Frequently asked questions

A small editorial team following online casinos since 2002 (the games arrived on a disc, a "lobby" held twenty titles), signing as a team rather than as named persons; nobody on it is employed or paid by an operator. The method, the tests and the frame of the ratings are set out on our About page.

In "demo" mode (free play, without depositing), all of them, which shows the games, the languages and the cashier but not the payments; only Casino Classic and Jackpot City were played with real money, by our collaborators from two Canadian markets before 2025. For every other casino, what the reviews say about withdrawals and support comes from the operator's documents and public sources, and a box in each review says which applies.

For adults (18, or the higher age some countries set) in the international market: the operators listed on our pages do not hold a licence in every country from which our readers arrive, and before registering it is the player's responsibility to check that the law of his or her country allows playing with that operator. The site shows everyone the same pages and does not recognise your country.

Some casino links are "affiliate" links: when a reader registers through one of them the operator may pay us a commission, taken from its margin at no cost to the player, and a sentence saying so stands on every page with such links. The commission never affects the ratings, which the licence and the terms decide before any money is counted, as our page on affiliate programmes explains.

A small credit given to a new account without any payment, so that a player can try the games and the "cashier" before depositing: a "free chip" of ten or twenty, a batch of "free spins" on a slot the casino chooses or, more rarely, an hour of "free play" with a set balance. Our world list of no deposit casinos gathers the ones worth knowing, with their terms.

A "free chip" is a balance (ten, twenty, sometimes fifty) bet on most games at the stake the player chooses, while "free spins" are rounds on one slot at a stake set by the casino (ten or twenty cents), so that fifty spins at ten cents are a credit of five. Both produce winnings that stay "bonus money" until the wagering is done, and the free spins page shows the arithmetic.

The most a free bonus can turn into withdrawable money once the wagering is done (often around one hundred in the account currency): a player who turns a free chip of ten into three hundred, with a "max cashout" of one hundred, keeps one hundred and loses the rest. It is the second figure to read, after the wagering, and the reason a free bonus is a trial of the casino rather than an income.

To make sure that one person claims one bonus: the phone number is verified with a code, and a card registered (not charged) ties the account to a name. The rule in every set of terms is one free bonus per person, household, device or address, since a free offer claimed five times by one household is the first abuse a casino guards against. A casino that asks for nothing is not generous, only careless.

That every unit of the bonus (or of a free offer's winnings) has to be staked thirty times before anything can be withdrawn: a player who receives a bonus of fifty must place one thousand five hundred in bets (thirty times fifty), on the games that count, within the time allowed. The casinos call it "wagering", "playthrough" or "rollover", three names for the same clause, and it is the first figure to read in any offer.

The terms say which, and the difference is large: a player who deposits two hundred and receives two hundred, with thirty times on the bonus alone, must bet six thousand (thirty times two hundred), while thirty times on deposit and bonus together calls for twelve thousand in bets! The second formula is common at international casinos, and our page on welcome bonuses compares real offers under both.

Most terms give between seven and thirty days to complete the wagering, after which the bonus and its winnings are removed, and almost all cap the stake while a bonus is active (five units a spin is the usual "max bet"), so a single bet above the cap can void every win. Both clauses sit in the bonus terms rather than in the general ones, as our no deposit list repeats.

Because every licence obliges the operator to verify the identity and age of a player before a withdrawal (the "KYC" check), whatever the origin of the money: a passport or identity card, a proof of address, at times a photo of the card used. It is worth sending them before the first deposit rather than after the first win, since a verification started at the withdrawal adds days to it. A casino that never asks is a warning.

On the regulator's public register: the company name and the licence number are in the footer of the casino you are checking, and the registers (UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Kahnawake) say whether the licence is valid, to whom it belongs and which domains it covers. A seal that links nowhere, or a number that the register cannot find, is a reason to go no further; our guide to legitimate casinos shows the check authority by authority.

That the operator exists and is "offshore": for twenty-five years Curaçao sold "sub-licences" through four master licensees, without a register or a complaints body, and only since 24 December 2024 has the Curaçao Gaming Authority issued licences directly (a reform whose effects are still young). This is why a casino licensed only there stays between 2.5 and 3.5 here, whatever its offer. The frame also covers Anjouan and Costa Rica.

The connection of every casino listed here is encrypted (the padlock in the browser, "TLS"), which protects card and password in transit, and the games of serious houses are certified by independent laboratories (eCOGRA, iTech Labs, GLI) whose seals link to a certificate. Neither protects a player from an operator that does not pay, which is a matter of licence and of terms rather than of technology.

First to the operator, in writing and keeping the evidence (dates, chat transcripts, screenshots of the terms), then to the body named in its terms: an approved "ADR" provider (eCOGRA, IBAS) for a British licence, the MGA's Player Support Unit for a Maltese one, the regulator's form for Kahnawake, Gibraltar or the Isle of Man. For a licence from Curaçao the new authority has a portal still to be judged, and that is part of the warning.

In the United Kingdom at GamCare (0808 8020 133) and BeGambleAware, in Ontario at ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600), in Australia at Gambling Help Online (1800 858 858), in South Africa at the National Responsible Gambling Programme (0800 006 008), and everywhere at Gamblers Anonymous and Gambling Therapy (online, in several languages). Our disclaimer gives the links, and the "self-exclusion" and deposit limits of every serious casino work best when set before they are needed.

Very little: no account is created, the newsletter form loads only on request, and the Google Analytics cookies (loaded through Google Tag Manager) are written only after you accept them in the banner, a choice remembered for six months and reopened any time from the "Cookie settings" link in the footer. The data processed, the legal bases and your rights are described in the privacy policy and the cookie policy.

At the address on the privacy page, for a correction, an expired offer, a licence that changed hands or a wrong figure; corrections are the most useful messages this site receives, and they are made once the fact is checked. A dispute with a casino cannot be settled from here, but each review names the regulator and the complaints body behind that casino.