[Al_Capone_Junior]

Because of the notion that people can easily cheat online via cellphones, skype, instant messaging, multiple computers in the same household, and let's not forget those major jerkoffs at winholdem who think blatant cheating is just regular strategy, it's imperative that the rules online be considerably different than live game rules. Just the APPEARANCE of cheating online could be disastrous for the companies, thus the added security measures, many of which are designed just to make people FEEL BETTER. Most of the crap that does (or even could) happen online is completely irrelevant in a live cardroom, thus the rules are different.

It would be like trying to apply every single rule in the NFL to area football, it's the same basic game, football, but the context is so different that different rules are necessary, and for good reason.

al