There is only a thrill in gambling when you have a chance to lose.
It is not actually the winning that drives the gambling, it is the excitement that you get from the chance of winning and losing when gambling.
If you play for play money, there will be little excitement.
I agree that there is no thrill if you can't lose money but I also think there is better ways for thrill and fun and that's why I don't buy whole "i gamble for fun" reason.
Beside, whoever entered casino for first time in his life didn't do it because of thrill, he entered casino because someone bragged with big win or something. No one remembers thrill and loses next day and everyone remembers only how much money they've won.
I used to play poker with my friends and I can tell you that the difference between playing without money and playing with just a little bit (like 1 € or 1 $) is huge. When we were playing with just chips nobody cared a lot about the result and were going all in pretty loose. Then, we started playing Sit and Goes with just 1 € (plus 1 rebuy) and people were playing tighter and they were more thrilled, even though 1 € is nothing for us.
People play different when they want to win money no matter how small amount is. They care about their money and they want to win money, otherwise you and your friends would have go all in - after all it is very small amount, right? Correct me if I am wrong.
Money brings fun factor to gambling, without money it can't be called gambling,I agree on that but I don't agree that people are gambling only for fun and not to win money.
Simply because when you play with real money you are gambling, and when you are playing without real money you are just playing... The excitement feeling is different, your imagination doesn't go ahead. Even if you gamble for fun, your imagination creates different possibilities, like winning some nice amount of money. It "plays" with our brain, our emotional. Without money makes no sense, losing, winning... Both will result in nothing.
Gamblers play to feel satisfaction in the end, without money they won't feel anything...
I don't see any logic in playing game which purpose is only to win or lose money and saying that you are not doing it for money. After all, many people are using dicebots and scripts to play, so tell me, where is fun in that if everyone plays for fun?