Gambling: Where did you start/How did you progress?

Another thread got me to thinking...where did we start gambling and how have you progressed?
Personally for me, I started when I turned 18, only because of the "thrill" of it (similar to that of drinking alcohol at age 21)
(In California, some Indian Casino's allow 18+)
Like I said in the other post, I actually started out playing video keno (Multicard Keno, or "Way-Keno")
I quickly learned that there were better games than that
I progressed into basic strategy and card counting @ Blackjack (spreading very small, 1-4)
I actually played BJ for a few years (at least from 19-23)
After BJ, I got into PaiGow Poker, only because it seemed like a less volatile game and more of a slow grind time-waster...
I think I played PaiGow Poker for about 2 years...
After PGP, I picked up craps, solely...for about a year...
I quickly learned that craps, even though it has the "best odds in the house", you have to have a significant bankroll to play anything higher than a $1/$2 table...
So I picked up video poker and studied everything I could get my hands on for it, and I literally practiced on the computer every day for a year straight.
I began REALLY playing video poker on May 10th, 2008; coincidentally I hit my first TWO royals that weekend (both quarter royals)
Since then, I have pretty much concentrated my play in Reno...however prior to 2008, I mostly played at a local Indian Casino...
It's funny too..once you realize how things really are...you wonder why you ever wasted so much time previously (Like when I realized how much comps I can get for my action in Reno...it makes me wonder how in the HELL I ever survived at the Indian Casino)

Yonkers' Raceway, on the trotters, 31 years ago, when we were 21. With my brother Bob. We lived in the Bronx. He did horses, I taught him craps. Every candy store and hamburger joint was a book.

First gambling experience: $20 lost on a reel slot on a ferry between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine.
First gambling win: $20 hit on a "Jeopardy!" slot (ironic, I know) at Seneca Niagara, Niagara Falls, New York.
First real casino visit: Seneca Allegany after a drive through New York wine country. Won some money at BJ the first time I played.
Shortly after that, I went to Vegas for the first time with friends who were gamblers, discovered the Wizard's website, and that was it. No looking back.

It started for me when I was about 16. I started to get into playing pool and would occasionally have friends over for a winner-takes-all tournament in the basement. Since then I started participating in tournaments at some local halls, as well as simply betting friends $20 for a race to 3. I've backed off a lot from pool, since the Hollywood Casino in my town was under construction, and ended up reading BS for blackjack in anticipation for opening day. I wrote a program to teach myself BS (I am a software engineer) and after I was confident in my skills started to frequent the casinos up in Detroit. This was about 3 months ago. Once the Hollywood Casino opened up here in Toledo, that has been my main venue. I've never been to Vegas, but gambled in Detroit and Windsor here and there since I turned 21. I didn't get serious until I started reading up on BS and counting within the last 6 to 8 months. The only games I have played are random slots (gf looooves slots), roulette, and mostly blackjack.

I'm nowhere near as invested as some of the guys here, and I just made my first post earlier this week. I do want to thank everyone on here for the knowledge I have gained since I started lurking. Without this forum, and WoO, I probably would not have started playing as much as I do, and appreciate everything I've picked up.

Aside from the fact that I grew up in a gaming family, where we used to play Gin Rummy, Hearts, Spades, etc for a penny a point, and in high school we played penny poker,

Late 80s/early 90s, we used to go to awards banquets in Atlantic City. I'd drop a roll of quarters in a slot machine and feel like an idiot, wondering what was fun about it. I remember looking at the blackjack tables and thinking, "Holy shit, $10 on ONE BET!" And thinking to myself about how hard I worked for my money, to risk it on the turn of a card!

We were only going for the banquets, once or twice a year. Saw some pretty good shows there, too: Ray Charles, Donna Summer. Eventually I started trying 2 rolls of quarters, and then it was $100/visit. All slots. But we never went for the gambling itself.

10 years or so later, we went with my dad and his girlfriend, and I decided to try some table games, starting with Let it Ride. I would still only take no more than $200, and buy in for $100, and if I didn't hit anything in 10 hands I'd go back to the machines. I remember getting a full house at one of those early sessions. I spread out to other table games, and settled on 3 Card Poker as my favorite, back when flushes paid 4 units on Pairs Plus. But I'd play any of them.

Eventually, I hit a winning streak, a fairly long one, in the mid-2000s, where everything I touched turned to money. I had some killer sessions. That is what gave me the "bug", even if it isn't real strong any more. During that time, I got a feel for how much to bring and how much to play, and for how long, that satisfies my itch without too much risk.

Generally speaking, $25/bet is about where I'm on the edge. Less than that and I don't really care; more than that, with a daughter in college I can't afford to lose that fast. Lately I find myself betting $10/hand, and taking less money to the casino, and being satisfied with the game rather than the risk. And I try to stay away from the local casino, even though it's a nice place; I find it's more fun to make gambling part of a trip, make it a special event.

I see right through all this, and understand exactly what's going on, and I use it to serve my pleasure. If it pleases me to make a slightly less advantageous bet for the chance at a higher return, then I will please myself. If it pleases me to sit at blackjack and concentrate on making the best plays, then that is what I will choose. If I want to sit next to Mrs Mosca at penny slots, I don't really care about the poor return; I want to do it, so I do it.

When it stops feeling good, I stop playing. I watch, I walk around, whatever. I'm pretty good at quitting before my bank runs out. Not perfect, but better than most. I can leave at my stop loss number, knowing that there will be another day.

I guess the seeds for me having a passion for gambling came early in life. Being a native of Wisconsin, camping by the lake, we would play games of Cribbage, Sheepshead and Euchre for quarters and dollars when I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. I learned traditional casino games later on and visited my first casino when I was 18. (Turtle Lake in Wisconsin) back then you could play table games at 18 if your parents were at the table with you and I was up about $200.

Quote: Mosca

Aside from the fact that I grew up in a gaming family, where we used to play Gin Rummy, Hearts, Spades, etc for a penny a point, and in high school we played penny poker,

Late 80s/early 90s, we used to go to awards banquets in Atlantic City. I'd drop a roll of quarters in a slot machine and feel like an idiot, wondering what was fun about it. I remember looking at the blackjack tables and thinking, "Holy shit, $10 on ONE BET!" And thinking to myself about how hard I worked for my money, to risk it on the turn of a card!

We were only going for the banquets, once or twice a year. Saw some pretty good shows there, too: Ray Charles, Donna Summer. Eventually I started trying 2 rolls of quarters, and then it was $100/visit. All slots. But we never went for the gambling itself.

10 years or so later, we went with my dad and his girlfriend, and I decided to try some table games, starting with Let it Ride. I would still only take no more than $200, and buy in for $100, and if I didn't hit anything in 10 hands I'd go back to the machines. I remember getting a full house at one of those early sessions. I spread out to other table games, and settled on 3 Card Poker as my favorite, back when flushes paid 4 units on Pairs Plus. But I'd play any of them.

Eventually, I hit a winning streak, a fairly long one, in the mid-2000s, where everything I touched turned to money. I had some killer sessions. That is what gave me the "bug", even if it isn't real strong any more. During that time, I got a feel for how much to bring and how much to play, and for how long, that satisfies my itch without too much risk.

Generally speaking, $25/bet is about where I'm on the edge. Less than that and I don't really care; more than that, with a daughter in college I can't afford to lose that fast. Lately I find myself betting $10/hand, and taking less money to the casino, and being satisfied with the game rather than the risk. And I try to stay away from the local casino, even though it's a nice place; I find it's more fun to make gambling part of a trip, make it a special event.

I see right through all this, and understand exactly what's going on, and I use it to serve my pleasure. If it pleases me to make a slightly less advantageous bet for the chance at a higher return, then I will please myself. If it pleases me to sit at blackjack and concentrate on making the best plays, then that is what I will choose. If I want to sit next to Mrs Mosca at penny slots, I don't really care about the poor return; I want to do it, so I do it.

When it stops feeling good, I stop playing. I watch, I walk around, whatever. I'm pretty good at quitting before my bank runs out. Not perfect, but better than most. I can leave at my stop loss number, knowing that there will be another day.

Outstanding post. Thanks for that.

I started incidentally. I must have been about 36 or so, and we could fly direct on Southwest to Vegas, so we stayed a night before heading out to the Grand Canyon with the kids. I really didn't have any time to play with a bunch of kids in tow, but they were fascinated by the lights while we we waiting to get into the hotel buffet, so I put in a dollar and spun the reels maybe twice and showed them you don't win on the slots. We were at the Venetian and the attraction was the nice big rooms there.

Maybe three years later, we did the trip again, staying at Bellagio for our 10th anniversary, and I got to go down to the casino with maybe 80 bucks and played some slots for a while. It was fun but not profitable. Then my husband and I went with my father to MGM Grand for a wedding, and since there were no kids to watch I had plenty of time to play while the guys flew to the Grand Canyon (my dad had never been) before the wedding festivities began. I knew it was something my sister would enjoy, so we started talking about going to Atlantic City together strictly for gambling purposes. Only I ended up getting pregnant yet again, so we put it off until my daughter was over a year old. That means my first trip going just to play was right around the time I turned 42 years old!

By that time I had figured out slots were fun but not particularly profitable, and they were not anything you could control, so I read up on how to play video poker. We'd play slots together, then I'd take my strategy cards and go win back the money I had lost on slots playing video poker wisely. Then I learned how to play table games so I could use match play coupons. I still prefer to play tables and video poker, but play slots with my sister and husband who prefer them since they don't know how to play the other games.

Grandma taught me BJ when I was 3 years old. Mind you, she wasn't a great Basic Strategy player, but she held her own and rarely lost more than $100 a session.

When I turned 18, we would go to WinnaVegas in Sloan IA. I still remember those days fondly, betting $3 a hand and getting panicky about that, even if it wasn't my money. I never understood the thrill of slots at all. Eventually I learned VP, the poker derivatives, then poker itself, though I started on 7-card stud.

My first real gambling adventure was a visit to Meadowlands Racetrack, not far from home. I remember counting my money before I left. Then I went, paid for parking, admission, program, hot dogs and beer. Oh, yeah. I placed a few bets as well. I won some of them. When I got home I counted my money again. There was a 10¢ difference. I don't remember if I won or lost, but for 10¢, does it really matter? It was a great evening.

Then, not long after it opened, I was in Resorts International, the first casino in NJ. Back then the casino wasn't open 24 hours, and there was a dress code to get in. On the plus side, there were plenty of $2 blackjack tables. Armed with only a couple hundred bucks, a cursory understanding of the "pyramid betting system" (I now know it's called the Martingale system), and barely a beginner's understanding of blackjack, I tried my luck. It was a short evening.

I eventually learned some basic strategy, and to stay away from systems. Eventually the excitement of the craps table caught my attention. In the mid 1990's, I stepped up to a craps for the first time. I'd bet $10 on the pass line, with $10 odds when someone else was shooting. When it was my turn, I'd make that $25 and $25. After doing that a few times, the player next to me suggested I bet $10 on the pass line, and $40 odds. When it won, and I collected so much more than I had before, it was as if a new world of gambling had been opened.

Interesting topic. I never had much interest in gambling. Still don't. Back when I was 20, I came across a book about card counting at a community yard sale. The World's Greatest Blackjack Book. It was outdated, having been written in the 70's I think, maybe 80's, but I read and re-read everything and purchased multiple decks of cards and began hours of testing these 'theories'. At the time, I was single, worked a low-paying job in retail, barely making enough money to pay my half of the modest rent (roommate situation). I began saving as much as I could, this meant not out drinking every night...lol, and put together a small bankroll of about a thousand bucks. Really insignificant to do anything, but I hit the casinos in Atlantic City and did pretty well the first few times. Just shy of my 21st birthday, not that it mattered because my ID was a year off, courtesy of a mistake by the state, when I transferred my license to a new state, I was robbed at gun point at this low-paying retail job. This was actually the second such robbery and third such event that put me in danger on this job, and I just snapped. That was my last day on that job, and as it turns out the last day I have even worked for someone else.

As I said, my living expenses were minimal and I knew my roommate would carry me for a couple months while I found a new job, should I fail at this quest, as I fully expected to. My bankroll was just over 4 grand, savings and a few early wins, but still very insignificant for what I was attempting, I just had no idea at the time. Anyway, I never went broke as I surely should have. Had positive variance from day one, but no real significant upwards swings. Just enough to get by and I am talking paying my share of my minimal living expense and lots of peanut butter sandwiches and mac and cheese meals. This went on for 2 years. My bankroll wasn't growing which would have allowed me to move up in stakes, but I was getting by thanks to the absence of any real bad swings. My third year I hit a bit of a significant upswing and my bankroll actually grew for the first time. This allowed me to play just a little bit higher stakes, $10 tables instead of $5, eventually increase my bet spread and make a little more money. A beautiful cycle (when it works).

Next couple of years I made a little more money and more important my bankroll continued to grow. As my BR began to grow through 5 figures, I was able to play higher levels, eventually hitting the $25 tables, still playing mostly AC, with trips to Vegas and conneticut mixed in. Once I hit the green level where I was spreading green to black, it became clear to me, that if I was going to continue with this career choice I would need a bigger rotation of games. Atlantic City only had a handful of playable games, and I was beginning to wear out my welcome. 2009, which was my 6th year was a very good year for me. My bankroll was now mid 5 figures and I relocated to Vegas, bought a foreclosed condo and haven't looked back. I am now in my ninth year of supporting myself from blackjack play, although this year I have added a couple secondary games, played at an advantage and a good deal of bonus chasing to supplement my income. I still play mid level green/black stakes and still haven't broken the 6 figure mark as far as income, although a couple years were reasonably close.

Now, I know this thread was about gambling, and I don't consider myself a gambler, but the way my career started, SEVERELY underfunded and under-bankrolled was quite a gamble, and lady luck was surely by my side.

Quote: kewlj

Interesting topic. I never had much interest in gambling. Still don't.

Curious...why are you part of a "gambling" forum...?

Mr Shackleford is what drew me to this site. I participate in a number of sites, most directly related to blackjack, some more on the topic of Vegas, where I often learn about different promotions and bonuses. This one is kind of a mix about different things. I participate mostly on blackjack topics, but am able to learn things from many folks about many topics.

i got sent home from elementary school in fourth grade (1974) with a note to my parents:
please ask wongbo to no longer bring playing cards to school.
he has been teaching the other children how to play blackjack
and has taken all of their lunch money....

kewlj- Thanks for sharing your story. That was good stuff.

I started just after I turned 18 (early 1980). The only game in town was horse racing; I think my first bet was at Golden Gate Fields, although it could have been at Santa Rosa (Sonoma County Fairgrounds) that summer. I astonished some people by being able to calculate $2 win payouts in my head (it wasn't that hard; multiply the total amount bet to win by 20 ($2 bet, and payouts rounded to 10c), subtract 1/6 of that for the cut, divide by the amount bet on the winning horse, and move the decimal one place to the left.)
My first casino bet was in 1985; I think it was at the El Dorado in Reno, since my father was in something called the "Greater Reno Italian Golf Association" and the hotel hosted its annual tournament. Almost certainly, it was VP; I think JoB is all they had back then.
Between 1985 and 2005, all of my non-track gambling was done in Australia, and even then, it consisted of a few hands of VP ("aces or better") at a club in Australia run by what I believe is its version of the VFW, back in 1992, and some slot machines ("pokies," as they refer to them, mainly because of the A-K-Q-J-10-9 symbols they tend to have) at Star City in Sydney in 2002. (Note that neither Star City nor Melbourne's large casino, Crown, have any VP. Video roulette, yes - video sic bo, plenty - but VP, not happening. There might be some up in the Brisbane/Gold Coast casinos, but I have never been there.)
I started my Vegas trips in 2005, mainly so I could go to the Pinball Hall of Fame (back then, on Tropicana & Pecos; now, on Tropicana just east of Maryland), although the first two times, it was just VP and the occasional slot machine; my first table game was in 2008, and even then, it was only $5 minimum craps, and I stuck to $5 pass & $10 odds bets.

I decided to start casino gambling [as opposed to friendly-game-poker from wayback] when I had a boring moment or two in Paradise Island Bahamas but couldn't make myself gamble at the casino. There was that thing of just saying to yourself, 'I am not really a Gambler'. After coming home I decided that was really, really stupid since I knew the basics of Craps. So I vowed to not be so stupid next chance, which was when a friend wanted to drop by Atlantic City when we were somewhat in the area. Haven't looked back, but in some ways can still say I am 'not really' a Gambler, being such a Piker at it.

My dad allowed me to play a 4-team parlay for $5 when I was ten years old.
Obviously, he booked the bet himself. It won!

I remember cheering for USC vs Notre Dame for the last leg of the parlay.
My dad gave me $50. Been hooked ever since.

I feel sorry for the people that never bet.

Around 1985, or 86, after reading some books on gambling and positive thinking and practicing craps at home for awhile, I headed off to Vegas ready to WIN. I stayed in a rundown hotel, (not one of the casinos), and headed over to the Strip in the evening.

I ended up at my first and only craps game at Barbary Coast. I soon found out, the speed of the game was faster than I expected, and although I had a plan to follow, my strategy got pretty muddled. However, when I got the dice, I held on to them for a long time. My bets weren't making me much money because I was just totally flubbing on any kind of betting strategy.

The guy next to me seemed to making a whole lot of money off my roll. When I said something like "I hardly know what I'm doing", the guy said, "Just keep doing what you're doing." When my roll ended, all the customers left the table.

I had made some money. But it wasn't much. (don't remember now) Some of the other people at the table were the real winners.

In 1990, I moved to Vegas, lived there a couple years, and a job moved me away again. Came back in 2000, and stayed until 2012.

Still thinking I might move back again.

I was nine years old, It was a hot summer day. Myself my older brother and two cousins were standing aside the road waiting for the ice cream man. My brother and cousins bet me their ice cream money that i wouldn't scream bloody murder into the window of the next passing car. Easy money, So I screamed at the top of my lungs into the rolled down window of the next passing car. Shortly there after the car came to a screeching halt. Out jumps a 18 foot tall red headed hippie, charging at me screaming curse words I had never heard before. At this point I was terrified so I looked around for some support from my brother and cousins as they were older than I, but they were long gone. My mind started screaming at me run, run you fool your gonna die, but I was paralyzed. At this point the giant red hippie was in my face, but as soon as he arrived he just turned around and walked away. As I stood there shaking and crying my mothers voice shattered the silence,(rainman you get your ass in here) my cousins and brother wasted no time telling on me. My mother was standing in the door holding the screen for me. As I approached the door I had to pass my cousins and brother who were dancing around pointing and screaming "rainman peed his pants", "rainman peed his pants". My mother just said get to your room and don't come out. I went into my room and changed my clothes. Shortly thereafter I heard the ice cream trucks music playing outside my house. Yup my cousins and brother were out front spending the bet money they owed me on ice cream. A few minutes later they were in the backyard, outside my window dancing, eating ice cream, and singing the rainman peed his pants song.

Quote: RoundMan

My dad allowed me to play a 4-team parlay for $5 when I was ten years old.
Obviously, he booked the bet himself. It won!

I remember cheering for USC vs Notre Dame for the last leg of the parlay.
My dad gave me $50. Been hooked ever since.

I feel sorry for the people that never bet.

Your dad was robbing you with those odds. That's a 31% house edge.

For me legal gambling started at the Rocky Mountain Greyhound Park, 18 years old. Me and a few friends were there everyday and everyday and night when they had a matinee and evening program, we we the youngest degenerates I've ever seen. That was all we had to gamble on legally. Then I turned 21 and moved up the hill to Cripple Creek where the table max was $5. In my early 20's I learned to hate gambling, I actually got in a bit of a jam with a bookie (the year the Bulls went 72-10, they came to Colorado and got slapped by the lowly Nuggets) and did not gamble for probably 10 years. Even would go to Vegas and sit and watch my wife play the slots.

AND then one day I was reborn. AN employee of mine moved out here to AZ and his family satyed back for about 6 months to sell the house. I asked him what he did for fun on the weekends, he said he played the ponies. Being a nice boss that I am, I said I would go with him, so he would have company. Well wouldn't you know it we are down to our last few bucks, and hit a 99-1 or more, hit the win and the exacta, each cashed about $600. We went on a winning streak until my birthday when I got shit faced and told him when asked about a horse who was trained by the same trainer who brought us the above $600, "FUCK HIM LET HIM BEAT US!!!" well guess what 80-1 shot walks. We then went on a cold streak for about 8-9 months.

So next trip to LV I play the horses, hit the BJ table, chatted a guy up, nothing special, he leaves. I then leave walk around while the wife is playing the slots. I see him at the craps table, the old tub they had at Ellis Island. I asked him hey will you teach me how to play, he says sure, I drop $20 on the felt, played the pass line and the field every roll. LOL. Well it was down to 2 of us and of course I dont know what the hell Im doing and Im up at least a hundy, but the damn tub is so short we all keep firing the die off the table and we all get thrown out! This is why I refuse to give Ellis Island a dime more of my gaming money, any way, walked over to the Tuscany and it has been my craps home ever since. Side note I played until 4 am on that $20 probably up like $40, playing pass and field. All that time my wife dropped $800 in the slots!

At age 17 ( 1957 )I had to quit high school and go to work.y dad had cataracts and could no longer drive a cab. Worked full time in a grocery store and part time as rack boy in a pool hall. The owner, Henry Gordon, was oner of the biggest bookies on the east coast before
testifying before the Kefauver committeo on Gambling. Pool hall had 1 Billiard table, 14 4 by 8 pocket tables, and one 4 by 9 table.


My first gambling was on 3 rail billiards , then 9 ball on 4 by 8 pocket tables. In 1959 I racked for Willie Mosconi, greatest straight pool player ever. In 1961 the movie " The Hustler" came out. Willie was the technical adviser, made or set up all the trick shots, he is
the white haired guy referred to as Willie, the stakeholder. He never spoke a word, probably because he would have had to join
Actors Equity, plus be paid more. That movie and the fact that bars were just then adding 3 by 7 coin operated tables made for
easy hustling. One hard part was playing down to the level of the average bar player.

But then in 1969 I went over to the DARK SIDE. Got married Dec 12, 1968 ( longest night of the year ) and wife was afraid I would get 30 days if got caught working for a bookie, so I did the unthinkable. Got a 40 hour a week job with a paycheck at AT&T !!

Ages 12-14:

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel went on strike. There were many workers who would gather around a basic folding table and play poker for nickles/dimes on the picket line. I would walk by there most days, and at some point, they took a liking to me and asked me if I wanted to play. I figured the game was, "500," but nope, it was five-card draw poker.

I got demoralized for probably the first year I played with those guys, but eventually I got better. It eventually got to the point where I would beat them the majority of the time, because I spent a lot of time at home learning more about the game and practicing with my friends.

Age 16:

I decided to take my five-card draw abilities to school dances and to the roller skating/blading place and try to fleece the other kids of their money. I wasn't a very good person when I was younger, though I got excellent grades! The school dance games had a ton of variance because it usually didn't take too long for the game to be broken up by a teacher, so if you got demolished on one hand, skill might not be enough to save you before someone caught you playing.

They wouldn't allow a money game to go on at the skate center, we played Saturday nights. They didn't care if you played for candy, though. It was some expensive candy, I'll tell you that much. Sweettarts represented a Dime, Pez were each a quarter and a Tangy Taffy was a dollar all the way. The minimum buy-in was $10.00 in candy. The exchange of cash would take place in the restroom, and the holder was almost always a guy you could trust, plus he got paid $1.00/player because he was not allowed to play. That's $1.00/player/night, not $1.00/buy-in, a question that I once had to resolve.

There was one occasion where the holder thought he'd get cute and cut out of the skate center before the game was over. We never did recover the money (even though we gave him a week to come up with it) and I would suggest that he probably felt that the punishment he received was not worth the $50, or not, I actually happen to know that he is in prison for grand theft auto, amongst other things.

Age 17:

The skate center closed shortly before I turned seventeen. I had a bunch of kids from different towns in the area who would come for the poker game. The game just kind of broke up when it closed, we tried a few different places on a few different occasions, but no interest.

Age 18:

FINALLY LEGAL!!!

Ping-Ding-Bing-Ping!!!

Wheeling Island Racetrack and Casino used to be slots only, so you could play when you were eighteen. The problem is, when you're a full-time college student and full-time evening shift floor supervisor at a grocery store only making $6.00/hour with a garage apartment at $250/month, even $25-$50 is a pretty substantial loss. It might affect whether or not you'll be taking an attractive girlfriend to Red Lobster that week. She's not very happy if Saturday night is sacrificed because you dropped $50 to the slots. She doesn't mind if you hit for $250 and spend the night in Pittsburgh going to some concert or another, but you lose that $50, and she forgets about Matchbox 20 really quick...

I miss those old machines that still released actual quarters into the drop bin. You started with a cup and upgraded to a bucket if things went well. The girls ran around with all of their big bags full of quarters filling the machines. There were also hand-pays for non-taxable amounts, I'm not sure if it was a certain dollar amount, or if the machine simply didn't have enough quarters in it.

You basically had two options, there was a button you could hit (on some, not all, machines) where everything would accumulate and all of the quarters would be released upon cashing out, or the default function seemed to be the quarters being released for every pay immediately, some machines only did the latter.

Age 20:

I don't know what happened, but I must have gotten bored with the slot machines. I wasn't really bored, per se, but I found a really good weekly poker game in this guy's garage where the buy-in was $100, the maximum bets varied, and there was a hard time limit of two hours where you just had in front of you whatever you had in front of you if it was time to be done. That was Texas Hold 'Em, and I knew very little about it prior to that. I studied up and became pretty good, but equally good at spending my winnings. Needless to say, any loss over $25 still hurt.

Age 21:

Strangely, I may or may not have gambled at all during my 21st year, if I did, it was seldom.

Age 22-Kansas City:

I moved to KC at age 21 in June of that year. I didn't really go to any of the casinos until I was 22 when a girl I met at the University and I were talking about poker and I was trying to get her to go out with me. She said, "If you want to work as a team, prove you don't suck." We agreed to best four/seven playing with $100,000 in chips heads-up. If I won, she'd go to the casino with me, if I lost, I'd owe her $100.

I took her in five games. We played pretty effectively as a team and had a brief relationship for about a month. The game was basically just to split whatever the profits were every night while playing at the same table. If one of us was in a hand and the other had a possible drawing hand, even a moderately long shot, post-flop, we would stay in to maximize the percentage chance of one of us winning.

We decided to play No-Limit one day and that was the day our relationship ended. There were no pairs on the Board after the turn and I called an All-In for $400 (he had me outstacked) with an Ace-High Flush and he turned over two pair. Hits the Boat on the River. She couldn't forgive me for my, "Horrible call," even though he sucked out and I had the best of it, by far. I never wanted to play NL, anyway, and protested the whole way there.

Age 22-KC-May Burn-Out:

I basically just got burned out on playing when I decided to give professional play a trial run for a week. I did well-enough, but it takes a serious physical toll on you, even for that brief period of time. It's stressful, as well. I still don't like regular casino poker because of it, but will play if my bankroll needs a boost. I still enjoy tournaments.

Ages 23-25:

I don't know why, but when I moved back to my area I didn't have any interest in the casino for this period of time. I probably went twice, focusing mostly on the tables and betting big.

Ages 26-Present:

All things gambling.

I love it now and will play nearly every game on the floor. I prefer the slots to just about anything, but greatly enjoy Let It Ride, Craps, Blackjack and Roulette...maybe in that order...the order changes almost daily. I would say that I usually count at BJ, but don't spread enough for it to matter, and, I would assume, not enough for the casino to care. I'm really cheap about table games, in general, I won't play anything if the minimum is more than $5.00. I also do not count at the $2/$4 $0.25 ante BJ table because there's really no point, I'm paying a quarter per hand, straight-up, so I'm already crazy!

Mine started with grandpa, of course. Playing Rummy or Scat for crackers, ones that I'd never ever win but he let me have anyways. I don't think I've ever once beaten that old man, and he still let's me know about it to this day (this was 84-88, guy never lets anything go ;))

Grandma took me to Bingo. Churches, gamblin' halls, smokey rooms filled with the "old hordes", we went all the time. She had bingo chips with metal rings, and a little magnetic wand to pick 'em up after the game was called. She let me wand them off, and it was great fun. She got me a dauber, and I set about coloring the table. Then she got me my own card...god, I miss those days.

In school we learned Euchre, which soon turned into quarter a trick, which soon turned into spending every study hall, lunch period, and oft skipped class in the darkroom of the photoshop playing tournaments. Me and my buddy Bob went on an epic tear, we had almost telepathic knowledge of each other. For most of the year, if you need a midday candy bar, a pack of gum, or a sweet pen that wrote in four different colors, you came to me. I had it good. The mid year tear turned into a post year slump, and I lost what must have been tens of dollars in quarters. I decided then and there that gambling was not my bag, and I wasn't going to gamble again.

Post college found me at Fallsview, in on a fake ID and quite drunk. I watched as others plunked what couldv'e been beer money into these silly machine that made jingley sounds and did not do much else. I left for the International House of Beers, where I'm told they found me the next morning.

On a whim sometime around 2000, me and the then-wife decided to hit a slot parlor. Armed with ~$60, we played a few games, completely ignorant of everything, and must've wandered into the big bill section. 2 -$20's and two spins later, our money was gone. God, gambling is stupid ;)

Now, I work on the other side of the shiny black domes in the ceiling. The gambling world gives me everything I need, and everything I own. Armed with a little knowledge from work and a vast majority from here, I've gambled a few times on the smart. With a some skill at BJ and a smidgen of NASCAR knowledge, I've never left Vegas a loser. And I aim to keep it that way. By never going back ;)