How We Score UK Casinos: The Four-Pillar Methodology

The formula, in one line

Each casino gets 4 scores out of 5, one score for each pillar. The headline figure is the total of the 4 scores and then divided by 4, rounded to 1 decimal place. That is the extent of each calculation.

Publishing the formula is the easy part. The real value is that you can check it. Take for example the Grosvenor Casinos review: bonuses 3.3, payments 4.8, games 4.4, trust 4.2. Those scores total 16.7, divided by 4 comes to 4.175 and therefore result in the 4.2 score shown. The same mathematics hold for all 10 reviews and the table located lower on this page allows you to test it for all of them at once.

Equal weighting is a deliberate choice, and an arguable one. A person who is solely interested in a fast payout would weight payments. For example, if a person was more interested in a welcome offer, they would weight bonuses. Since we can't know which consumer we have, the score treats all 4 equally and the review text explains each individual pillar. Pillar scores are located on each review for you to adjust weighting as you please.

What each pillar actually measures

Each pillar is reviewed based on what the operator publicly discloses. Where something is not disclosed, that absence is also part of the scoring since a figure that cannot be verified before creating an account is a figure that cannot be planned around.

Bonuses

25% of the score · range 3.3 to 4.8

This has the widest scoring range of the four, and is the pillar that sets these ten operators apart most.

• What the offer is actually worth in pounds. A hundred spins at 10p is £10 of play, however it is advertised.
• The wagering requirement and what it is applied to. Ten times the bonus and ten times deposit-plus-bonus are both within the current cap and one of them costs six times more to clear.
• Caps on what you can convert or withdraw, expiry windows, and any restriction on which games count.
• Whether the payment method you use can void the offer, which it can at four of the ten.

Payments

25% of the score · range 3.5 to 4.8

Engages operators who publish data and losses those who make the user register to find out.

• Whether deposit and withdrawal limits are published at all before you open an account. Three of the ten publish none.
• The range of methods that genuinely work for UK players, and which of them can pay you back as well as take money in.
• Stated withdrawal times, and whether the operator attaches anything to that promise.
• Fees in both directions, and any charge that applies to a small balance.

Games

25% of the score · range 3.9 to 4.6

Has the second narrowest scoring range of the four, since most licensed operators have the same game libraries from the same studios.

• Published game counts and the number of studios supplying them, where the operator states a figure.
• Coverage across slots, live casino, jackpots and anything genuinely exclusive to that operator.
• Whether return-to-player figures are visible in the lobby or buried.
• The mobile experience, including whether there are native apps or only a web lobby.

Trust

25% of the score · range 4.1 to 4.8

Has the second highest scoring range of the four, since all operators meet a minimum licensing standard.

• The Gambling Commission licence, verified by account number on the public register.
• Which funds-protection tier the operator declares, and what it says would happen to your balance if it failed.
• Dormant account terms, complaints routes, the alternative dispute resolution provider, and published response times.
• Whether game fairness and testing are documented anywhere public, and how the terms handle a malfunction.

What a 3.5 means, and what a 4.8 means

These pillar scores are written to the following bands, each of which includes an example from the ten operators.

Look closely and you'll see Grosvenor at both ends of the scale. It has the best cashier of the ten and the most expensive welcome offer, and a single average score of 4.2 tells you neither of these things. This is why all four pillars should be published on a review, rather than just the dial.

Every score on the site, in one table

Here are the results for all ten casinos, all four pillars, and the average. This shows the complete scoring for the site.

When numbers align, there are two things that stand out most. First is the impact of bonuses. A single bonus can swing a whole 1.5 points on the ranking. Meanwhile games have an impact of just 0.7 points. It appears the highest rated cashier also works at Grosvenor, where the cashier bonus offer is by far the worst. This reflects the kind of disparate outcome that a single overall number conceals versus the four pillars that make up the score.

Why nothing here scores below 4.0

There is a ranking system that results in scores between 4.0 and 4.5 for almost all cases. If you look at other sites with that system, usually it is just to display scores and have no real meaning.

This is because the scoring is done after the filter. Only operators who hold a current Gambling Commission licence are scored, and each one is verified with their account number on the public record. This one rule deletes the entire unlicensed market, which is where most of the low scores are located. What you are left with are ten companies that have already passed a regulatory standard, which means the differences between them are small.

What you need to understand is that a score of 4.0 on this site does not mean an average casino. It means the weakest of ten licensed operators, and the review will state what pulled it down.

Where the facts come from

Every number in a review traces back to something either the operator or the regulator published. In this order from highest to lowest:

• The operator's own terms and conditions. Wagering requirements, conversion caps, dormancy clauses, malfunction wording and complaints procedures all come from the full T&Cs, which is where they are buried.
• Its payments and help pages. Deposit and withdrawal limits, fees and stated processing times, read from a UK connection so the figures are the ones a British player is shown.
• Promotion terms, separately. Offer restrictions usually live in the promotion terms, separately from the general ones, which is where the payment-method exclusions on four of these casinos are found.
• The Gambling Commission public register. Every licence is confirmed by account number, and the licensee company name printed on each review comes from the register itself, because website footers go stale.
• Payment providers, for the method pages. Wallet fees and limits are taken from that provider's own published fee schedule, because they are the provider's charges and never appear in a casino cashier.

Website pictures show pages that the operator made available in the United Kingdom, in a UK connection, and how the lobby looks to the British user. If an operator has not made anything available about an issue, the review says that it is not published. This wording is used carefully - it means that we could not find it, and this is not the same as saying that such a thing was not available.

What this site does not do

What a review site will not do says more about the site than what the site will do. The following are our policies:

• No invented testing. You will not read that we opened accounts, deposited real money, counted a lobby by hand or timed a withdrawal with a stopwatch. Those claims are unverifiable by you and easy for anyone to type, so they are worth nothing as evidence.
• No manufactured experience. No decade of industry expertise, no team of analysts, no thousands of satisfied readers. One person writes this site and his name is on every page.
• No user ratings feeding the scores. There is no way to verify that a submitted rating came from a real player, so none is collected and none influences a number here.
• No process garnish. No date-stamped claims about figures being read live from a cashier, because a reader has no way to check any of it. The fact is stated and the sourcing is described here instead.
• No unlicensed operators, ever. Including anything advertised as being outside the self-exclusion scheme, at any price.

How the site makes money

By opening an account through one of MegaReelSlot's affiliate links, you won't incur any additional fees, but the operator may pay a commission. The link's page footer has this disclosure.

‘Protection against it distorting anything’ is not a pledge, this is the page. The methodology is published, and a score for each pillar is printed on every review. Each of these is linked to something the operator has written that you can go and review. A bought score would not survive any of this.

There are two important notes. Rankings on comparison pages relate to the topic of the page, so the casino at the top of the paysafecard guide may not have the best overall score. And where a casino fares poorly, the review notes this, e.g. one of the better known operators, scored 3.3 for their worst welcome offer.

Updates, corrections and how to flag one

Casinos can change limits, wagering requirements, and promotional terms at any time and usually do not communicate these changes. Therefore, this site captures each page's information as it was published the last time it was checked, and every page carries a date with this information.

When a change occurs, we update the page and move the date. When there is an issue on this site, the FIX is posted on the page in front of everyone. If you see an error, particularly a limit or a bonus term that does not align with what the operator states, you can use the about page to report it and we will verify it against the source.

There is one thing this page cannot guarantee and that is that a figure is correct when you view this page. Always review the latest terms on the operator’s site. This tip is not a suggestion that you avoid this page, it is the most important tip on this page.

Frequently asked questions

How is the overall casino score calculated?

It is the average of all four pillars. Each pillar is of equal importance. This average is then rounded to the nearest decimal. The result is honest and there is no hidden weighting. Simply add the four pillar scores and divide by four.

Do you play at these casinos with real money?

We will never claim that we have more than published data. Each published figure is sourced from the operator’s terms and conditions, their help centre and their payment and promotions pages, and the public records of the Gambling Commission. If a casino does not publish a statement or a term, then we will say that it is not published. We will not make a statement to fill a void.

Why does nothing score below 4.0?

The list is filtered before scoring. This eliminates the ‘bottom of the market’ and means the first score is written about operators who hold a current Gambling Commission licence. A 4.0 on this site is the rating for the weakest of ten licensed operators and is not an indicator of an average online casino.

Does an affiliate commission change a score?

No. The scoring system is published on this page, and every pillar score can be related back to something the operator has published which means any score can be cross-checked against the original source. Commercial arrangements do not impact the order of a list or the number on a scorecard.

What happens when a casino changes its terms?

The terms of a review are easily distinguished and the date is altered. Operators change limits and terms of promotions, wagering requirements, and other terms without notice, so any value presented here is the last published value. Always check the terms at the casino before depositing.

Who writes the reviews?

Callum Whitfield is from Manchester and runs MegaReelSlot. He is the author of every page on the website. There is no panel of anonymous reviewers and no user-submitted ratings that impact the final numbers.