On this page 11
- The method in short
- What happens when a casino joins our list
- What the age band on each casino means
- Where you can check a new casino's licence
- Registers to search
- The six checks on every review
- What wagering does to a S$200 bonus
- What a review covers
- What we do and what we do not do
- What this means for you
- Questions about our reviews
The method in short
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Founded
Every review prints the founding year the casino states and an age band: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 or Established.
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Joined
Every review shows the date the casino joined our list, which is the day we published its review.
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Licence
We record the licence a casino states and point you to the regulator's register so you can look it up yourself.
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Offer
Welcome offers are shown as stated by the casino, next to what the wagering would cost you to clear.
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Gaps
When a fact is not in our data, such as withdrawal times, the review says so instead of filling it in.
From listing to ranking
What happens when a casino joins our list
Every casino goes through the same five steps, in this order.
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We publish its review
A casino joins our list on the day its review goes live. That date is printed on the review and beside the casino on our listings, so you can see how long we have followed it.
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We record what the casino states
Founding year, licences, game studios, deposit methods, apps, the countries its terms exclude and the link to its terms, each as stated by the casino on its own site.
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We check what can be checked
Where a regulator publishes a register, a reviewer looks the licence up and the review shows the result. Until then the review marks the licence as stated, with the register check pending.
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We place it in the ranking
Our new-casino rankings only include casinos founded this year or in the two years before. Older casinos keep their review and stay out of those lists.
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We update it when facts change
When a casino changes its licence, terms or welcome offer, we update the review and its date.
Counts, shares and dates on our pages are read from the casinos on our list each time a page loads.
Freshness stamp
What the age band on each casino means
The stamp on every casino comes from the founding year it states, counted in calendar years.
- Year 1 Founded this calendar year. The casino has not traded for a full year, so there is almost no history to judge it by.
- Year 2 Founded last year. Some terms and payment routes may still be changing.
- Year 3 Founded two years ago. The last band we count as new.
- Older Founded earlier. Stamped Established in grey and left out of our new-casino rankings.
- No year The casino does not state when it was founded. We say so and do not estimate a year.
A founding year is a claim by the casino. A rebrand of an older site can state a recent year, so read the stamp together with the licence and the date the casino joined our list.
Licence checks
Where you can check a new casino's licence
The licences new casinos state most often, and what each regulator lets you look up.
| Licence stated | Where to check | What you can confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Curaçao | Curaçao Gaming Authority licence register (cga.cw) | Whether the company is on the published list of online licences. The regulator notes that the list does not guarantee a licence is still valid. |
| Malta (MGA) | Malta Gaming Authority licensee register (mga.org.mt) | Licensees, plus a URL checker that tells you whether a website belongs to an authorised licensee. |
| Kahnawake | Kahnawake Gaming Commission permit holders (gamingcommission.ca) | The current permit holders the commission authorises. |
| Anjouan | The Anjouan regulator's own site or its licence support | Confirmation from the regulator itself. Get the licence number from the casino first. |
| Costa Rica | No regulator to ask | Nothing. Costa Rica issues no online gambling licence; operators register there as data processing businesses. |
Registers to search
Copy the licence number from the casino's footer and search it here before your first deposit.
- Curaçao Gaming Authority: licence register Lists of online gaming licences and an enforcement register. Show more →
- Malta Gaming Authority: licensee register Licensee search and a URL checker for casino websites. Show more →
- Kahnawake Gaming Commission: permit holders The commission's list of current permit holders. Show more →
Before the first deposit
The six checks on every review
Each check takes a few minutes and needs no account. On a review, each one shows whether our data confirms it, whether it is pending, or whether you need to check it yourself.
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Licence on the regulator's register
The licence number and the company name should appear on the regulator's own register, for the same domain.
So what: A licence you cannot find is a licence you cannot rely on.
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Full terms published
The general terms set the rules for withdrawals, inactive accounts and account closure, and should carry a date.
So what: Read them before you register; they decide what happens when a withdrawal is held.
Terms at new casinos → -
Withdrawal terms in writing
Weekly and monthly caps, pending times and the point at which the casino asks for ID decide how fast a win reaches you.
So what: Note the cap and the documents asked for before your first deposit.
Why casinos ask for ID → -
Bonus terms you can read before claiming
Wagering, maximum bet, game weighting and any cap on winnings decide what a welcome offer is worth.
So what: If the terms only appear after you deposit, skip the offer.
New casino bonuses → -
A first small withdrawal
Withdraw a small win to the method you deposited with and note how long it takes to arrive.
So what: It is the cheapest test of a casino with no history.
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Responsible gaming tools
Deposit, loss and time limits plus self-exclusion should be in the account menu from the first day.
So what: Set a deposit limit before you claim anything.
Responsible gaming →
Worked example
What wagering does to a S$200 bonus
Each review sets the welcome offer against its cost to clear. On slots with 96% RTP you lose 4% of every bet on average, so the expected cost is the bonus times the wagering times 4%.
| Wagering | You must bet | Expected cost | Expected value of the bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20x | S$4,000 | S$160 | +S$40 |
| 25x | S$5,000 | S$200 | S$0 |
| 30x | S$6,000 | S$240 | minus S$40 |
| 35x | S$7,000 | S$280 | minus S$80 |
| 40x | S$8,000 | S$320 | minus S$120 |
On every review
What a review covers
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Age and history
Founding year, age band and the date the casino joined our list.
So what: You can tell a launch from a long-running site.
New casinos → -
Licence
The licence the casino states and the status of the register check.
So what: You know whether to look the licence up yourself.
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Welcome offer
The headline offer as stated by the casino and a worksheet for the wagering.
So what: You see what the offer costs before you claim it.
No deposit bonuses → -
Games and similar casinos
The studios the casino lists, and other casinos with the same studio list and licence.
So what: If you like the games but not the offer, you have alternatives.
Game studios → -
Payments and apps
Deposit methods the casino lists and whether it states an Android or iPhone app.
So what: Gaps in withdrawal data are marked, not hidden.
Our standards
What we do and what we do not do
We do
- Print the founding year and the date each casino joined our list
- Point you to the register for the licence a casino states
- Mark a fact as missing when we do not have it
- Show offers as stated by the casino, with the wagering maths beside them
- Apply the same checks to every casino, partner or not
We do not
- Claim a deposit or withdrawal test that we have not dated and described
- Put casinos founded before the last three years in new-casino rankings
- Estimate a founding year the casino does not state
- Change a check result because of a commission
So what
What this means for you
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The founding year is the casino's own claim
Use it to sort launches from older sites, and look twice at a recent year on a site that already has a long list of games and payment methods.
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A stated licence still needs a register check
If the review says the check is pending, search the register yourself before you deposit.
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A bigger offer can be worth less
A large bonus with high wagering can cost more to clear than a small one with low wagering. Run the numbers before you claim.
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Missing data means you check
When a review says a fact is not in our data, find it on the casino's own site before you register.
Questions about our reviews
How do you decide that a casino is new?
By the founding year the casino states. A casino founded this calendar year or in the two years before counts as new, and only those casinos appear in our new-casino rankings. Older casinos keep their review with a grey Established stamp.
What does the date a casino joined your list mean?
It is the day we published the casino's review. It tells you how long we have followed the casino, which is separate from when the casino says it was founded.
Can a founding year be wrong?
Yes. It is a claim by the casino, and a rebrand of an older site can state a recent year. Read it together with the licence and the date the casino joined our list. When a casino states no year, the review says so and we do not estimate one.
How can I check a casino's licence myself?
Copy the licence number from the casino's footer and search it on the regulator's own register: the Curaçao Gaming Authority licence register, the Malta Gaming Authority licensee register with its URL checker, or the Kahnawake Gaming Commission's list of permit holders. For Anjouan, verification goes through the regulator's own site or support. Costa Rica issues no online gambling licence, so there is nothing to look up.
Why does a review say the register check is pending?
It means the casino states a licence but our reviewer has not yet recorded a match on the regulator's register. Until that happens, treat the licence as a claim and look it up yourself before you deposit.
Do you deposit and withdraw at every casino you review?
No. Withdrawal times are not part of our data yet, and a review only reports a payment test when it gives the date and the method used. The six checks on each review show how to run a small withdrawal yourself before you build a balance.
Do casinos pay to rank higher?
We earn a commission when you sign up through some links. A commission does not change a casino's founding year, its licence status or its check results, and the order on our pages is set by our ranking method.