> Do you not play any other games seriously? When you're playing a video game or a board game do you also just not bother trying to win because there's no money involved?

I am competitive and will try to play seriously without money. I don’t know but the quality of game seems to be significantly higher (eg people play more seriously) when real money is involved online or offline. So I just don’t play poker without real money. I acknowledge that this can be a false heuristic.

> Why do people take exception to this for poker but not for any other games?

Maybe because risk management is such a core part of the game and having real money involved makes the risks seem more “real”.