What games started you on the path to poker? As a very young child, I played Five in a Row with my parents using a peg board built by my father, using golf tees painted red and white for the pieces. They called me “Eagle Eye” whenever I found a place to create a row of five or more pegs on the board. I thought they meant it at the time, and I blame that praise for my adult addiction to games.
What started you on your path to games of skill and chance?
I fondly remember games of Spin the Bottle with the neighbor girls.
Actually, there were a couple things. I grew up in a small town, that was always last to get the power back, when storms took it out. Some of my earliest memories are of playing poker by candlelight, mostly 5-card draw, though it was dealers choice. My sister would add wild cards, I liked Chicago (5-card draw with high spade getting half the pot), but dad kept trying to teach us bluffing and betting. He always picked games like 7 card stud or no peeking. I still remember him trying to teach me the concept of bluffing…think I was probably about 7 years old, lol. My mother and her best friend always played cards when they spent time together. I learned how to shuffle cards at a young age. I think I know pretty much every game of solitaire, since I found Hoyle’s Book of Cards a great read 
To this day, when the lights go out, I grab the playing cards.
There’s a true gateway story for sure!