About 15 Years... Recreationally
Mostly online, although I have played live profitably on average 2 -3 days a year over the last 10 years.
I was introduced to the game by a new girlfriend (who also knew about as much about poker as I did at the time which was zero... just to be clear...lol). She spent time by playing various games at some cheezy gaming site (I forget the name of it) that offered a bazillion online games. Basically, you payed $10 a month to be entertained, I do not believe you could actually win anything. Well, Texas Hold'em was one of the games you could play, and we entertained ourselves playing it on occasion. Eventually, we found ourselves playing more Texas Hold'em (even though we had no clue what we were doing) than the "Racing Games", "Wheel of Fortune" type games, "What is different in these Pictures" games.. lol! I still fondly remember my brain being scrambled trying to figure out how my THREE PAIR lost to some SEEMINGLY INFERIOR hand.
I suspected some sort of software/site malfunction...lol!
Eventually, I decided I should research the rules of the game(keep in mind this was a new relationship and not a real high priority at the time)
. Knowing the basic rules was helpful, and I started to realize how ridiculous th
e play was at the "cheezy site"
. I graduated to a monthly subscription site ($25 a month) which was very profitable over several years. My poker experience was also supplemented for a short time by playing at
pokerstars (although slightly unprofitable), up until Black Friday.
FUN TIMES, what a Great Game! So many ways to Win! So many ways to Lose!
While my day job limits my poker playing time to a couple hours a day, on average, I find it to be a nice change of pace and a relaxer. I am new to the site within the last couple months, but am thoroughly enjoying it!
Best of Luck at The Tables All,
CheezeWiz