when I get it wrong I now look for the reasons why or try too lol

Its mad cause its totally against my nature in all respects, but I simply cannot walk away from it lol I'm even considering enrolling on a maths course to improve my understanding of that element of the game, poker is like facing all my failings in life and a chance to try to overcome them for me lol I'm not patient, I'm not good at math, I dislike studying but this game draws me too it and I must learn to over come myself too improve

I broke my knee playing rugby and was stuck in bed unable to do anything competitive, turned to poker and played tens of thousands of hands of 2nl, never thought about moving up or really improving, just enjoyed playing and winning. I wish I'd put more into those months spent immobile as I might be a better player now...

im a big fun of strategy games if there is any game out there that involves strategy i probably have played it

i also believe that the most important think in life is money

poker is a game that combines those 2 so for me it looked like a natural jump

wanted to play a skill game other than chess.

Got frustrated that you could play for 3 hours and make a stupid mistake and lose the game.

I thought at the time poker was different - you screw up and play the next hand.

What I hadn't realised is its not so much different - you play a session well and a moment of madness still means you lose the game for the night.

Anyway - its done a lot for my chess - only lost one competitive game in 3 years now, and got my highest ever rating.

arty you still play fulltime? what stakes?

My girlfriend (now wife) told me to. Lol.

Joking aside... she knew a guy back in the early 2000s glory days who played online. He had bought a house for his mum with online poker winnings.

She recognised the same personality traits/tendendcies in me as he had and told me his story. I was on holiday for 2 weeks over christmas and had some free time... how could I resist giving it a shot?

I quickly discovered that the dream of making easy $$ on online poker was long past (!£$%*%! if only I'd paid attention to the game back in 2003 when I worked for a popular UK bookmaker).

And yet despite that, I couldn't seem to put the game down. My wife was definitely right that the mechanics of the game are a good fit for my personality. Nowadays I hold on to the dream of making enough part time to buy my daughter an awesome xmas present each year, or go on a family holiday, rather than living off poker entirely.

I've never been a full time player or a pro. I'm a recreational player that prefers learning the theory rather more than putting it into practice. I don't have the grinder mentality, so I've never bothered to build a roll for anything bigger than micros. To me, it's just a game I play in my spare time.

I play because of fun and I feel relaxed.

Saw it on tv and thought it was a much cooler version of chess, except the fact that you don't need to be insanely smart/gifted to be profitable.

rounders, duh

Trying to build up a roll and make a living. Gave up after the Amaya increase of effective rake. I still play occasionally for fun though.

I thought it could be a way to earn extra income. I rapidly realised how difficult that is when I started playing but I fell in love with the game so kept at it. Learning and playing poker is a journey. There will be highs and lows but if you give up you won't ever reach your destination.

So many answers from you! Thank you very much!

The answer is what my psychologist is trying to figure out.

Don't know why I started other than it was something that interested me. I keep playing because I find it challenging and I enjoy myself.

I watched my husband (then boyfriend) play once and was hooked. I love games and am very competitive. Plus, my two A+ grades in college were logic and statistics

He gave me $200, which I lost in about 30 minutes at a low-stake limit hold 'em game, but that's all it took. I started studying and playing online and have been playing live for about 10 years.

I started playing mainly for the competition. I always played card games growing up and used to play 5 card draw for pennies with my grandmother when I was about 10 or 11. When I realized I could make money playing poker I knew thats what I wanted to do.

I had the idea in the back of my mind that playing cards for money (in a beatable game) would be fun and exciting. About 10 years ago I saw a discount book about playing poker for money, bought it, read it and then started playing online.

Wanted to get good. Then I wanted my 4k back.