How we test
For each operator we open a real account, complete the full KYC process, and fund the account with a personal deposit — usually £30 to £50, enough to trigger the welcome bonus and cover a first withdrawal after the bonus is cleared. We play for at least two weeks across desktop and the mobile app, sample the game library both in-lobby and in-search, contact support at least once with a genuine question that requires the agent to look up an account detail (not a question the FAQ answers), and request a withdrawal to the same method used for the deposit. The test is designed to look like an ordinary player rather than a mystery-shop, because that is the treatment that matches what a reader will actually see.
Example walkthrough
Take the withdrawal test in detail. We stop wagering when the bonus is cleared, request a withdrawal from the cashier at 10:00 UK time on a Tuesday (never on a Friday, never on a public holiday, because those are edge cases), and note the operator's stated processing time from the on-screen confirmation. Then we wait, refreshing the transaction log once every hour, and record the actual arrival time on the payment method — the moment the money is spendable, not the moment the operator marks it 'sent'. The number in the review is the observed one, not the number the operator prints in its FAQ. If the withdrawal is challenged (KYC re-check, source-of-funds request), we record the challenge and the resolution time as part of the same test.
Criteria
Six criteria carry weight in the final score, in this order: licensing and complaints history (30% of the total), bonus terms fairness (20%), payment reliability (20%), game library depth (10%), mobile quality (10%), and customer support (10%). We give more weight to the boring items because they are the ones that decide whether you keep your winnings, not whether the site looks pretty. Bonuses and games matter, but a fast withdrawal on a stable licence matters more.
Scoring
Each criterion is scored 1 to 5 in half-point steps, and the weighted average becomes the operator score you see at the top of the review. The final number is rounded to one decimal, so an average of 4.35 shows as 4.4 and 4.34 shows as 4.3. A criterion that comes in below 3.0 is called out explicitly in the review header, because a weak score on licensing or payments matters more than the headline total; a review with a 4.6 headline but a 2.5 on payments is a review you should read carefully before signing up.
Limitations
One reviewer, two accounts and two weeks are not a statistical sample. A slow withdrawal in our test may be an outlier; a fast one is not a promise. Where operator behaviour clearly varies between players (different VIP levels, different jurisdictions, different payment methods processed by different acquirers), we say so in the review rather than flatten the variation into a single number. We also do not test every game in the library — with 3,000+ titles across 20+ providers that would take longer than the review is worth to a reader.
What lowers score
A missing or expired licence is an immediate cap at 2.0 out of 5, regardless of the other criteria, and the review is flagged at the top. Bonus terms with hidden 'maximum win from bonus' clauses lose one full point on Bonus fairness. Support that cannot answer a documented KYC question in three exchanges loses half a point on Support. Withdrawals that take more than 72 hours on an e-wallet on a working day (not counting Fridays or public holidays) lose a full point on Payment reliability. Delayed complaints in the public complaints trackers of the operator's regulator lose half a point on Licensing for every unresolved case older than 30 days.