How we rate casinos
A rating is a number from 0 to 100, calculated from 5 category scores.
The categories and their weights
Each casino gets a score from 0 to 100 in every category. A category's weight decides how much its score counts towards the rating.
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Licence & safety | 25% |
| Payments & withdrawals | 25% |
| Bonus terms | 20% |
| Games | 15% |
| Transparency | 15% |
The weights are preliminary and may change. When they do, every rating is recalculated.
The formula
The rating is the weighted average of the category scores: each score is multiplied by its category's weight, the results are added up and divided by the sum of the weights (100), and the answer is rounded to a whole number.
An example with made-up scores, not a real casino:
| Category | Score | × weight |
|---|---|---|
| Licence & safety | 80 | 2000 |
| Payments & withdrawals | 70 | 1750 |
| Bonus terms | 60 | 1200 |
| Games | 90 | 1350 |
| Transparency | 50 | 750 |
7050 ÷ 100 = 70.50, which rounds to a rating of 71.
Nothing else goes into the number. Whether a casino pays us commission is not an input to the formula.
What each category covers
- Licence & safety
- TODO: describe what is examined and what earns a high or a low score. Write only what is actually done.
- Payments & withdrawals
- TODO: describe what is examined and what earns a high or a low score. Write only what is actually done.
- Bonus terms
- TODO: describe what is examined and what earns a high or a low score. Write only what is actually done.
- Games
- TODO: describe what is examined and what earns a high or a low score. Write only what is actually done.
- Transparency
- Whether the casino's published terms are clear, complete and consistent with each other.
What we checked
Under its rating, every review has a line that begins "Checked:". It says what the review rests on. There are 6 things it can list:
- published terms
- We read the terms and the bonus terms the casino publishes on its own site.
- licence register
- We looked the casino up in the public register of the authority whose licence it states.
- own account
- We opened an account at the casino ourselves.
- own deposit
- We made a deposit to that account.
- own withdrawal
- We made a withdrawal from that account.
- support contact
- We contacted the casino's support ourselves.
A review lists only what was done for that casino. One that says "Checked: published terms only" rests on the casino's own published terms and nothing else.
Who scores, and how often
The category scores are set by our editorial team.
A casino is reviewed again when we see that something has changed. Every review shows the date it was last reviewed.
How lists are ordered
Lists are ordered by rating, highest first; casinos with the same rating are ordered by name. The lists of new casinos are ordered by launch date instead. The best-casinos list shows at most the 10 highest-rated casinos.
Closed casinos keep their review and rating but are removed from every list except the list of closed casinos.