[MicroBob]

My background is similar. I started playing online shortly before the WPT.

I was making money counting cards at blackjack in Tunica.

In January, 2003 the WPO was in town so a zillion poker-players were running around all over the place.

One guy was sitting at a $25-min double-deck BJ game with me at the Horseshoe and was talking with the BJ dealer (who used to deal poker) about such things as 'i just got knocked out of the satellite. flopped the nut-straight but some guy caught a boat on the river.'
I had no idea WTF he was saying.
I didn't even know what a satellite was much less a flop or the nuts or a boat.


I told him that the poker over there looked interesting but I would be afraid to play because I don't even know how and i was pretty sure the sharks would eat me alive (I had seen Rounders).
He nodded in agreement with that sentiment and suggested I could learn to play online.
I said 'You can play poker on the internet?'
'Oh sure. Even for play-money if you want.'

Did a google search a few days later and pokerstars was the site I went to for whatever reason.

Later did a google search for 'poker strategy articles' and eventually that got me over to 2+2.


Again, this was a few months before the WPT debuted.
I got my start all thanks to some guy in a black-leather jacket with an ace of spades tattoo on his forearm.