[Blarg]

I agree that for almost all people, poker is definitely not about the money.

It's about socializing and getting out of the house, having a safe place to get drunk and ogle girls in, having a chance to feel smarter than others or blessed by God with your incredible luck, the stimulation of all the noise and people and general hope and desperation in the air, the illusion that you might strike it at least a little bit rich, at least for a day -- anything but money!

If it were about money, people wouldn't move up so quickly in limits on games they don't even know well, would care about the math, would study the games very seriously, would be flooding the 2+2 forums literally by the millions, wouldn't drink while playing or walk in the door stoned, and wouldn't throw cute girls chips at the table. They would play games that were the most profitable for them, not the most fun for them. They would treat it like something they did for money, not for almost every other reason under the sun.