How we rate casinos
For each casino review, the expert creates a rating based on the following criteria:
Each criterion is rated from 0 to 10 points. Then the average score and *10 are formed.
For example,
License - 7
Reputation - 6
Banking options - 9
Games & Providers - 9
Terms & Conditions - 7
Support & Care - 6
Responsible gambling tools - 6
Rating
((7+6+9+9+9+7+6+6)/8)*10 = 74
Rating scale
Best
100/100
Need to improve
51/100
Very good
91/100
Bad
41/100
Satisfying
81/100
Very bad
31/100
Nice
71/100
Awful
21/100
Mediocre
61/100
Terrible
10/100
Evaluation process:
License
Before determining the rating by the License criterion, you need to determine
- What markets the casino operates in. Is it an international online casino or a local one for a specific country?
- What license or licenses does the online casino have?
Based on these answers, we form an assessment.
If the casino is international and has an international license - MGA or Curacao.
Conditions | Score/ rating |
If it is a Curacao casino, | rating 7 |
If MGA | score 8 |
If Curacao + MGA | score 9 |
If any international license (MGA or Curacao) + any local license for a specific market with regulation | score 10 |
If the casino is local for a specific market with regulation | score 10 |
Reputation
- Before determining the rating by the License criterion, you need to determine. We check the reputation of the casino. Additionally, we check the reputation of the company that owns the casino and the reputation of other brands of this company (if any). Additionally, we check the reputation of other brands of the affiliate program to which this casino belongs.
- We check the reputation of this brand on large trusted affiliate projects. Askgamblers, casino.guru, casino.org, gambling.com, gamblingsites.org. Based on these answers, we form an assessment.
- We assess the level of reputation
- We evaluate player feedback
- We assess the level and severity of problems faced by players
- Assess the speed of problem resolution by the casino
Based on the above parameters, we form a subjective assessment of the reputation and correlate it with competitors.
Bonuses
Conditions | Score/ rating |
If a casino offers a bonus with average characteristics to the player + an additional no deposit bonus or an exclusive additional bonus | score 10 |
If the casino offers a bonus with characteristics that are worse for the player than the average for the niche (for example, very high wagering) + an additional no deposit bonus or an exclusive additional bonus | score 8 |
If the casino offers only a welcome bonus with average statistical characteristics + a lot of different bonuses for existing players - reload bonuses, VIP program, bonuses for live games, regular bonuses, loyalty program | score 8 |
If the casino gives only a welcome bonus with characteristics that are worse for the player than the statistical average for the niche + many different bonuses for existing players - reload bonuses, VIP programm, live game bonuses, regular bonuses, loyalty program | score 7 |
If the casino only offers a welcome bonus with average characteristics | score 7 |
If the casino offers only a welcome bonus with characteristics that are worse for the player than the average for the niche | score 5 |
- If a welcome bonus has a non-standard amount of money or the number of free spins, you can offset some other aspects and add an extra point.
- We do not give a rating to local brands that do not have bonuses according to the regulation.
Banking options
- Check payment systems: for deposit and withdrawal.
- Check payment limits for deposits and withdrawals.
- How they differ from other casinos. Does this casino have fewer of them than its competitors?
- Is there a guide on how to withdraw winnings from the casino.
- Are there local payments for countries?
- Is there a separate payment desk and is it easily accessible to the user?
- Are there convenient guides on deposits and withdrawals?
- Payout speed
- Data security
The rating is formed based on these questions.
Games & Providers
If the online casino:
- providers with all standard types of games are available
- convenient search for games on the website
- convenient grouping by category (navigation)
- convenient filtering
- there is enough information about the games
- there are new games and they are added regularly
- it is possible to play in demo mode
- there are jackpot games
Rating of 10
Conditions | Score/ rating |
If you have all the parameters listed above, but there is no convenient navigation for the user | score 8 |
If you have all the parameters listed above, but there is no demo mode for users | score 8 |
If there is no popular game type | score 7 |
If there is a small selection of providers | score 6 |
Terms & Conditions
We believe online gambling should be fair. While this also requires players to act fairly and without malicious intent, it is mostly the casino’s responsibility to make sure gambling remains fair and safe for players.
We have witnessed pretty much all types of conflicts between casinos and players when dealing with casino reviews and player complaints, and this experience has helped us form a strong opinion about what casinos should and shouldn’t do in situations that arise frequently.
We will deal with the specific situations and our recommendations for each of them later on in this article, but it’s important to define two terms – ‘fair casino’ and ‘fair and safe casino’ – first.
Definition of fair casinos
- Pays out all legitimate winnings
- Doesn’t have any unfair clauses in their Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) (more on this later in the article)
- Doesn’t use any deceitful practices to trick players
- Enforces restricted countries (doesn’t allow players from them to create an account or play from a restricted country) and restricted bonuses (only gives bonuses to eligible players)
Even casinos with fair rules and good approaches to gambling can sometimes be tricky for players. In some cases, players might not be aware of certain rules and break them accidentally despite the rules themselves being fair in our opinion. This is why we believe all rules should be technologically enforced by the casinos to stop players getting into trouble on accident.
Note: The term ‘safe casinos’ is also often used in relation to responsible gambling and problem gamblers. Certain things in this article are also related to these areas, but the term ‘safe’ in our fair gambling codex might mean something else than when talking strictly about responsible gambling
The casino’s point of view
Even casinos with fair rules and good approaches to gambling can sometimes be tricky for players. In some cases, players might not be aware of certain ruleIf casinos apply win limits because of laws and regulations that require them, there is nothing they can do about this, so we can’t hold this against the casinos. However, many casinos limit player wins at their own discretion without being told to do so by a regulator.
Casinos use win limits to protect themselves against big wins that could pose a danger to their cashflow and profitability. An unexpectedly big win could be an existential threat for smaller casinos with limited cashflow, so win limits make sense in this context if they are big enough. This being said, we still don’t approve of them because they disadvantage players.
Very small win limits (let’s say smaller than €10,000) are clearly designed to cheat players and increase the casino’s profits.s and break them accidentally despite the rules themselves being fair in our opinion. This is why we believe all rules should be technologically enforced by the casinos to stop players getting into trouble on accident.
Support & Care
We test support: live chat.
Conditions | Score/ rating |
If there are clear and fast answers | score 10 |
There is a phone number | score 10 |
There is a FAQ section with frequently asked questions | score 10 |
If the support is of high quality but there is no phone number | score 8 |
If the support is poor and there is no phone number | score 5 |
Responsible gambling tools
If the following responsible gambling tools are available – Score 10
- Wager Limit
- Session Limit
- Time Out
- Self-Exclusion
- Loss limit
- Deposit limit
If there is no tool, the score is reduced accordingly.