How we set our scores

Licence type

Every review names the published licence. The score is not a substitute for that difference. A tight licence usually means smaller bonuses and a clearer complaint route. An offshore licence usually means a larger welcome and a weaker official backstop if a withdrawal is refused.

UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). Among the strictest consumer rules in the market: affordability checks, advertising limits, and an independent ADR if a complaint stalls. Welcome offers are small compared with offshore sites.

Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). The main EU remote-gambling licence. Complaint routes and bonus rules are tighter than Curaçao or Anjouan. Still not a domestic licence in Sweden, the UK or Germany.

Spelinspektionen (Sweden) and other domestic EU licences (Spain DGOJ, France ANJ, Denmark, Italy ADM). Local tax, local player-protection tools and usually no large welcome match. The trade-off is official protection in that country, not a 300% first deposit.

Gibraltar and Isle of Man. Long-standing Crown-dependency regulators. Stronger supervision than typical Caribbean licences, fewer mass-market crypto casinos than Curaçao.

Curaçao (CGA / OGL). The most common licence on international crypto casinos. The new Curaçao Gaming Authority regime replaced the old sublicence model. Dispute handling is still with the operator first. Bonuses and cashiers are usually wider than under UKGC or MGA.

Anjouan / AOFA (Comoros). Frequent on newer crypto and rakeback brands. Faster to obtain than MGA. Official protection is thin. CasinoClubben treats it as offshore in the same band as Curaçao: name it, do not pretend it is a European licence.

Kahnawake, Costa Rica and “no licence named”. Kahnawake is an older First Nations licence with limited reach. Costa Rica and unnamed operators often have no gambling regulator at all. Those sit at the bottom of the protection scale.

On the current .net list you will mostly see Curaçao and Anjouan. That is why the review always prints the licence next to the score.

How bonuses are sold

We look at the live terms, not only the banner. Wagering, max bet, game contribution, expiry and cashout caps should be easy to find. A casino that hides those rules to pull in players gets that written up. A fair offer can still be large — it just has to say what you keep after the small print.

Slots and game providers

The size of the lobby is part of the score. We count how many slots are actually playable and which studios are live — Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Hacksaw, Nolimit City, NetEnt and the rest — not a marketing number on a landing page. A thin crash-only site scores lower than a full casino with live tables and a real provider list. Provider lists move; the review should say what we opened on the test account.

Support availability

Support hours matter as much as the cashier. 24/7 live chat is the standard we prefer: you can reach someone after a failed deposit or a stuck withdrawal at night. Email-only or weekday hours pull the score down. The review should say which channel we used and whether a person answered.

Deposit fees and withdrawal limits

Deposit fees and daily, weekly or monthly withdrawal caps change what a bonus is actually worth. A 300% match with a $1,000 daily cap is a different product from the same match with no published ceiling. Both figures belong in the review.

Fast withdrawals are a plus, not a must

Speed is useful. It is not a requirement to be listed. A slower cashier with a clear limit and no surprise fee can still be the better fit. We note both: how long a test withdrawal took, and what the published cap is.