Who does this.

I was at a restaurant late one night. And I overheard two of the closers talking about the online poker game that they were currently playing. I started a conversation and one of them told me that a local card room was better than the casino. I said something about playing against drunks. And he said that he doesn’t play with drunks, only people that are as good or better than he his.

Is this actually a thing? I like money too much to understand this. I want to play against the worst there is. But what is the motivation to play against top players?