I think to be completely honest no one gambles to "make it interesting" or to have "some skin in the game" or whatever bullshit anyone wants to call it. People gamble for money, If money is not the motivator then you're probably not much of a gambler. I gamble often at pool, cards and golf. I generally win more than I lose. Do I need it to pay my mortgage, nope, but I get jazzed to win a few bucks. hell I won $70 and lunch today playing golf. It was an honest bet and I played well but I am not going to fool anyone to think that it wasn't about the money. I am not playing anyone for any great amount. That's not why I do it.
Your post is a little confusing. Not calling you out specifically cuz I've seen similar things said,
many times from many people.
If it's "not any great amount" and you don't bet enough to make anyone hurt,
then why were you jazzed to win $70? You don't strike me as a guy for who gets a ton of joy
from seventy bucks. If that much disappeared from your bank account, would anything really change
in your life? Would you have to cut back on something, or sell something, or skip something?
I think if the amount is "Not any great amount" then it's fair to say it really ISN'T about the money.
And plenty of people do bet just to make interesting. My buddy and I made worthless $1 and $5 side bets
on the maryland straight pool for example, silly stuff like "I bet $1 toasty is out in under 3 innings".
That absolutely is just for fun and not about the money. Or it's a weird form of competition, instead of
using beads or a scoresheet, you use dollar bills to keep score.