Where did you learn to play?

[BarbP]

I learned by playing online at BetZip.net, reading and doing lots of reading, I now play offline as much as online. world poker tour has lots of free games in several US states. just search for world tavern poker and join for free.

 

[ztw30]

friends

learned to play with friends, started with the cheapies that suck at $5 tourny's. Then i moved up to the $20 buy in ring-game. Now i play solely online free-rolls and sometimes micro limits.

 

[kleonard]

Ive been playin poker for about 3 years and i basically just picked it up through playing a lot, and watching pros do their thing on tv

 

[earlglocke]

i learned on my own to start, played in a few home games, then read a book by schulman. i adjusted my game a bit and did well online at bodog then family and work obligations put a stop to that. i like bigger money games over freerolls and penny tables because i think people actually play poker when more money is involved.

 

[Kim1001]

I learned to play poker online. I started watching poker on tv also.

 

[clanta]

I learned play poker at pacific... there I lost the most of my money.... second place is noble... and third, cd...
Now I'm broke... and I'm trying to play some beautiful hands at bodog...)

 

[polko]

friends

I began just playing for free with friends. I think it's the best way to learn, because you can't lose any money playing for free-haha. I know a few people who try to learn playing online for money, but that's a risky way to learn since you can lose a bunch of money in the process.

 

[4Aces]

I learnt to play at school.

6 of my freinds would always bring £3 and play poker, winner takes all.
They told me the rules and i started playin.
Lost 3 days in a row.
Then won 2 days in a row.
Started playng online for play money done quite well.
Then made a $100 deposit to full tilt and made about $350 of that.

Ive never played in brick and mortar, but soon the uk are getting a few super casinos, i cant wait ill be there all the time!

 

[xCORDLESSx]

I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. We all learned when we were young playing on summer vacation. We called it set up the dummies, playing for anything from seashells, pretzels to pennies.
It was really brutal, the loser mostly having to clean up the kitchen by them self.
Ya learned to win from a early age, as we didn't have running water in the cabin. There was a hand pump outside, and a stove to heat the water.

 

[tav303]

I started playing 3 years back with my friends playing small 2 dollar tournements. now me and my same friends play up to 50 dollar tournements. of course we also play with other ppl too because it would get too boring playing with always the same ppl.

 

[Prolaznik]

A chat friend invited me to watch her on pokerstars (play money), I didn't even know the rules. I liked it and immediately downloaded the Sam Braid's book "Intelligent guide to Texas holdem". Read the book and started on play money tables...

 

[adycusmarlie]

I was raised playing. My family would always play at gatherings and stuff, that was never too competitive. Then in high school started holding events to take all my friends lunch money. now just mostly online. Always still learning tho.

 

[kronik22]

i learned when i was about 6 yrs old,playing with my family and since have improved playing in weekly tourneys at a friends and twice a month trips to A.C. i just love to play and do it all i can except when i m here.
gl all and see you at the tables.

 

[Girl Gamer]

I guess I learned watching TV. My dad was always big into poker and gambling but I wasn't really interested.

Then I started watching the wsop and WPT with him and loved it.

 

[TexasHoney]

I was in Tenn. a few years ago at my mother in laws. She and a few of her friends played a few nights a week and i would sit and watch as they played. I sat there sometimes for up to 16 hours watching and i learned alot. My mother in law is pretty good. Since then i have played online and around the area

 

[Baseballmom 17]

I got interested watching TV...the Moneymaker WSOP in particular. After that, I joined Party Poker and started playing in tourneys. I realized quickly that people playing for infinite play chips play stupid, so the tourneys were the way to go. I've recently moved to Full Tilt, since there are actual freerolls and the opportunity to win actual cash and seats into other tourneys. Makes things a lot more interesting. My hope is that I'll be able to deposit soon (yes, I'm an unlucky American resident) and start playing the little bitty cash tables.
If anyone has any advice, feel free to give it.

 

[sese]

ilearned to play online at pokerstars and then live with my son

 

[thwizzofoz]

I have played a little bit from the time I can remember. Although early on, I really didn't like Poker. I took a liking to it and got serious about learning to play at my parents house about 4 years ago.

Every New Years Eve, to welcome in the NY, the family gets together a 5-10-25cent game. Beginners luck the first year with a lot of good cards left me up about $8.00.

Nobody at the table gets hurt too bad keeping it at such low bids. I got serious about learning to play about 9 months ago when a friend turned me onto the freerolls at Bodog. So I guess in total poker playing time, I'm a real noob. But, I come from a strong math background, with a passion for statistics, which helps.

 

[list]

tv for me too !!

late night poker on ch4

 

[andres_arg]

TV! i have started to play in 2004, when ESPN had started to make poker broadcasts.

 

[baloney]

I learned to play through freerolls, ebooks, paperback strategy books, magazine articles, live tournaments and sitting at my card table nightly with my little brother. Who I own everytime we play incidentally.

 

[twr5769]

I learned the hard way at pacific poker. Lower limit cash games. I didnt even know hand rankings and kept getting str8s and flushes mixed as to thier rankings. I played allmost every hand to see the flop, if it hit something i held the hand, lol. I used to play in thier casino and when they opened the poker room i went there instead. I still dont see why a flush out ranks a str8 though, seems flushes are so much easier to hit and make.

 

[Firstgames]

I started playing playchips on Party june 2006

 

[-1crunch1-]

I learned to play online with a little backseat driving from my son. Never played live so all the comments on the difference i dont get. I have only played at full tilt. Any recommendations on better sites to play at? I do like ftp but i hear lots of comments its not, but they are usually from a person that is mad the way the cards fell. So i take it with a grain of salt.

 

[PhatBluntz420]

After watching the 2003 WSOP on ESPN, I saw an ad for UltimateBet.com, Started there by playing with play money in the ring ("cash") games for couple of months. Lost interest after a while, still not knowing how to play except for the tidbits of advice that pop up on the screen during WPT events, and just listening to the announcers on Poker TV shows in general. Then a friend of mine told me about ESPN Poker Club, a free site (it's hidden away under the 'Fantasy Games' tab on espn.com) There they have 10 person Single Table Tournaments, 150 player Multi-Table Tournaments, a Daily Big Play (up to 1500 players) all which earn you points to get into a Sunday Qualifier. They have 7 week promotions, you qualify for the Final Tournament of the Promo by placing in the Top 25 of one of the three SQ's each week. The play is really good for a free site. The only live experience I have is at the local sports bar, where there are aprrox 50 players each week, no buy-in (illegal in PA) top prize of $50, start with 1500 chips, blinds 25/50, they double every 20 mins. Reading Dan Harrington's books Harrington on Hold Em Vol.1 & 2 really helps if all you see are Final Tables on TV.

Where I leaned to play: ESPN.com - Welcome To The ESPN Poker Club

PhatBluntz420 (same at ESPN Poker Club)