Money is for poker. The other day when I was telling some friends about my hard weekend at the tables they seemed genuinely shocked. You know, the typical result, "I can't imagine spending $X in three days!!" I don't think they understand. I didn't spend it, I gambled it. When I go on a huge tear, I didn't earn it, I got lucky. Playing poker is what I do, I don't play so that I can do something else. As long as I have enough cash to pay the rent and buy food and beer, the rest goes toward playing poker.
Sure, it would be nice to win enough to buy a car, or a house, or a plane, whatever. That's not the point. When my friends were so shocked I tried to assuage their concerns with a nonchalant, "What was I going to do with that money anway, buy stuff?" After Stu Unger won the World Series of Poker for the first time he was asked by a reporter what he was going to do with the money. "Probably lose it," is what he replied with a giggle. Stu was and I am an action junkie. Actually, that's not exactly true. I do care about the money and the things it can pay for, like school and security for the future, but it's not of god-like importance to me.
My roomate told me that he would have been devastated if he had lost the sum of money I lost in the month of September. My thinking is that someone who would be so devastated by the loss never could have amassed that amount of winnings in the first place. Dollars are just a way of keeping score in the game of poker (see my Brunson qote from "Should Have...").
"The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing." - Nick 'The Greek' Dandalos
