How we test casinos

1. Licence & ownership

We confirm the operating licence (e.g. MGA, UKGC where applicable, Curaçao GCB, or provincial bodies such as iGaming Ontario) and the company behind it before anything else. An unlicensed or opaque operator is disqualified, full stop.

2. Real deposits, on real rails

We fund each account with the methods that market actually uses — Interac in Canada, PayID in Australia, PayPal/Sofort in Germany, Carte Bancaire in France, plus crypto (BTC, ETH, USDT) where supported — so we can report genuine processing times and fees rather than marketing claims.

3. Timed withdrawals

We request payouts at different times of day and record the median time from request to funds received, including any KYC delay. Withdrawal speed and friction are the single biggest weighting in our score.

4. KYC & account friction

We complete identity verification and note how invasive, slow, or smooth it is — and whether a casino quietly re-verifies you only when you try to cash out (a common bad-actor tactic).

5. Bonus terms, read in full

We read the wagering requirements, game weightings, max-bet rules and expiry on every bonus, and flag anything predatory. A "bigger" bonus with hostile terms scores worse than a smaller, fair one.

6. Game integrity & live tables

We check that slots and live-dealer tables come from audited studios (Evolution, Pragmatic, etc.) and that RTP isn't being silently downgraded.

7. Re-checks

Operators change. We re-test ranked casinos periodically and update or delist them. The "last tested" date on each guide reflects our most recent hands-on check.

Scoring & independence

Scores combine payout speed, trustworthiness, payment coverage (fiat and crypto), game quality, bonus fairness and support. We earn affiliate commissions when readers sign up via our links — clearly disclosed on every page — but commission never influences a ranking. Editor's Pick: JackThePot (https://jackthepot.gg).