You’re ready to deposit online. Your credit card is in your lap, you’ve casually glanced to memorize its three or four-digit code on the back, and have carefully entered in your name, address, and telephone number on an online poker site’s sign-up screen. But wait, you’re not eligible to sign up for the room or, worse yet, you go through the trouble of depositing only to find out the site has no action to speak of. How could you have avoided this sticky situation in the first place? Here are a few helpful points to keep in mind before selecting an online poker site.

Is the Site Available in Your Jurisdiction?

You probably read this heading and went, “duh,” to yourself. However, a variety of online poker sites are not available in all regions for various reasons. For example, sites like PartyPoker, Ladbrokes, and Pacific Poker do not accept players from the United States. The same is true for Microgaming Network, iPoker Network, and Boss Media Network sites. Svenska Spel is owned by the government of Sweden, but you’d never know it if you lived outside of the European nation. Countries around the world vary on their stance towards internet gambling, so be sure that a site allows customers from your homeland before going through the process.

If you have any doubt, ask the site’s support team. They are extremely knowledgeable on the topic and most likely have a database they can search through to discern whether gambling online in your country will cause a problem. It’s not worth going to jail over, is it? Or having your internet service provider shut off your access to cyberspace forever? The easiest way to avoid any trouble is to check before you sign up.

Are there Any Players on the Site?

Each online poker room has a varying degree of liquidity, or number of players perusing its virtual felts. Whether that number is large enough to satiate your poker yearnings depends on what game you’re looking to play. Many sites will have an ample number of No Limit Hold’em cash game players. However, once you expand beyond that version of poker into Limit Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, and Stud, your options will become much more limited. An excellent resource is PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs of traffic across the major sites. You can even tell what varieties and limits of cash game tables are running at all times.

Moreover, if you’re a tournament player, then you need to choose wisely. Very few online poker sites have tournaments with a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool or larger, usually the largest rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker do offer such tournaments. If you can’t afford the $200 buy-in, then this probably doesn’t matter to you anyway. The variety of tournaments at lower buy-ins also differs significantly among sites, so check with others who play on the room already or post in an online poker forum like PocketFives.com or TwoPlusTwo.com to find out more. If the room does not have what you’re looking for, then don’t sign up.

Is it Trustworthy?

In an age of economic drought, the trustworthiness of a site is of paramount importance. The online poker site in question will likely need to be licensed by an organization like the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. If it’s not licensed by a governing body, then take your money elsewhere. In addition, review its cashout policies. Are there limits on withdrawals? Can you cash out easily using a method that is available to you? Does it cost money to do so? If so, how much? Has the site had any issues in the past? Using Google is a great way to research past problems, as is asking your friends and peers. If you money isn’t safe, seek an alternative place to play.