I think Hellmuth and Matusow are true jerks, precisely because they have psychological problems (maybe self-esteem issues, maybe others too) that they don't get treated. Matusow talks about lots of medication, but he doesn't talk about being in serious psychotherapy. I don't think Hellmuth could even get his ego in check long enough to consider psychotherapy at all.
The poker world really does attract some sick people, in the same way alcohol or other activities that are quickly and easily abused do. This is why I make the distinction between the higher limits and the baby stakes. At baby stakes, you find lots of good people who aren't really immersed in the poker world but are merely vacationing for a weekend. in it. At the higher stakes, there are mostly people who have psychological problems that compel them to be there (or, they are semi-pros trying to take advantage of those psychological problems).
Either way, it's not something I want to be a part of. Perhaps roryk eventually convinced me — people playing poker are generally all pretty sick people most of the time.
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Date: 2007-06-19 16:44 (UTC)I think Hellmuth and Matusow are true jerks, precisely because they have psychological problems (maybe self-esteem issues, maybe others too) that they don't get treated. Matusow talks about lots of medication, but he doesn't talk about being in serious psychotherapy. I don't think Hellmuth could even get his ego in check long enough to consider psychotherapy at all.
The poker world really does attract some sick people, in the same way alcohol or other activities that are quickly and easily abused do. This is why I make the distinction between the higher limits and the baby stakes. At baby stakes, you find lots of good people who aren't really immersed in the poker world but are merely vacationing for a weekend. in it. At the higher stakes, there are mostly people who have psychological problems that compel them to be there (or, they are semi-pros trying to take advantage of those psychological problems).
Either way, it's not something I want to be a part of. Perhaps![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
roryk eventually convinced me — people playing poker are generally all pretty sick people most of the time.