I "learned" how to play poker with some friends in elementary school (5th grade to be exact) despite the fact that
gambling was not allowed. Surprisingly, we were able to play if we didn't play for money. I say "learned" in quotation marks because looking back years later, I realized that what we played could hardly be called poker (probably the teachers recognized this and that is why they allowed it; it kept us quiet lol).
For example, we knew which
hands beat what (well... most of us knew) but none of us knew about kickers or side pots. The game was us
bluffing and splashing chips left and right like we saw in the movies - but with no real strategy or understanding of the game or math
I didn't begin poker until just a few months ago (I'm in University now). Not because gambling interests me (as a personality, it never interested me), but because I have always loved psychology and reading body language - poker just seemed like a good way to test my abilities.
I've learned a lot over the last few months, but apparently my abilities have been serving me well so far - although granted: only played small homegames and online
freerolls through cardschat.
When the pandemic is over, I plan to visit a casino for my first time
change instances of free poker into a link to https://www.cardschat.com/strategy/free-online-poker-game/