Poker Sites should be looked at exactly - and I mean exactly the same way you would look at a bank before doing business.

Find out if your money is insured, safe, accessible ect before ever depositing.

If you select a poker site that you wouldn't feel equally comfortable holding your money as your bank - likely a bad idea.

How many of us would deposit thousands of dollars in an offshore 3rd world country bank that wasn't FDIC insured ?

When online poker is legalized and regulated - they regulations they will fall under will likely be 99% those of a bank. A poker site is actually a bank that just shuffles around who owns what - while they keep the vig and utilize the deposits as lending opportunity profit - just as a bank does.

Can you imagine how many scams and schemes would be out there if our banking was regulated as online poker was for the last few years - very scary.

Poker sites are so close to banks with regards to process - I'm surprised some of the large banks are building subsidiaries to branch out into legal poker - they would likely be much more positioned to manage a sites funds better than the Locke pokers of the world.

Rod