You can earn cards as well as its in game currency DEC just by playing the game. DEC you earn can be converted to Steem (or other crypto). When you earn cards some are more valuable than others. It is random and most days the cards you receive are only worth a few cents. However, twice last year I got really lucky and won cards that were worth about $70 a piece.

There is a marketplace for buying and selling the cards. Last year the price of Steem was sinking and the price of cards was going up. So by selling off cards that I had earned, I naturally accumulated large amounts of Steem.

I only had around 50 Steem when I started playing which was from blogging / commenting back when Steem was worth several dollars.

Sorry I was a no show in the second iteration of your reps challenge. I was working out frequently at the time. I just didn't feel like counting and typing up reps. I always enjoy reading your posts and in particular I like the baseball ones the most.