Every site in our tables goes through the same four steps in the same order. We judge what actually happens, not what the front page says.How we test a casino
The five criteria and what each is worth
| Criterion | Weight | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Measured withdrawal time | 35% | Stopwatch from request to usable funds, at least two separate runs |
| When verification is required | 20% | A log of everything asked for and at which point in the journey |
| Clarity of bonus terms | 15% | Clicks to reach the wagering figure, and whether all four numbers are present |
| Game range and studios | 15% | Number of distinct developers, availability of well-known titles |
| Support on a technical question | 15% | Response time, and whether the question was answered on its merits |
The first two lines together are more than half the score. That is a decision, not a natural law: we think the question of when you can get hold of your money matters more than how many slots are in the catalogue.
What the withdrawal measurement includes
Everything. The clock starts when the withdraw button is pressed and stops when the money is usable in a bank account. Weekends count. Manual reviews count. Time spent waiting for support to answer a question about a document counts. The result is the number a player actually experiences, which is usually longer than the one in the terms.
We run at least two withdrawals per site, one small and one larger, because thresholds exist and a single £50 test tells you almost nothing about a £2,000 payout. Where a site behaves very differently between the two, we say so rather than averaging it away. The published figures live on the fast withdrawal casinos page.
What we deduct for
- Terms that only appear after registration. If the wagering requirement cannot be read before handing over personal details, that is itself an answer.
- Verification demanded late. If documents are only required when money is leaving, it costs points even when the money arrives.
- Withdrawal methods that do not exist. Fourteen logos in the cashier and three in the withdraw tab is common and worth knowing in advance.
- Support answering a different question. A polite template reply to a specific question is worse than no reply, because it costs you a day.
- Reverse withdrawal on by default. A pending withdrawal you can cancel is a design decision aimed at you.
What we do not count
Game totals. The figure ranges from 800 to 3,000 and means nothing, because everyone leases from the same suppliers. We count studios instead: ten developers behind a catalogue against twenty-five is a difference you can actually feel. What sits behind the numbers on the games themselves is on the online slots page.
We also do not score “trustworthiness” as an overall impression. The term cannot be operationalised, and everything that makes it up is already in the criteria above. Whether a licence is in place is a twenty-second check on the Gambling Commission’s public register; the rest is measurement.
When a site gets no rating
Three situations. If the measurement is unfinished, the site is absent rather than provisional. If a test could not be completed — an account that would not verify, a withdrawal that never resolved — the site is absent and we say why in the text if we can stand the detail up. And if we could not establish who operates a brand, it does not go in at all.
A gap in a comparison table is uncomfortable to publish and much easier to defend than a number nobody measured.
Nell Ashworth
How often it is redone
Every measurement carries a date, and anything older than six months is run again. Operators change payment providers, risk thresholds and bonus terms regularly, and a figure from eighteen months ago is a historical note rather than a fact about today.
Commercial relationships
The site earns from affiliate links. Measurements are taken before any commercial discussion and the ranking is generated from them. We are not asking you to take that on faith alone — check our published times against your own experience and tell us when they do not match. The terms of use set out the disclosure in full.