PokerStars, PartyPoker WHATEVER! They are painstakingly similar in just about all areas. I have played at both for a lengthy period now. To pick one as a favorite over the other would be bias. I play brick and mortar at a nearby casino in Niagara Falls, NY. It's only 25 minutes from my home. I have been playing Poker for years now. For all you numbers people, I am sure you'll agree with me on most of the following issues.1. Number of hands vs. number of badbeats. Of course you are going to see some strange calls, badbeats, all-ins and you're also going to win and lose in roller coaster fashion while playing Poker online, because online play is literally 10 times faster than brick and mortar. With that in mind and considering you see 10 times as many hands per hour of play, you are going to see many more "against all odds" plays. You will also witness more "badbeats" and more ignorant play. If you calculate TOTAL number of hands for both brick and online play you would arrive at the same outcome..2. Badbeats happen online, occurs at my Casino just the same! I was recently playing in a No Limit game, brick and mortar, I had pocket Aces, the game was low key, and I would rate it fairly loose. I am in late position, 3 players before me just call, (no signs of slow play) I have only the blinds to consider, I decide to make them pay to see the flop, I push to $300 to avoid getting caught slow playing myself. Small blind drops as do the other 3 shooters, Big Blind calls! OK, he is proud of his pocket pair, that's precisely what I want. Assuming all flush and straight draws properly removed themselves from the hand we see the flop. Comes Ace, Five, Seven (rainbow). I shove my remaining stack in, about $360, three rockets, wow I am counting the pot already. BB calls me! OK, I have a rich stubborn wanna be poker player that is playing pride not Poker! Fourth was a 2 and river was an 8. This so-called Poker player had a 4 6 off!! No misprint! A 4 6o! I had to stop counting "my" pot and relinquish it to BB on what has to be the worst "badbeat" in my Poker career! This guy yanked a straight out of the Poker Heavens! Wouldn't have been as painful if he would have made a full house with a medium pair but, 4 6o! Get outta town! Sure, he is ignorant in Poker, sure he will drop his bankroll, (probably the same day) but I had to take the hit at the moment. I had to go home and complain to the gambling god's, "why me"? My point, Badbeats are just that, Bad! I have never found any good in a badbeat yet. They can and will happen online and in brick and mortar just the same. 3. Rigging online; Not happening. Why would these (PS & PP) highly profitable online poker sites have to rig the play? Poker has taken this country and the entire free world for that matter by storm! They are certainly not hurting for players. They win no matter what you do! So why risk being evaluated by professional companies and being tagged as "rigged"? What does occur and "player beware" is the most basic cheating, player collusion and phone or Instant Messaging cheating. That happens at brick and mortar as well. Physical signals at brick and mortar are commonplace. I have complained to Pokerstars about player collusion in single table sits. They informed me of their state of the art software that detects the frequency of players playing together, above average. The query they could not respond to was, "phone collusion" and the ongoing Instant Messaging problem. That I'm afraid is up to the individual player to detect and duly note in the "player notes". There are high speed areas to cramp the cheats style, but I doubt that has any real effect on the outcome.Pokerstars or Partypoker. . . .pick your site. Stay focused, absorb the good with the bad, have confidence in your ability and shake off those badbeats, it's all part of the game! One word of advice, playing in large money rooms most definitely increases the probability of collusion, etc. Stay in smaller priced rooms and enjoy yourself. Don't quit your day jobs either! I can be yelled at, [email]PaulsGTO@adelphia.net[/email]