When did you start gambling?

[Sloppy Joe]

At 14 I was an arcade shark. I remember having my own bankroll of like $50 all in quarters which, at the time, might as well have been a literal goldmine. My buddy Angel and I used to troll around cutting class and would tai the bus to a couple local malls and these malls invariably had arcades and my ADD riddled brain was instantly and fatally in love.

I used to (and still do) take on all comers at street fighter 2. I get ken, you pick whoever, left or right side doesn't matter- YOU'RE DONE. I had a win steak when SF2 turbo came out of 28 wins which, if you consider each win represented a new opponent and even the worst players can be surprisingly good at times, was remarkable, even to this day. I will absolutely throw down however much cash I have on hand and play anyone at anytime if it's sf2.

The funny part is actually how I got my bankroll started- you ever see that kid who looks sad and pathetic cuz he hasn't got any money to play so he walks around hopelessly reaching into the quarter returns just praying to get lucky? That was me, except one day I hit a mini-jackpot of like $2.75 in one fell swoop and never looked back! I still remember sticking my finger past the little black metal flap not expecting much but felt my heart jump at familiar cold jagged edge of 'ol George Washington but WAIT- WHAT'S THIS??? IT'S SLIDING- THERE CAN'T BE TWO IN THERE, COULD THERE BE? Yes there was and strangely enough some quarters had become lodged up on the machine and dumped out a couple dollars into my shaking clammy palms. I felt the now of so familiar rush of endorphins and adrenalin and ran light speed to the bathroom to count my booty. I was sure to to go to juvenile hall if anyone found out and if you can believe it, at like 12 years old, I stuffed all those dirty coins into my underpants. Looking back what a filthy bastard I was.

From then on you literally could not get a minute on any machine I lay claim to without going through me (which was impossible) and despite being a little scrawny bag of bones I never got beat up. Actually, looking back, I am damn impressed with that little bit of history. Im telling you guys sf2 and MK were legit, but nothing NOTHING ever came close to Killer Instinct. For over a year I owned souls and eventually retired on top. No clue how good I am now as I haven't found one single KI arcade in over a decade (1997 actually, since my damn memory insists on getting stupid details annoyingly right all the time) but I bet with Sabrewolf I am still pretty fierce.

Interesting trip through the way back machine Barry. It was obviously only a matter of time before you sauntered on over and found a new home here. As one of DDs much better posters I hope you stay.

What do say Barry? Do you choochoochoose PFA? In the event of a stalemate I present to you the ultimate tiebreaker-

I've heard people argue this before and simply don't see it. Mortal Kombat owned everything in the fighting genre for years.

[Sloppy Joe]

At 14 I was an arcade shark. I remember having my own bankroll of like $50 all in quarters which, at the time, might as well have been a literal goldmine. My buddy Angel and I used to troll around cutting class and would tai the bus to a couple local malls and these malls invariably had arcades and my ADD riddled brain was instantly and fatally in love.

I used to (and still do) take on all comers at street fighter 2. I get ken, you pick whoever, left or right side doesn't matter- YOU'RE DONE. I had a win steak when SF2 turbo came out of 28 wins which, if you consider each win represented a new opponent and even the worst players can be surprisingly good at times, was remarkable, even to this day. I will absolutely throw down however much cash I have on hand and play anyone at anytime if it's sf2.

The funny part is actually how I got my bankroll started- you ever see that kid who looks sad and pathetic cuz he hasn't got any money to play so he walks around hopelessly reaching into the quarter returns just praying to get lucky? That was me, except one day I hit a mini-jackpot of like $2.75 in one fell swoop and never looked back! I still remember sticking my finger past the little black metal flap not expecting much but felt my heart jump at familiar cold jagged edge of 'ol George Washington but WAIT- WHAT'S THIS??? IT'S SLIDING- THERE CAN'T BE TWO IN THERE, COULD THERE BE? Yes there was and strangely enough some quarters had become lodged up on the machine and dumped out a couple dollars into my shaking clammy palms. I felt the now of so familiar rush of endorphins and adrenalin and ran light speed to the bathroom to count my booty. I was sure to to go to juvenile hall if anyone found out and if you can believe it, at like 12 years old, I stuffed all those dirty coins into my underpants. Looking back what a filthy bastard I was.

From then on you literally could not get a minute on any machine I lay claim to without going through me (which was impossible) and despite being a little scrawny bag of bones I never got beat up. Actually, looking back, I am damn impressed with that little bit of history. Im telling you guys sf2 and MK were legit, but nothing NOTHING ever came close to Killer Instinct. For over a year I owned souls and eventually retired on top. No clue how good I am now as I haven't found one single KI arcade in over a decade (1997 actually, since my damn memory insists on getting stupid details annoyingly right all the time) but I bet with Sabrewolf I am still pretty fierce.

Interesting trip through the way back machine Barry. It was obviously only a matter of time before you sauntered on over and found a new home here. As one of DDs much better posters I hope you stay.

What do say Barry? Do you choochoochoose PFA? In the event of a stalemate I present to you the ultimate tiebreaker-

I've heard people argue this before and simply don't see it. Mortal Kombat owned everything.

[DABADASS]

I remember in 4th grade my friend brought up the idea of betting money on college football games. I thought it was the best idea I ever heard. I always loved gambling and sports, which is why sports betting is like uber crack for me. I remember in 6th grade the Padres were playing the Yankees in the World Series. I was even a contrarian in 6th grade, and I told everyone that they were idiots for thinking the Yankees would win. I ended up putting like $50 on the Padres (at even money), when they were probably a huge dog. I ended up losing, and I had to basically look for coins all over my house to pay for it.

Then I discovered poker and the rest is history. There was no greater rush than the first year playing poker. It was an incredible feeling. It's something I'll probably never get back. Even betting five figures on sporting events didn't seem to do it for me.

[hutmaster]

-My first foray into the world of gambling came via POGS, the game where you would stack circular discs of cardboard into towers same side up and and hit the pile with a brass/metal/plastic/rubber 'slammer', getting to keep whichever POGS flipped over. If it was down to a shorter stack of POGS, you would use a lighter 'slammer' and for one remaining POG you would use a really thin tool to sort of pry the POG over. I was a shark and eventually nobody for play me for keeps. All that really mattered was how deadly your slammer arsenal was.

-Then came 8th-9th grade when friends and I would play pool, bet sports games for $5-$10 each.

-Then, being rich white kids in North Carolina, we started gambling on golf. Definitely -EV for me, lost a lot of money.

-Got into NLHE around Moneymaker time, played and watched nonstop and won a lot of money playing $20-50 buy-in cash games. Subsequently went to Vegas a couple of times, did okay in $2-$5 NL and then got into mixed games with a home game crowd. Was playing $10-$20 HORSE + 2-7 every Thursday night before moving to Nepal. Occasionally would play in NL games around town for similar stakes.

-Since being in Nepal, I bet sports occasionally and play Indian marriage for money. Lots of fun and definitely +EV for anybody who knows their way around cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Marriage

What the hell do you do in Nepal? I went to college with Siddharta Rana, who was a close friend of Prince Paras until Paras beat the crap out of him several years ago. I think he is still one of the richest men in Nepal....Chairman of the Soaltee Group.

[shortbuspoker]

I've heard people argue this before and simply don't see it. Mortal Kombat owned everything.

You have a good point as far as a player vs player game that the MK series was better. KI and KI2 had such ridiculously long combos that if you didn't get the breaker in you would lose up to 3/4 of your energy at once so if you ever got caught it was basically over.

[DRK Star]

When I was 15



Banged my GF without a rubber.

No STD's and no preggo.

I won

[Ricky]

I caught the gambling bug early in life at a family gathering.

Nickle and dime 5 draw poker, and a game called ship-captain-crew were the culprits. I turned a begged-for-and-begrudgingly-given-because-you-will-just-lose-it dollar from my dad into an entire coffee mug of nickles dimes quarters with even a few dollars too. It was beginners luck to the max, because at the end, my uncles were earnestly trying to relieve me of my winnings (if only to teach me that you WILL lose when gambling also) but I broke em all of their pocket change, one by one.

After that night, I was the kid in 5th grade that would bring a deck to school to play during lunch, or at recess, or on the bus. I was totally hooked on gambling.

The next step in my progression was BASEBALL CARDS. I know right? Not gambling right? Well, it sure felt like it to me. I was fortunate enough to get a 1990 Upper Deck Ben McDonald error that at the time, was worth over 60 dollars. I opened the pack, found the card, turned around and traded it for like two boxes of upper deck packs.

The standard progression ensued, in high school we played all types of poker, with the insidious in-between/acey duecy always in the fold (and, a point of contention for many an argument, that game can conspire to break ALL players, putting all the money in the middle....I have seen it happen!).

That same Baseball card gamble feeling was later attained when I turned 18.......and delved into the crack cocaine of the lotto, scratch offs lol. I blew 50 to 100 dollars at a time on Fridays, all because I used to kill one ticket in particular (monopoly) but after that game was gone, all I did was lose lol obv.

My "gambling" reached its peak well before the Moneymaker online poker boom. we would gamble on anything and everything. Including what color car would get caught at the next stoplight, or whether a certain song will be found on the radio at an exact moment. Crazy bets, and it was a ton of fun.

When online poker came around, all of it stopped. I just played poker.

Now, god bless the USA, I don't even do that.

Fuck.

PS: The last uncle that tried to break me that night in 1984, still to this day considers me a lucky-lil-shit, and has bought pieces of me online, had me place bets when I went to Vegas, and always buys me lotto tickets as gifts (but we split it, you lucky lil-shit!). I really truly believe that our bond hearkens back to that family gathering, and that very first game of poker I played. Had I lost that night, who knows if I would even be here typing this.

[shortbuspoker]

The next step in my progression was BASEBALL CARDS. I know right? Not gambling right? Well, it sure felt like it to me. I was fortunate enough to get a 1990 Upper Deck Ben McDonald error that at the time, was worth over 60 dollars. I opened the pack, found the card, turned around and traded it for like two boxes of upper deck packs.

error cards were always a win

[JimmyG_415]

I'm from a gambling family,
@ 8 yrs old I knew standard BJ,
going to grandma's for the weekend was like going to a casino, only I always went home w/$$$, so thought I was good.

1st trip to Tahoe-18 yrs old- thought I'd own a piece of the casino by the time I left,
lost like $ 100 in 2 hours,
long ass drive home

[408Mike]

I've heard people argue this before and simply don't see it. Mortal Kombat owned everything.

You have a good point as far as a player vs player game that the MK series was better. KI and KI2 had such ridiculously long combos that if you didn't get the breaker in you would lose up to 3/4 of your energy at once so if you ever got caught it was basically over.

Yeah, and tough as nails players learn all the ins and outs of both combo breaking and avoidance. With Spinal I could beat the game 3-4 times in a row, with Sabretooth it might take a buck or two. Those two players had a very strong edge against the rest of the field. Fulgor ended up being the coulda/shoulda IMO, too many variables had to be right in order to get his combos to work. MK was pivotal because it reinvented the fighting Genre which SF2 essentially created. It added a 3 dimensional feel to the game and some very diverse players. I thought it was tits until I learned that fucking Sub Zero combo (there were a couple ways to do it but essentially jump kick uppercut freeze uppercut freeze jump kick slide back kick) and then the game was so pathetically easy I lost interest. With sub zero on an arcade console I was (and probably am) invincible.

Now Killer Instinct on the other hand took all of MK's strengths and made them better with the inclusion of Combo's, combo breakers and a few other assorted tricks. Players were even MORE diverse, the colors were fantastic and you had fatalities and you could make the guy dance, a whole bunch of shit. If you loved MK then KI was actually IMO MK2. I never got into the later mortal combat games, I didn't like them at all.

I can't say for sure but you guys were probably nowhere near the level I was at. I'm telling you, I used to play crazy asians bankrolled by older family members and I destroyed them completely. Video games are like a raw talent for me. I started out getting my first nintendo when I was 8 (thanks Mom!) and over the next few years I made it a hobby to buy whatever new games came out, take them home and beat them within 24hours without ever having read the instruction manual. My mom hated me for it. Said I was wasting money, not getting enough value out of the games or something.

In my 20's I used to race people for cash with the following terms- cars have to be similar though I will give up to a 10% edge to you, whatever game whatever track I want three practice laps to learn the turns and then it's on. I bet between 20-100 per race and never *NEVER* in 5 years or so lost.

Of course that's not to say I was racing pros (though I have a few times and won/lost pretty evenly) I was kind of like prime Fedor going after the UF scrubs but then again, anyone can win at anytime if you think about it. I just happen to know when it comes to racing games I have a strong edge at high speed, I make few mistakes, and I never buckle under pressure. You think some formula1 car is so crazy fast and you smoke the computer so you are on fire right? I am your extinguisher- I guarantee it. Also most players end up going off course at some point because I get ahead, they try to go way too fast in a straightaway, forget that they need to break early to make a hairpin and poof the race is mine outright. I didn't even give a shit what game it was, GT was my fave series but I played all the others including midnight run and some gran prix games. EXCEPT NASCAR I fucking HATE nascar in all forms video game or live. Only Amercians could invent such an idiotic way to kill time and waste braincells.

Whoever thinks they got the stuff I still race from time to time. SF2, KI, MK, GT, whatever, let's do it! I ain't delaware yet!

[JinxedChoker]

At 14 I was an arcade shark. I remember having my own bankroll of like $50 all in quarters which, at the time, might as well have been a literal goldmine. My buddy Angel and I used to troll around cutting class and would tai the bus to a couple local malls and these malls invariably had arcades and my ADD riddled brain was instantly and fatally in love.

I used to (and still do) take on all comers at street fighter 2. I get ken, you pick whoever, left or right side doesn't matter- YOU'RE DONE. I had a win steak when SF2 turbo came out of 28 wins which, if you consider each win represented a new opponent and even the worst players can be surprisingly good at times, was remarkable, even to this day. I will absolutely throw down however much cash I have on hand and play anyone at anytime if it's sf2.

The funny part is actually how I got my bankroll started- you ever see that kid who looks sad and pathetic cuz he hasn't got any money to play so he walks around hopelessly reaching into the quarter returns just praying to get lucky? That was me, except one day I hit a mini-jackpot of like $2.75 in one fell swoop and never looked back! I still remember sticking my finger past the little black metal flap not expecting much but felt my heart jump at familiar cold jagged edge of 'ol George Washington but WAIT- WHAT'S THIS??? IT'S SLIDING- THERE CAN'T BE TWO IN THERE, COULD THERE BE? Yes there was and strangely enough some quarters had become lodged up on the machine and dumped out a couple dollars into my shaking clammy palms. I felt the now of so familiar rush of endorphins and adrenalin and ran light speed to the bathroom to count my booty. I was sure to to go to juvenile hall if anyone found out and if you can believe it, at like 12 years old, I stuffed all those dirty coins into my underpants. Looking back what a filthy bastard I was.

From then on you literally could not get a minute on any machine I lay claim to without going through me (which was impossible) and despite being a little scrawny bag of bones I never got beat up. Actually, looking back, I am damn impressed with that little bit of history. Im telling you guys sf2 and MK were legit, but nothing NOTHING ever came close to Killer Instinct. For over a year I owned souls and eventually retired on top. No clue how good I am now as I haven't found one single KI arcade in over a decade (1997 actually, since my damn memory insists on getting stupid details annoyingly right all the time) but I bet with Sabrewolf I am still pretty fierce.

Interesting trip through the way back machine Barry. It was obviously only a matter of time before you sauntered on over and found a new home here. As one of DDs much better posters I hope you stay.

What do say Barry? Do you choochoochoose PFA? In the event of a stalemate I present to you the ultimate tiebreaker-

I've heard people argue this before and simply don't see it. Mortal Kombat owned everything.

UMK3 was the best MK out of them all but it isn't played at a high level anymore. SuperTurbo still is in Japan...thats one hell of a shelf life but. MK9 is going to be one of the games at the:http://shoryuken.com/2012/01/03/intr...nament-season/ but I am pretty sure the company who made is bailed on any future patches/balances so I am pretty sure it will be a one more year and one game once people break it. It sucks that Evo isn't having any of the older games anymore I used to love watching old SuperTurbo, TekkenTag and 3rd Strike footage but kids love the new(er) fighters so I guess thats what they are going to have. I'd consider playing SuperTurbo for some money as long as it isn't HD Remix since they removed E.Hondas Corner Ochio setup...there is some setups where you can get still get big damage off of the throw though: DeepCrossup RoundHouse, 2x crouching Light, Fierce Hundred Hands, Fierce Ochio Throw but I can't piano hundred hands too well to execute.

[Corrigan]

Speaking of video games, the original Quake 1 might have been the best multiplayer game I ever played. I played that a tonnnn as a freshman in college vs. everyone else in our local network (maybe 12 dorm buildings or something). Was really great, certain levels were good headsup levels, etc. The quakes after that, halo, etc. never really seemed to be as good a pure strategy/action game as the original quake. Anyone get in on it?

[XteraveX]

yeah what's up Barry... my 1st gambling experience was betting a football ticket off a friend in high school...i picked 5 teams and won 4 of them.... lost the Pittsburg Steelers--KC chiefs game when the Steelers were crushing teams.... also had Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs they covered easily can't remember other 2 teams...1 pro, 1 college