Method · version 1.0
How we review and score online casinos
Every rating on this site is produced the same way, against a fixed rubric, so two operators can be compared on the same terms. This page is the whole method. If you only read one part, read how commission is kept separate.
1. Which operators qualify
An operator is only considered in a market if it holds a current licence from that market's regulator. We locate it on that regulator's public register, read the licence status directly from there, and record the date we checked. An operator without a verified current licence for a market is not listed, reviewed or ranked in that market, whatever else it offers - and a licence verified in one market never makes it eligible in another. Sites that help players evade a market's self-exclusion scheme are out of scope entirely.
| Market | Regulator | Minimum age |
|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | Gambling Commission | 18+ |
| Ontario | Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario | 19+ |
The same eight categories and weights apply in every market, so a rating means the same thing wherever you read it. What changes is the evidence behind it.
2. The eight categories
A reviewer scores each category from 0 to 10 with a written justification stored alongside the operator. For every category the same five things are recorded: what we assess, why it matters, how the score is decided, the data that has to be present, and what counts as a verified check.
1. Licensing & safety
25% of the score- What we assess
- Whether the licence on the market regulator's public register is current and held by the company that runs the site, how openly the operator names its parent company and terms, and what its public complaints and enforcement history looks like.
- Why it matters
- The licence is what forces an operator to segregate player funds, honour withdrawals, run age and identity checks and join any self-exclusion scheme the market operates. A licence is jurisdiction-specific: one issued elsewhere guarantees nothing here.
- How it is scored
- A verified current licence is the baseline for a mid-range score. Marks are added for a clean enforcement record and clear ownership, and taken away for recent regulatory action, unclear terms or a history of withheld payouts.
- What counts as verified
- The operator located on the market regulator's public register and the licence status read directly from it.
2. Withdrawals
20% of the score- What we assess
- The stated payout time, the time we actually see on a test withdrawal where we have run one, any pending or reverse-withdrawal period before processing starts, whether weekends are processed, and any withdrawal caps.
- Why it matters
- A payout time only means something once the pending period and weekend gaps are added in. A "24 hour" withdrawal behind a 48 hour pending window and no weekend processing is really several days.
- How it is scored
- Tested times are used where we have them, stated times otherwise, and the operator file records which. Fast processing with no pending period scores highest; long pending windows, weekday-only processing and low caps pull the score down.
- What counts as verified
- The published withdrawal policy, plus a timed test withdrawal where one has been carried out.
3. Bonus value & fairness
15% of the score- What we assess
- The wagering requirement and what it counts against, game weighting, the maximum bet while a bonus is active, the time limit, any cap on what you can withdraw from bonus winnings, and how clearly the significant terms are shown.
- Why it matters
- The headline figure is the least important part of an offer. A large bonus with a high wagering requirement, a short window and a low max bet can be worth less than no bonus at all.
- How it is scored
- A reviewer works through the terms to estimate the real turnover required and how achievable it is. Clear terms, a realistic wagering multiple and a fair max bet score well; hidden conditions, short windows and low withdrawal caps score badly. An operator with no bonus is scored on the fairness of having nothing to clear, not penalised for it.
- What counts as verified
- The full bonus terms as published on the operator site, read in full rather than from the promotional summary.
4. Payments
10% of the score- What we assess
- Which deposit and withdrawal methods are supported, whether withdrawals can return by the same route as the deposit, minimum withdrawal amounts, and whether any common method carries a fee.
- Why it matters
- A short withdrawal list, or one that forces a slow bank transfer when you deposited by card, adds days to getting your money back regardless of the stated payout time.
- How it is scored
- A broad list covering cards, bank transfer and at least one e-wallet, with like-for-like withdrawals and a low minimum, scores well. Card-only operators and high minimums score lower.
- What counts as verified
- The cashier and payments help pages on the operator site.
5. Game range
10% of the score- What we assess
- The approximate number of titles, the spread of studios behind them, whether there is a live-dealer casino and how wide it is, and coverage of table games rather than only slots.
- Why it matters
- A large headline count padded with near-identical titles from one studio is worth less than a smaller, well-spread library. Provider spread is a better signal of range than the raw number.
- How it is scored
- Provider spread and live-dealer coverage carry more weight than the raw count. A deep library from a wide set of studios scores well; a thin or single-studio library scores lower.
- What counts as verified
- The game lobby and provider filters on the operator site.
6. Mobile experience
10% of the score- What we assess
- How the site or app performs on a phone: load speed, how usable the cashier and account tools are on a small screen, and whether anything available on desktop is missing on mobile.
- Why it matters
- Most play now happens on a phone. If deposit limits or withdrawal requests are harder to reach on mobile, the safer-gambling tools are effectively weaker for most users.
- How it is scored
- A fast, responsive site with full feature parity scores well. Slow loads, a cramped cashier or safer-gambling tools that are harder to find on mobile pull the score down.
- What counts as verified
- A hands-on session on a phone, checking the cashier, account limits and withdrawal flow.
7. Customer support
5% of the score- What we assess
- Which contact channels exist, the hours they are actually staffed, and how accurate and specific the answers are to a real question about terms or withdrawals.
- Why it matters
- Support matters most when something has gone wrong with a deposit or a withdrawal. "24/7 chat" that is thinly staffed overnight is not the same as round-the-clock help.
- How it is scored
- Several channels, genuinely wide hours and specific, correct answers score well. Email-only support, office-hours-only cover or vague answers score lower.
- What counts as verified
- The published contact options plus a test question put to the support team where possible.
8. Responsible gambling tools
5% of the score- What we assess
- Whether deposit limits, loss limits, stake limits, time-outs, reality checks and self-exclusion are offered, how quickly limits take effect, and how easy they are to find from the account page.
- Why it matters
- Every licensee in a regulated market has to offer the core tools, so the difference is in how complete the set is and how easy it is to use before a session, not after.
- How it is scored
- A complete toolset that is easy to reach and applies limits promptly scores well. A partial set, or tools buried in settings, scores lower even though the licence condition is technically met.
- What counts as verified
- The account and safer-gambling pages on the operator site, checking which tools are present and how limits are applied.
If a category cannot be scored yet, because the check has not been done or the operator has not published the data, the reviewer leaves it blank rather than guessing. A blank category means no overall figure is shown at all (see below), and the review is marked "Rating in progress".
3. The overall figure
The overall rating is the weighted average of the eight category scores, converted to a 0 to 5 scale:
overall_0_10 = sum(category_score * category_weight)
overall_0_5 = round(overall_0_10 / 2, 1 decimal)A worked example: scores of 8, 9, 7, 8, 8, 8, 6 and 9 against the weights below give a weighted total of 8.05 out of 10, shown as 4.0 out of 5.
If any category is unscored the overall figure is withheld. The site never shows a partial or estimated number, and a missing category is never treated as a zero.
4. Why the weights are set this way
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Licensing & safety | 25% |
| Withdrawals | 20% |
| Bonus value & fairness | 15% |
| Payments | 10% |
| Game range | 10% |
| Mobile experience | 10% |
| Customer support | 5% |
| Responsible gambling tools | 5% |
Licensing and withdrawals together are nearly half the score because they decide whether you can trust the operator with your money and get it back. Bonus value is next: it is where players most often lose out to terms they did not read. Payments, game range and mobile are the day-to-day experience and share equal middle weight. Support and responsible-gambling tools carry less because a licensee in any of our markets has to meet a baseline on both, so the differences between operators are smaller, though a genuinely poor showing on either still drags the total down.
5. What "verified" means
Each review area records whether it has been checked, the date, and the type of source used. A field is only marked Verified when a reviewer has confirmed it against a primary source: the market regulator's register for the licence, the operator's own published terms and cashier pages for offers and payments, or a hands-on test for withdrawal times and the mobile experience. Where the operator has not published something, it shows as Not available rather than a guess. Where it has not been checked yet, it shows as Not verified. Every review has a "What we checked" section that lists the state of all eight areas.
6. How "Recommended" works
"Recommended" is a separate editorial decision, not a score threshold. Sorting the comparison by rating never makes an operator "Recommended"; a reviewer sets it deliberately, and only for an operator whose licence is verified and whose overall rating is complete. It marks operators we would be comfortable pointing a friend to, and it can be removed as easily as it is added. Most reviewed operators are not marked "Recommended".
7. Commission and independence
We may earn a commission when a reader opens an account with an operator through a link on this site. This is how the site is funded. It is explained in full on how we make money.
- Category scores are set before any commercial conversation with an operator, and are not revised because one happens.
- Commission does not affect whether an operator is listed, reviewed or where it sits in the comparison.
- An operator cannot pay for a higher score, a better ranking position, or the "Recommended" mark.
- If we cannot agree a commercial arrangement with an operator, its review and ranking stay exactly as they are.
Because there is a commercial relationship, we describe the site as editorially independent: the rankings and scores are not for sale, even though the links are how we are paid. No commercial agreements are currently in place, so outbound links are not yet enabled.
8. When the method changes
Each rating stores the method version it was produced under (currently 1.0). If the categories or weights change, the version is increased, the change is recorded with a date and reason, and every operator is re-scored against the new rubric before the new ratings are shown.
Related: how we make money, about this site, our markets. General information for adults of legal gambling age in the market they are reading.