Who Introduced You To Casino Gambling?

Who introduced you to casino gambling? I will be surprised, but interested in the backstory, if any marks the female blood relatives - Mother/Aunt/Grandmother/Sister.

Myself.

But my mom taught me card games when I was a child. War, mostly, but a few others like Go Fish. She taught me to shuffle the cards, too. By junior high school I learned poker from both my mom and dad. My mom also taught me backgammon.

Other than that, I've learned mostly from the Wizard's sites.

I am in my early 40s and never even considered gambling until I went to Las Vegas on business a few years ago. The first time there, I lost twenty bucks on four blackjack hands, and called it quits for table games. I played some slots and had a little luck there. Since then, I have gone back and gotten used to playing table games. My favorites now are blackjack and TCP, and in recent years, it (gambling) has become an enjoyable form of recreation that I participate in every two or three months. I live in a state that does not have casino gambling (Texas), but New Mexico is only a few hours away!

I voted for myself. I can blame my work, which offers social bus trips to AC once a year as the reason for my downfall. I started with Blackjack, but have also spread to Pai Gow (Poker and Tiles) as well as Spanish 21. I go a few times a year (3-4) to AC, but with the expansion to DE, I've started going to Dover. Once a year, my wife and I try to make it to Vegas, but this year may be the first time we don't get there.

-B

I could also have said self, but technically probably shouldnt, so didnt, marking 'friend' instead.

I choose friend. I started gambling by playing Texas Holdem with friends in high school during the poker boom. Then once we were old enough a bunch of friends headed down to the casino / racetrack to gamble.

My Grandma taught me to shuffle a deck of cards when I was about 7 or 8. I guess that's when it started...

I knew all the reguler "traditional" casino games by the time I was 11 or 12- except Baccarat.. and craps only so-so... these days I know more and better..and think I finally figured craps out lmao.

My mom got me started with bingo. Next came slots. I was the first to play table games. I finaly got her to play Pai Gow Poker. Her first hand: Quad Jacks.

I have always had the 'gamble' gene, which was sated by betting $20 a game in bowling contests with other 200+ average bowlers. I made a fair amount of money at that. On the nights we couldn't get enough bowlers together to make it interesting a BJ game would break out, with a BJ giving that person the right to become the bank.
Once I made into a brick and mortar casino, and saw craps in action, I was hooked. However, I could not figure the dumb game out. I got the pamphlets and started reading, but I was still lost. Then one day I sat down with pen and paper and started figuring out the ways you can roll each number. Suddenly it all started making sense. There was the 6 ways to roll a seven, and 5 ways to roll the 6&8. AHA, that explains the 6:5 odds ! The place bet 6 at 7:6 becomes an easy way for the house to gain its advantage on the bet. Once I understood those basics the game just made sense. However, other than the hardways, I have never bothered to try and understand the center table bets. I have a general idea, but I just don't care to learn the bets. And the members of this forum have done a great job at pointing out how bad those bets are, so I see no need to deviate from my selected course.
From there it has been a love affair with the game, even though it has been treating me poorly in recent times.

Several people. There's no choice for several people or other, so I said "Self".



My Dad:

He passed away in January 1977, when I was 17. But four months earlier, in Sept 1976, the Meadowlands Racetrack opened. Somewhere in those four months, my parents went to the track. But earlier in the day, I was telling my father about the various betting options. To avoid confusion, I randomly used the number 6 horse in all my details. I.E. "If you bet the #6 to place, then you win if #6 comes in first or second." Etc.

The next day, he told me that, not only was my advice helpful, but the #6 horse came in, in almost every race. As a result, he gave me a portion of the winnings - which is why I remember it.



My Brother:

A few years later, casinos opened in A.C. My brother would tell me about the various games. He told me about BlackJack, and he told me about the double-your-bet-till-you-win strategy. A few months later, I finally went to A.C., armed with a couple hundred bucks, and the wisdom he shared with me.

It was a short evening.



My Mom:

A few years later, (mid 1980's) my mother moved to Florida. Some time after that, I went for a visit, and she took me on a gambling cruise.

I did OK on that cruise.



Myself / other gamblers:

In the years that passed, I'd go to A.C. a couple times a year, basically, teaching myself along the way. One time when I finally got the balls to play craps, I'd bet $10 on the line with $10 odds. When I was the shooter, I'd bet $25 and $25. Another player told me to bet $10 with $40 odds. It's still $50 so what's the difference? I found out real quick when my number hit.



Chris Moneymaker:

Well, not really. But I was always intimidated when I'd look into the poker room when I was in A.C. After watching Moneymaker's win, and the countless hours of poker that suddenly appeared on TV, I felt I got it. After a year or so, I got a postcard from Harrah's AC, about a poker tourney. I was in. Talked the wife into going, even though it was a Wednesday. She was convinced I'd be out in ten minutes. I lasted over two hours, but that kinda killed my desire to play poker anytime soon.



Players Pub Poker

In 2006, the wife and I ate dinner at a restaurant that is involved in a poker league. We joined the league, and played several nights a week.

There's something unique about a poker league. During the game, everyone is out to get everyone's chips. But after the game, they will give you honest answers to questions.



Wizard of Odds / Wizard of Vegas

Do I really have to detail all the great info that's available here?



Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

My parents, well mostly my dad, are pretty big gamblers and hit Vegas 6-8x a year plus frequent visits to the local casino. Growing up I'd always remember my parents leaving for a few days to Vegas and the whole thing seemed fascinating. When you couple that with my family's insane desire to compete or play games all the time I always wanted to gamble.

When I turned 21 my parents took me to Vegas so I could get my first experience the 'right' way. Even though I knew the basics it took actually playing at a table to get it down pat. My dad's a dice man so the excitement of the craps table was what I really loved more than anything. My dad has a pretty particular style of craps betting and I mostly still follow that. Everything else about Vegas was just icing on the cake and I was hooked. It also helped that my dad is a Harrahs Diamond member so him being comped a bunch of stuff and perks like the the Diamond Lounge just solidified how I thought Vegas was like.

Each time my siblings turned 21 my parents also took them, as well as their other kids which were of age on their own 'gambling virgin' trip. Each birthday trip (4 in all) was just amazing. I just love every thing about that city, I've been back there a few other times as well as got married there 2.5 years ago. Our wedding trip was my wife's first time to Vegas and she loved it as much I do, I couldn't believe she even let me pick Vegas as wedding spot in the first place before she had even been there.

In college two friends and I drove up to Atlantic City shortly after the youngest of us turned 21. We played mostly craps. On a Saturday morning it was possible to find $5 tables with triple odds. This would have been 1993.

I played a couple more times with the same friend (he lived near some of the southern Indiana casinos) but started gambling more seriously about seven years ago during a trip to Tahoe.

Quote: miplet

My mom got me started with bingo. Next came slots. I was the first to play table games. I finaly got her to play Pai Gow Poker. Her first hand: Quad Jacks.

such a hand could wind up a push!

Not really sure if it started here, but I'd go to a dog racing track with my parents. Guessing I was 13-14 at the time. It closed before I could actually place a bet. After that it wasn't until college when I had a summer job that I went back and started playing blackjack. Again died off after college because where I was living just didn't have a casino close enough to just go on a whim(~90 minutes one way was the closest, 4 hours for me now).

While all of that may have played a part, I really had no intentions of going to a casino until about 3 years ago. My immediate family and 4-5 in my aunts family went out to Vegas for March Madness. I found it a perfect place to just relax. I didn't have to rent a car. I didn't have to plan everything out. I could just walk around and randomly do whatever intrigued me at the time. I like vacations like this, but rarely is there so much to do in such a small place that I enjoy. Been going back about 3 times a year since and right now I don't have any plans on stopping.

My Grandma. She would go to Reno to play the slots at the Cal Neva. She taught me 21 (and said to never hit 16 ) when i was a little tike and her church always had a family bingo night around Thanksgiving.

First time was co-workers, on an award trip to AC, mid-late '80s. I blew $100 through a quarter slot machine and felt like shit. I didn't gamble for a few more years afterward. On a couple more award trips I tried a roll of quarters, I think I topped out at 3 rolls of quarters. In '93 on an award trip to Vegas I tried poker... I didn't notice for a few hands that it was me against everyone else, the other players were just there to fill out the table. Through the '90s on award trips to AC I'd lose $20-30 in quarters, Mrs Mosca would do the same, and we'd stop. I'd tried BJ, and got turned off by the attitude of other players. We saw some good shows, though; Ray Charles with his big band was awesome. Eventually I got to where I'd play about $200-300 in slots on a trip.

Maybe 10 years ago, we started going on our own, Mrs was the one who said she liked it as a getaway. Once, when we went with my dad and his girlfriend, my dad showed me Let It Ride, which I suppose is a "gateway table game"; I got the feel of the rhythm of the table, and playing with other gamblers. After a couple trips, I gave a shot to 3 Card (when it was the 40/30/6/4/1), and had fun; then my brother in law and I were in Caesar's AC asking aloud about craps, and nearby was an open craps table where the stickman overheard us, and he and the dealer taught us the rules and the rhythm. I've done OK with that mix over the last 10 years or so, some slots, some craps, and the carny games; I've been helped by more straight flushes and 3-of-a-kinds than I can remember, and many $1000 slot hits and hand pays (balancing those countless visits where I lost my bankroll, which are also more than I can remember).

Recently I've gotten used to the unique pleasure of blackjack. It's got that quick shot like the slots, with 100 decisions an hour, but without the variance; play it right, and you just kind of hover around your buy-in, getting up 10 units, down 10 units, up 5 down 7, up 3, down 2, etc. You get all the fix with less risk.

So, the person who really got me started was my wife, because she was the one who said we were going to start going to AC and the casinos without it being a banquet/award situation. The person who got me away from just cycling a few quarters through slots was my dad. Over the years I would say that I'm not even, but not down all that much. I've had years with a positive win/loss statement.

For me it was an uncle who got me started. He taught me 5 card draw, and we played for pennies, when I was about 12.

In the 60's...my Dad had a part-time job during the racing season at Del Mar. He worked selling hot dogs at one of the concession stands on Saturday and Sunday. He would drive out with one of his buddies in the morning. My Mom would drive me and my sister out to pick him up in the afternoon. The gates would be open after the 7th race or so and we'd go in to see him. We would spend our time watching the horses and picking up old tickets lying on the ground. San Diego was beautiful and Del Mar by the Pacific was even better. Occasionally, we'd drive up to Santa Anita to watch the horses after the circuit moved from Del Mar.

In the 70's...as a Senior in High School, my friend was a follower of horses at Aqueduct. We'd cut out of school during lunch and drive to our local Upstate NY OTB office and place bets on the ponies.

in the 80's & 90's...My in-laws lived in Las Vegas. We were there every year or 2. I remember driving down Fremont Street before the Experience. Visiting various Sports Books Downtown and on the Strip with my FIL. He was a Poker Dealer at the Showboat. Playing Roulette and Craps at Binion's, The LV Hilton and Harrah's.

in the 2000's...Now gambling at the local Native American Casinos in New Mexico and trying to get at least one trip every year to Las Vegas.

I guess, I should also mention the many times I went with my Grandmother or Aunt to play Bingo at their local Catholic Churches in Western NY. The Monseignor was usually there to bless the flock!

no pick for satan?

My mom/grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins always played Euchre so that's how I got introduced to cards.

My cousins were always watching the James Bond movies and the gambling in those so we'd play Chemin de Fer and blackjack.

However I voted for 'self'. I've always liked to gamble -- a lottery ticket a week in the early days -- but I learned the math of probability in university and found out what a horrible gamble they are.

Eventually I found out that games like craps and blackjack in Las Vegas offer a 0.5% house edge in some cases. I then convinced my wife that we should try out Las Vegas back in 2005. Once I got the OK I hit the internet and found The Wizard of Odds. I poured over the site and found a number of games to try -- craps, blackjack, and video poker. A big thanks to the Wizard on video poker. My wife even likes video poker as it's no where near as intimidating as a table game.

I've been back at least once every year since that first trip.

Mom took me to Reno a few weeks after my 21st birthday. Later, I found Vegas myself.