Please help me understand the allure of online poker.

Seriously folks, help me understand this.  Is online poker really poker at all?  Isn't this game about sitting down at a table with real cards and real people?  I guess my seven year old probably thinks that Super Mario Kart Wii is really driving.

Maybe I'm just a simple donkey, but I'm not getting it.  If I'm going to blow $500K, I want at least a free drink to go with it.  Or maybe there's some equivalent comp that these guys are getting out of the whole deal that I don't know about.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's something more like this:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123538423 (or, for the scientists among you, this:  http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/02/02/0910230107.full.pdf+html?sid=d6712430-2ecd-42f8-929f-4c19d8046758).  And for the lazy-asses among you, the punchline is brain damage can lessen the natural aversion to risk-taking. Been dropped on you head lately?

[On a side note, for these studies "people" clearly does not = "poker players".  Take this as evidence:  "Across many studies, losses typically loom about 1.5-2 times as large as gains:  for instance, people will avoid gambles in which they are equally likely to either lose $10 or win $15..." (emphasis added)]

Now, before you start accusing me of getting all high and mighty by accusing online poker players with either being brain damaged or compulsive gamblers, I will reiterate that I play poker (the live version) every Friday night (and then some, if I can present a convincing argument to my wife and kids as to why that's necessary).  And I have no regulatory obligation to present anti-gambling messages on this blog (if you feel that you have a gambling problem, please visit http://www.harrahs.com/; they'll roll out the red carpet for you, Mr. Watanabe http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125996714714577317.html).

It's just that I really don't understand online poker.  Please help.