How We Rate Online Casinos

Casino cards and review pages on GamesandCasino.com show scores out of 5. This page explains where each score comes from and how the average is built. It also says what the score does not tell you.

The scores on a casino card

A casino card or review page can show up to four numbers. All are on a scale from 0 to 5.

• lcb.org: the average rating published on lcb.org. We import it together with the number of ratings behind it.
• casinolistings.com: the rating from casinolistings.com. It is stored in our casino records. Only some casinos have one.
• gamesandcasino.com: the average of votes from visitors to this site.
• Average: the average of the scores above.

A score is shown only when it exists. A casino with no visitor votes has no gamesandcasino.com score.

How the average is calculated

The average is the plain mean of the scores that exist for the casino. Each score has the same weight. The result is rounded to one decimal place.

Example: a casino has an lcb.org score of 4.0 and a visitor score of 4.5. The average is 4.25, shown as 4.3. If a third score of 3.5 existed, the average would be (4.0 + 4.5 + 3.5) / 3 = 4.0.

The formula has no input for commission, bonus size, advertising or any other payment from a casino.

How visitor votes work

• Any visitor can vote on a casino review page. A vote is from 0.5 to 5 stars, in half-star steps.
• A signed-in visitor has one vote per casino. A visitor who is not signed in has one vote per IP address. A new vote replaces the earlier one.
• We do not ask voters to show that they have played at the casino.
• Our team checks votes for duplicate IP addresses and for unnatural voting, such as votes from casino shills.
• The visitor score is the average of all votes, rounded to one decimal place. It is updated when a vote is cast.
• The number of votes differs from casino to casino. When a casino has only a few votes, one vote can move its visitor score and its average by a lot.

Where the other scores come from

The lcb.org score is taken from the LCB data feed. The casinolistings.com score is stored in our casino records.

lcb.org and casinolistings.com are sites in the same network as GamesandCasino.com. Each site is run by a different team. The network shares facts and data between its sites. This cuts costs and helps keep the sites as up to date as possible. These two scores do not come from an independent third party. About us explains the network.

What the score does not tell you

• It is not a safety rating or a licence check. A high score does not mean a casino is safe. A low score does not prove a casino is unsafe.
• It does not score bonus terms, payout speed, game range or customer support one by one. Our data holds no separate scores for these.
• It is not the result of a test. The score is built only from the sources above. The hands-on checks our reviewers make go into the written review, not into the score.

Before you deposit, read the full review, check the licence on the operator's own site and read the bonus terms.

What a written review shows

A reviewer opens a real account, makes a real-money deposit, requests a withdrawal and contacts support. We recheck each review every 3 months.

We check each casino's licence on the regulator's own register. The check is part of the 3-month recheck.

Where we have the data, a casino review page shows languages, currencies, licence jurisdictions, software providers, whether the casino accepts cryptocurrency, current bonuses with links to their terms, and screenshots. Jurisdictions are shown as they appear in our data. The review text carries the name of its author.

Warning labels and the blacklist

A casino can carry a label: closed, blacklisted, warning or on probation. Most of these labels come from the LCB data feed. Our team can add or change a label. A closed or blacklisted casino shows no rating on its review page.

Our blacklist collects reports from players and other websites. It is not an official or court-compiled list. See the blacklisted casinos page.

How lists are ordered

• Casino lists are sorted by average score, highest first, unless you change the sort.
• Lists are adjusted to your location, which we detect from your IP address. A casino can be hidden from a list in some regions.
• The "Best Rated Casinos" block on the home page shows up to four casinos for your region. It is filled in this order: casinos our team marked as top rated for your region; then casinos in the lcb.org list order for your region; then other casinos with the highest average score. The four are then shown with the highest average first.

Commercial terms never affect which casinos are picked as top rated or how lists are ordered.

How often scores change

• The visitor score and the average are recalculated right after a vote.
• All averages are recalculated each time we release an update to the site.
• The lcb.org score changes when LCB sends new data. The average of that casino catches up at its next vote or at the next site release.

Other ratings on this site

Slot and game pages use the same method: lcb.org score, casinolistings.com score and visitor votes, averaged. Bingo rooms use the latestbingobonuses.com score and visitor votes. Poker rooms use the lcb.org score and visitor votes.

Age limits and responsible gambling

You must be 18 or older. If the legal gambling age where you live is higher, that age applies. It is 19 in most Canadian provinces and 21 in the United States. If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, read our problem gambling page.

Questions and corrections

If a score or a review looks wrong, tell us through the contact form or at admin@gamesandcasino.com. We reply within 5 working days. Our about us page explains how we handle corrections. The way we earn money is explained in our affiliate disclosure.