When you observe a few poker players talking from a distance you will notice they talk a lot about money. You might think that they are shallow people obsessed by money and I guess some of them are :), but not more than in any other part of society. Money in poker is the only possibility to keep score, it is used as a tool to reward achievements. And in any competitive environment people will discuss their achievements. So if a poker player tells you he won a considerable amount in a tournament you can see it as bragging, but you can also interpret it as a marathon runner telling you he finished a marathon in under 3 hours. As a poker player you can not be attached to money, no matter how good you are there will always be huge fluctuations in your finances. Losing attachment to money is considered to be a bad thing in society but i think it can be extremely liberating as long as you don't go to the extent that you create debts.
Money is a controversial subject to discuss especially in this day and age with so many people in debt. Nevertheless we are all judgmental about the way people earn it, what they earn and what they spend it on including me.
The Dutch are extremely proud on the fact they save a lot and when they see someone barely spending any money only buying necessities they say that person is good with money. For me money has no value when it is not spend but used as some sort of false sense of security. I wouldn't want to die and conclude the biggest achievement of my life is some number on some bank account. In the end money is only a tool to help us achieve ambitions, gain experiences and pay for the basic needs in life (food/ shelter/healthcare/ transportation). There are other reasons why people value money i wont go into detail on all of them but here is a list i could think of:
- a sense of security
- a status symbol
- increased self-worth
- maintaining a certain lifestyle
- financing an addiction
- getting women :)
I am going to focus on the first part, a lot of people say they dream of financial independence which is a rare exception. People tend to adjust their lifestyle to how much money they have and with the uncertain value of money due to inflation, an unstable economy and a failing financial sector it will stay a dream for most. Humans are group people and the way to survive before we invented money was to live in harmony with your tribe, I think this is still true today. Real security in life comes from a big social circle that supports you when times are tough. Most homeless people on the street are living there because of a lack of social support not just financial despair. If you want real security, spend some more time networking instead of actually working!
ps.. If poker horribly fails for me I need a couch to sleep on or a garage to life in for a while, don't let me down guys! :)
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