So are they for real or a scam ?

You better know how to play. I won't touch em'. My brother-in-law wins $200 to $350 a week.

THey are real. I like Party Poker. I have won some decent cash.

they are for real... ANYONE is free to go to their websites and lose money. there's no discrimination in that respect.  whether or not youre one of the few people who make some money is another thing.

Keep in mind the ways to cheat online,

3-4 people in the same office teling each other what their cards are.
The same cheat by phone and confrence call.
Also instant messaging.

And that's with a full table. Just two cheaters can gain a big advantage at a partially full table.

Not only can they reveal cards the other player can't get, they can bet up the hand, then fold, splitting the won cash later.

Sadly, private poker games in person are even worse. Cheating live is very easy.

A good casino game is probably the best bet. Give the house a small percentage to keep it clean.  

Yes, they are for real.  I've won thousands of dollars on them over the course of the last couple of years, however I have never withdrawn the money.  I just keep playing so my balance goes up and down.  I've probably only put a few hundred dollars into it.

I have personally witnessed friends win THOUSANDS of dollars in a single tournament with only a $20 buy in.  You definitely should know how to play well if you're going to play for real money online.  My suggestion is to start small... like with $50 and see how far you can get with that.  You'll probably burn through it quickly, but as time progresses, you'll learn how people play online and you'll get better.  I often times play 2 games at a time (my computer has 2 monitors so I can watch and play both simulatiously).  Nothing will make you better other than practice.  Online you can rake hundreds of hands much quicker than in person.

Quoted: Keep in mind the ways to cheat online, 3-4 people in the same office teling each other what their cards are. The same cheat by phone and confrence call. Also instant messaging. And that's with a full table. Just two cheaters can gain a big advantage at a partially full table. Not only can they reveal cards the other player can't get, they can bet up the hand, then fold, splitting the won cash later. Sadly, private poker games in person are even worse. Cheating live is very easy. A good casino game is probably the best bet. Give the house a small percentage to keep it clean.

Those points are definitely true but they can be avoided in online play by playing tournaments instead of cash games.

At Party Poker, the Sit-and-Go single table tournaments fill up MUCH to fast to coordinate with even one other person to sit at the same table, much less three or four people. Believe me, I have tried. They just fill too fast. If I sit down at one, by the time I tell a partner what table I am at, have him find it, and sit down as well, the table has filled. It is almost impossible. Now, at some of the smaller inline poker sites, suck as Paradise Poker, the Sit-and-Gos don't fill as fast and it isn't too difficult to sit down at the same one as a friend, but if you stick to Party Poker, it is safe.

At multi-table tournaments, 500 to over 1000 people enter. That is 50 to 100 tables in the tournament. Your chances of being seated with a co-conspirator are quite small, so this is not an effective method of cheating either. Doesn't matter which site you use for these.

The cash games online are a totally different story. Since the tables do not get locked, as in a tournament or Sit-and-Go, and people can sit down and get back from them whenever they like, people can easily load a table up with their friends and collude.

Bottom line is don't play cash games online. Stick to tournament formats at any of the sites or Sit-and-Gos at Party Poker, and you will be in an honest enough game.

i play online all of the time.  most of the time is isnt for real money, but i have won money in the past.  i put in $50 to start with and ended up with about $150.  i took out my hundred and it has gone up and down since then.  as long as you play tight, it really isnt that hard to make money.

Quoted: Those points are definitely true but they can be avoided in online play by playing tournaments instead of cash games. At Party Poker, the Sit-and-Go single table tournaments fill up MUCH to fast to coordinate with even one other person to sit at the same table, much less three or four people. Believe me, I have tried. They just fill too fast. If I sit down at one, by the time I tell a partner what table I am at, have him find it, and sit down as well, the table has filled. It is almost impossible.

Not so.  I've done it COUNTLESS times with 2 other friends at the same time.  You might not all hit the same table in time on the first try, but then you just don't click the 'buy in' and try another table.  It usually only take 2 or 3 times at the most.  You just wait until a bunch of tables open up at the same time.  It just takes some fast mouse clicking.  If one of your buddies computers is a little slow however, it become more difficult.  Everyone's got to have a pretty fast computer (no dial up).

Still, this doesn't guarantee that everyone (you and your friends) will win money.  It only helps increase your chances a little and only the last 3 standing win (at the single table sit-n-gos).  Then you have to decide who's going to fold when more than one of you have a good hand.  It takes some 'mastering' to figure it out.  Eventually, you get good enough where you're able to give one of your buddies some of your 'stack' if he's low and you know how to bet so others will fold.

I've been doing this for a LONG LONG time.

Even still... There are thousands of games going on at the same time and the chances of it affecting you are slim.  I've played at tables where I'm absolutely certain that players are colluding and have still come in first place (or 2nd or 3rd even).  It shouldn't discourage you that people are doing this, but it's good to be aware that it happens.  I see it happen all the time b/c I watch players betting behavior closely and always check what city they're in (even though that's not always an accurate indicator).

This type of colluding happens though even in real life casino poker.  I play every so often at the Hard Rock and there's always people helping eachother out at the tables.  The 'house' doesn't really look for cheater to hard because they are only cheating against the other players.  The house loses nothing from cheaters in poker.

I have won a few thousand over the last couple of months on Poker Stars.  I quit playing recently, though, due to it being very time consuming to win any substantial amount of money.  I play live pretty regularly, though, which I find much more lucrative from a money/time invested perspective.

my bro in law and a buddy have both won a few grand...

I paid for my AR with poker money.  I play pretty regularly on Party Poker.

Cheaters are actually MUCH easier to catch online than they are in a real cardroom, because the site knows exactly how often two players sit together and they know when you begin to act strangely.  If you are normally a solid player and you consistently "bet up the pot" while holding trash when another player whom you play with often has a strong hand, you can get banned from sitting at the same table with that player.  I know of several people who have been refunded money lost when Party (or affiliated sites) found evidence of collusion between opponents.

Quoted: Cheaters are actually MUCH easier to catch online than they are in a real cardroom, because the site knows exactly how often two players sit together and they know when you begin to act strangely.

I've heard this too however I've got 4 friends that I play with online FREQUENTLY at the same table. We don't ALL play together always, but there's 2 of them who I sit at the same tame VERY VERY FREQUENTLY.  There have been times where I've even folded an obviously winning hand just so that my friend can rake the pot in.  There was a period of about an entire month where 3 of us played on the same tables several nights per week.  I'm not bragging b/c I'm sure it's possible to get caught, but we've been doing it for a long time.

One thing that I do know for sure is that if you ever sign on to your account from a friends computer, and if that friend also has his own account, the site will block the 2 of you from ever playing at the same table (or in the same tournament) FOREVER.  It happened to me.

Quoted: So are they for real or a scam ?

Playing against the house is a scam (black jack). Playing against others who are not as good as you are (e.g., poker) is a real way to make money if your smart and disciplined.  if you don't know why, then you definately should not play online and you should read a few books on poker.

Partypoker  is one of the biggest, but I've not heard anything bad about the smaller sites liek pokerstars. full tilt, or ultimate bet.