high stakes poker tv show

[ThatJimGuy]

My thoughts are that the show is kinda a work. I mean, in Schoomaker's book, "The Psycology of Poker" isn't the first rule of playing poker to beat up on the little guys and NOT to play against so many good players? To me, it makes no sense that these guys would actually bother to beat up on each other for the money or even for thier egos. Are they being sponsored by outside sources for the sake of the show and therefore, a bit more carefree?