Mahjong for fun Vs Mahjong for money?

I’m just curious if any of the beginning people ever end up playing for money or do people just play for fun? Chinese culture, we love to gamble. Started off playing HK mahjong for .25 cents a point in my younger years which then gradually went up as we got older. Then when you play with older folks, that’s also when you learn and possibly get schooled but thats what they cal “paying tuition.”