The only way most people can play poker right now is either online or in a cushy casino where you sit in comfortable chairs and people fetch drinks for you. We want to put poker players in intense conditions to see how they perform.
Poker is an endurance sport and we have just made it harder, no one can doubt that playing poker in subzero temperatures, with very little light, requires the utmost concentration, patience and mental stamina.
It will be interesting to see what's more important to the players: chip stacks or comfort level. There's a lot more strategy in Extreme Poker than in a normal tournament.