In order to be a poker player...

[AKQJ10]

Meh, hyperbole makes me want to go kill someone....

The point of course is at the table you should be able to disassociate the chips from the money they represent. That doesn't in any way preclude making EV calculations to try to win more of the clay chips. Just that you can't think (apologies to Sklansky and Miller) "I just lost 50 bucks! That's a new shirt!"

There are people who literally love gambling to show the money doesn't mean anything to them, and those are my favorite people to fleece at Foxwoods or the Borgata. You want conspicuous consumption, pal? I'll give a good gamble.