People play poker for different reasons. If you want to play poker then you must want to win and bring the money home.

Winning poker is all about getting the prize money. It is not about playing to win a bunch of poker titles from different tournaments. In one way or another, these might happen but this is now how and why you play to win. Winning poker is the science and the art of taking more money that what you put on risk on the poker table. You risk your money in very calculated ways and aim to end up with more money than when you started the game.

Some players will say that they are not playing for money, then they might be playing for something else, like their ego or some other goals.

Self confidence is vital in winning poker while playing to feed your ego will not do your game any good.

You really do not have to care why other players play poker but if you want to win and make most out of your game, you need to be honest and be motivated to play for money. Your ego should be somewhere else so you will not be distracted while playing. Playing for ego is wasting your time when you can be winning spendable money all along.

People who are reading this right now may also think playing for money does not conflict with playing for one’s ego. But you should remember that the right thing for your ego might not be the right stuff for your bankroll. When you play for your ego, you will have the tendency to play way above what your bankroll can take, play too long, defend blinds against specific opponents, or acting differently against some opponents.

What is important is that you play poker to win.