Do they play for real money on the High Stakes Poker streams?

After Mike Wasserson and Michael "Texas Mike" Monchek played a record-breaking pot of $4,260,000 on the High Stakes Poker stream, people once again raised the question: do the participants really play with real money?

Even before this record pot, Patrick Leonard wrote on Twitter: "High-roller livestreams are so alien to outsiders because... Well, what does it mean that you just raised an amount equal to funding three kids' education for life, and then called a 3-bet worth two apartments with T9o?"

After the hand between Monchek and Wasserson, American regular Allen Kessler didn't go so far as to allege it was staged, but he posted a poll: "Do you believe the multi-million dollar pots on High Stakes Poker are completely real, or do you feel there's something else going on that we're all unaware of?". 6,788 people voted in the poll, 53.3% of them believe such pots are real, and 46.7% think the action is fake.

Michael Monchek himself showed up in the comments under Kessler's post and replied: "I can assure you it's real money". Texas Mike also noted that he plays with his own funds, not sponsors' money. And to one user's question, "Are you Wasserson's backer?", the high roller responded with: "I damn well wish I were".

PokerGO CEO Brent Hanks also replied to Kessler, inviting him to the stream: "Lol. There are at least 1,600 brainless whiners gathered here [in the poll]. Come next time, Allen, see for yourself."

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