What we check before writing anything
Before a word gets published, several things get confirmed directly.
| Stage | What gets recorded |
|---|---|
| Licence and operator identity | who actually runs the site, and under what licence |
| Registration and KYC | what the signup flow asks for, and what documents verification requires |
| A real deposit | tracked through the cashier with an actual payment method |
| A test session on real games | noting stakes, RTP where listed, and how the interface behaves |
| A withdrawal request | timed from submission to funds landing |
| A support interaction | how a real question gets handled |
A withdrawal request, timed from submission to funds landing. And a support interaction, to see how a real question gets handled. Each step feeds directly into the scoring below, not just impressions, and together they make up the casino testing process this site runs on every review.
Scoring criteria and their weight
Scoring criteria break down by category, each weighted differently because they don’t matter equally to every player. Licence and security carry real weight in any honest casino rating criteria table, because they affect whether a payout is safe at all.
Payments and payout speed matter just as much in this casino review methodology, since a great games library means little if cashing out is a fight. Bonus fairness gets checked against the actual terms, not the marketing copy. Game selection, support quality, mobile experience and responsible gambling tools round out the rest.
| Criterion | Weight | What’s assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and security | 25% | Operator identity, licence status, data protection |
| Payments and payout speed | 20% | Deposit and withdrawal methods, actual processing times |
| Bonus fairness | 15% | Wagering terms, max bet, max cashout, game contribution |
| Game selection | 15% | Range, providers, RTP disclosure |
| Support quality | 10% | Response time, accuracy, channels available |
| Mobile experience | 10% | Browser performance, layout, load times |
| Responsible gambling tools | 5% | Limits, self-exclusion, help resources |
How payment and payout speed is measured
Timing gets logged directly, not estimated. A deposit request is timestamped the moment it’s submitted, then again when the balance updates, across more than one payment method where possible. The same happens on the withdrawal side: request time, verification status at that point, and the moment funds actually arrive.
This is our payout speed test in practice, not a guess based on terms and conditions. A delay counts as such only when it runs past what the operator’s own stated range allows, not simply because a payout takes longer than a reader might hope.
Figures get refreshed periodically rather than quoted once and left stale, part of keeping this casino review methodology honest over time.
How bonus terms are evaluated
The editorial team reads the actual bonus terms line by line, not the promotional summary.
That sits under the same casino rating criteria as everything else: the wagering multiplier, whether it applies to the bonus alone or deposit plus bonus, the max bet allowed while wagering is active, any max cashout cap on bonus winnings, the time limit to clear wagering, and which games count toward it, and at what rate.
Terms that hide a low max cashout behind a generous headline percentage, or that exclude most of the games library from contributing, get flagged as unfavourable rather than glossed over. Bonus fairness isn’t a vibe, it’s a checklist run against the fine print every time, and that checklist is how we review casinos on the bonus side specifically.
How support is tested
Support gets contacted through whatever channels the operator actually offers, live chat and email typically, at different times of day rather than only during business hours.
A fast reply that gives wrong information scores worse than a slower one that’s correct, a distinction this casino testing process takes seriously. Support sits lower in the overall casino rating criteria weighting than payments, but a bad answer still counts against the score. This casino testing process treats support as part of the product, not an afterthought.
Who writes and reviews the content
Every article on this site carries a named author with a profile page, showing their background and what they’ve covered. Nobody here claims to be a professional gambler or a lawyer; the expertise is in research, verification and clear writing, not personal betting history.
A second person checks factual claims, figures and links before anything goes live, separate from whoever drafted it. Author expertise gets built through repeated, hands-on testing across operators, not credentials alone.
How often pages are updated
Different figures move at different speeds, so the update schedule reflects that.
Every page carries a last-checked date near the figures it applies to, so readers can judge how current a specific number actually is rather than trusting the whole page equally. That’s how we review casinos stays accurate over time, not just at launch.
How we handle corrections
Mistakes happen, and pretending otherwise would undermine everything else on this page.
When an error is found, whether by the editorial team or flagged by a reader, the fix goes in as soon as it’s verified against a primary source, not just a claim. Readers can report an inaccuracy through the contact page, and a genuine correction request gets looked at within a few business days.
Significant corrections get a visible note on the page itself, not a silent edit, so returning readers can see what changed and why. That’s a deliberate part of this casino review methodology, not an afterthought.
Affiliate relationships and how they affect scores
It doesn’t mean claims get softened or figures get rounded in the operator’s favour, terms and limits are reported exactly as found in the cashier and the terms pages, good or bad. This isn’t a page pretending to complete independence from every commercial interest, since that wouldn’t be honest either.
What it does promise is that the affiliate disclosure never changes what a number actually says, a line this casino review methodology doesn’t cross.
Responsible gambling as part of the assessment
Responsible gambling tools get checked the same way payment methods do, hands-on rather than assumed. That means testing whether deposit limits can actually be set in the account, how a time-out works once activated, and whether self-exclusion is genuinely difficult to reverse early rather than a token setting.
BetStop is Australia’s national self-exclusion register for licensed operators; RocketPlay sits outside that scheme, and this site says so directly rather than skating past it, part of the same casino testing process applied to everything else on this page. The full toolkit and how to use it sits on the Responsible Gaming page.
Methodology FAQ
Do you deposit real money when testing?
Yes, real deposits are made through actual payment methods as part of testing, not simulated.
How is the overall score calculated?
Each weighted criterion, licence and security, payments, bonus fairness, games, support, mobile and responsible gambling tools, is scored, then combined by its weight into a final figure.
How often are reviews updated?
It varies by topic. Bonus and payment details get rechecked often, while broader content is revisited on a longer cycle, with a last-checked date shown on the page.
Can an operator pay for a higher score?
No. Commission on referred signups doesn’t influence scoring, and terms are reported as found regardless of any affiliate relationship.
How do I report an error on the site?
Use the contact page to flag it. Genuine corrections get reviewed and, once verified, published with a visible note.
