A score nobody can reproduce is just an opinion, and Nigerian punters have seen plenty of those. Every CasinoTrust score — across brand guides, category reviews and comparison tables — is the weighted sum of six dimension scores, each measured against the criteria set out below. Anyone with a funded test account and a stopwatch can check our working.
The six dimensions and what each is worth
| Dimension | Weight | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Trust & licensing | 30% | Is the licence real, is the regulator worth anything, and does the operator keep to its own terms? |
| Payments & payouts | 20% | How fast and how cheaply does your money reach your bank account, and what slows it down? |
| Games & markets | 15% | Breadth, quality and fairness of what you can actually stake on. |
| Customer support | 15% | Can a real person solve a real problem, at 3 a.m., in a language you use? |
| Bonuses & value | 10% | What a promotion is really worth once the terms are applied. |
| Mobile experience | 10% | Does it work on a phone as well as it works on a laptop? |
Trust carries the heaviest weight because everything else rests on it: a quick payout from an operator that can void your winnings on a technicality is not a quick payout at all. Bonuses carry the least because, once wagering requirements bite, most offers are worth a small fraction of the headline figure — the maths is in bankroll management.
Eligibility gate: no verifiable licence, no score
Before a single dimension is scored, a platform has to clear a yes-or-no gate: it must hold a current licence from a recognised regulator, and we must be able to find that licence on the regulator's public register — the UK Gambling Commission's, the Malta Gaming Authority's, the Curaçao Gaming Authority's, or the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority's for Nigeria, under the operating company named in the platform's own terms. A badge sitting in the footer counts for nothing. Neither does a licence that is 'pending', suspended, or held by some other company.
- Licence number and licensee name match the regulator's register on the day we test.
- The licensee on that register is the same counterparty named in the platform's terms and conditions.
- The platform publishes a dispute-resolution route — an ADR body or a regulator complaint channel.
- The platform is not currently on the CasinoTrust blacklist.
Anything that fails the gate is neither scored nor listed. Prediction markets such as Polymarket are judged against the regime that actually governs their product — derivatives or event-contract regulation — rather than a casino licence, but the register-verification principle is the same. Nigerian readers should note the separate local layer: the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) and the state lotteries boards licence operators domestically, while many of the international platforms reachable from Nigeria run on offshore licences instead. We score the licence a platform actually holds, and we tell you to check availability from Nigeria before you deposit.
Licence tiers
Licences are not interchangeable, and the protection behind them varies enormously. The Trust & licensing dimension therefore opens at a tier-based baseline before the sub-criteria are applied.
| Tier | Regulators | Baseline Trust score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | UK Gambling Commission (UKGC); Malta Gaming Authority (MGA); national EU/EEA regulators (e.g. Spelinspektionen, Spillemyndigheden, DGOJ, ADM, GGL, ANJ, KSA); iGaming Ontario / AGCO | 8 | Player-fund segregation, mandatory ADR, published enforcement, self-exclusion schemes, advertising rules |
| Tier 2 | Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner; Isle of Man GSC; Curaçao Gaming Control Board (post-2024 LOK regime) | 6 | Credible supervision and a complaint route, but a thinner enforcement record or a regime still finding its feet |
| Tier 3 | Anjouan; Kahnawake; other offshore regimes | 3 | The licence can be verified, but it gives a player almost no practical recourse |
| Ineligible | No licence, unverifiable licence, or licence held by a different company | — | Fails the eligibility gate; not scored |
The Verified bonus
A platform that has been through all eight checks in the CasinoTrust Verified programme — crypto and card deposits, crypto and card withdrawals, game authenticity, support, field reputation and licence — carries +1.4 on its Trust score, capped at 10. The reason is simple: for a verified platform we have moved our own money through it and recorded what happened, and for an unverified one we have not. The bonus is applied uniformly, it is the same for every brand that earns it, and it is removed the moment a seal is withdrawn.
What sits inside each dimension
Every dimension is built from sub-criteria scored 0–10. The dimension score is the plain average of those sub-criteria, unless one of them is marked as a cap — in which case the dimension cannot rise above that value however well the rest performs. Two of them bite hardest from a Nigerian account: currency handling, where a platform pricing only in USD or EUR quietly takes a spread on every ₦ deposit, and mobile, because most play here happens on a phone over a metered data bundle.
Trust & licensing (30%)
| Sub-criterion | How it is scored 0–10 |
|---|---|
| Licence tier | Baseline from the tier table (8 / 6 / 3), adjusted ±1 for the regulator's enforcement record over the past 24 months |
| Ownership transparency | 10 = named licensee, registered address and directors all traceable; 5 = company named but the group behind it is opaque; 0 = shell with no traceable ownership |
| Terms fairness | Start at 10; −2 for each predatory clause (max-win caps on deposits, undefined 'irregular play' voids, dormant-account confiscation inside 12 months, KYC imposed unilaterally after a win) |
| Dispute-resolution route | 10 = ADR body named and actually working; 6 = regulator channel only; 2 = internal complaints only (cap: dimension ≤ 6) |
| Complaint record | Verified public complaints over the past 12 months, weighted by outcome; a pattern of unresolved non-payment caps the dimension at 3 |
| Responsible-gambling tools | 10 = deposit, loss and session limits plus self-exclusion and reality checks all working in testing; −2 for every tool missing or broken |
Payments & payouts (20%)
| Sub-criterion | How it is scored 0–10 |
|---|---|
| Measured withdrawal time | Median of at least 3 timed withdrawals per method: 10 = under 1 hour; 8 = under 24 h; 6 = 1–3 days; 3 = 3–7 days; 0 = over 7 days or failed |
| Fees | 10 = no withdrawal fees; −2 for each type of fee (fixed, percentage, currency conversion above 1%, so-called 'processing' charges) |
| Method coverage | Scored on the presence of cards, bank transfer, at least two e-wallets, and — where offered — at least three crypto networks with stablecoin support |
| Limits | 10 = withdrawal limits ≥ €10,000/day or uncapped; 5 = €1,000–10,000/day; 0 = under €1,000/day or monthly caps below €5,000 |
| KYC friction | 10 = verification done once, before the first withdrawal, inside 24 h; −3 if documents are demanded again after a win; −2 if verification dragged past 72 h |
| Currency handling | 10 = deposit and play in your own currency with no forced conversion; deductions for hidden spreads, measured against mid-market rates |
Games & markets (15%)
| Sub-criterion | How it is scored 0–10 |
|---|---|
| Provider quality | Scored on how many top-tier studios (by independent audit status) and live-dealer suppliers are actually present |
| Breadth for the category | Casino: slots, tables, live, game shows. Sportsbook: sports, leagues, markets per event, in-play depth — including whether NPFL and other African fixtures are priced or only the big European leagues. Poker: cash, tournaments, formats, traffic at peak and off-peak. Prediction markets: market count, resolution sources, liquidity |
| RTP transparency | 10 = RTP published per game and matching the provider's figure; 5 = published inconsistently; 0 = hidden, or reduced-RTP versions running without disclosure |
| Fairness verification | 10 = RNG tested by a third party (eCOGRA, GLI, iTech Labs, BMM) or provably fair with open verification; 0 = unverifiable (cap: dimension ≤ 4) |
| Pricing (sportsbook/poker) | Overround on major markets and the rake or fee schedule set against the category median — the poker academy shows how rake is calculated |
Bonuses & value (10%)
| Sub-criterion | How it is scored 0–10 |
|---|---|
| Expected value of the welcome offer | Worked out from the wagering requirement, game weighting, max bet and expiry; 10 = positive or near-neutral EV; 0 = EV below −50% of the bonus amount |
| Clarity of terms | 10 = every condition sits on the offer page itself; −2 for each condition buried in the general terms |
| Ongoing value | Cashback, loyalty, rakeback or reduced-juice schemes, scored on the real return at a typical staking volume |
| Restrictions | Deductions for max-win caps, country exclusions you only discover after signing up, and bonus-triggered withdrawal locks |
We publish how a bonus is scored, never the amount on offer today. Promotions change from week to week, and what a platform runs for Nigerian accounts is often not what its European page advertises — always read the current offer and its terms on the platform itself.
Customer support (15%)
| Sub-criterion | How it is scored 0–10 |
|---|---|
| Availability | 10 = 24/7 live chat with a human reachable inside the session; 6 = live chat during business hours; 3 = email only |
| Response time | Median first human reply across at least 6 tickets opened at different hours (02:00–05:00 local included): 10 = under 2 min on chat / 4 h by email; 0 = over 30 min on chat / 48 h by email |
| Resolution quality | Every ticket carries a real, answerable question — a specific bonus term, a payout status. 10 = correct and complete; 5 = partly right; 0 = wrong, or a scripted brush-off |
| Language coverage | Scored on human support in the languages the platform markets in |
| Escalation | 10 = a documented path to a named complaints team and on to ADR; 0 = nothing beyond first-line chat |
Mobile experience (10%)
| Sub-criterion | How it is scored 0–10 |
|---|---|
| Native apps | 10 = iOS and Android apps in the official stores with feature parity; 7 = a good progressive web app; 4 = responsive site only |
| Performance | Measured load time for the lobby and for a game or market on a mid-range Android handset over 4G; deductions once it passes 3 s |
| Feature parity | Deposits, withdrawals, KYC upload, limits and self-exclusion all completable on the phone, with no jump to a desktop |
| Stability | Crashes, drop-outs in live games or in-play betting, and bet-slip errors across a 2-hour session |
How we test
Sign up as an ordinary player
Testers register from a normal consumer connection in a market the platform accepts, using their real identity. We never announce a test and we never use press accounts.
Deposit real money
At least two fiat methods and, where offered, two crypto networks. The amounts are what a recreational player would actually stake, not token sums that duck past verification thresholds.
Play right across the product
Slots, live dealer, in-play sports or poker tables as relevant, on both desktop and phone, for long enough to trigger reality checks and to exercise the limit tools.
Put a stopwatch on every withdrawal
At least three withdrawals per method, requested at different hours and on different days. The clock runs from request to money available, KYC delays included.
Open support tickets around the clock
Six tickets minimum, overnight ones included, each asking something specific whose correct answer we already know.
Verify licence, ownership and terms
Register lookup, company records, a full read of the terms with clause-level notes, and a sweep of published complaints.
Score, cross-check, publish
A second editor re-scores from the same evidence. Any gap above 0.5 in a dimension is settled before release. The score and the last-tested date go live together.
A worked example
Take a hypothetical MGA-licensed casino (Tier 1) with quick crypto payouts but only average speed on fiat, a strong game library, an unremarkable bonus and no native app:
| Dimension | Dimension score | Weight | Weighted contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust & licensing | 8.5 | 30% | 2.55 |
| Payments & payouts | 7.0 | 20% | 1.40 |
| Games & markets | 9.0 | 15% | 1.35 |
| Customer support | 8.0 | 15% | 1.20 |
| Bonuses & value | 5.0 | 10% | 0.50 |
| Mobile experience | 6.0 | 10% | 0.60 |
| Final score | 100% | 7.6 |
Give that same platform nothing but a legacy Curaçao sub-licence and its Trust baseline drops from 8 to 3, stripping roughly 1.5 points off the final score and pushing it below most Tier-1 rivals in the online casino comparison. That is exactly what the weighting is designed to do.
What makes a score move
- The scheduled re-test every 90 days, covering all six dimensions.
- A licence event — suspension, revocation, transfer or a regulator fine: immediate Trust re-score and a fresh eligibility check.
- A verified payout pattern — three or more independently verified non-payment complaints inside 30 days: Payments re-score and a possible blacklist investigation.
- A change of terms touching withdrawals, bonuses or account closure: the affected dimensions are re-scored within 14 days.
- A change of ownership: full re-test.
- A new protocol version: every platform is re-scored under it on the same day.
Any platform that meets the blacklist criteria comes out of every ranking, whatever it scored before.
Version history
| Version | Date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| v1.0 | August 2026 | Initial public release: six dimensions, weights 30/20/15/15/10/10, licence tiers, eligibility gate, 90-day re-test cycle. |
Proposed changes go up on this page 30 days before they take effect. Questions about the method, or a challenge to it: contact@casinotrust.org. How we keep the protocol clear of commercial influence is set out in our editorial policy.
Frequently asked questions
Can an operator pay to push its CasinoTrust score up?
No. Scores come from applying this protocol to test evidence, and the editorial desks have no idea which platforms pay commission. A platform can buy a clearly labelled advertising slot; it cannot buy a score, a place in a ranking, or removal from the blacklist. The rules are in our editorial policy.
Why does licensing take 30% when payout speed is what Nigerians care about?
Payout speed only counts for something if the operator cannot cancel your winnings on a pretext. A serious regulator gives you a complaints route, segregated funds and enforcement behind them. Payments still carry the second-heaviest weight at 20%, because speed into your bank account and the fees taken along the way are the next thing you feel.
How often do the scores change?
Every platform is re-tested on a 90-day cycle, plus out of cycle whenever a licence changes, verified payout complaints start clustering, terms shift or ownership moves. Each scored page carries its last-tested date — treat anything older than 120 days as provisional.
Do you really deposit your own money?
Yes. Testers open ordinary accounts under their own identity, fund them with at least two fiat methods and, where offered, two crypto networks, then time a minimum of three withdrawals per method from request to money available, including any KYC hold-up.
What happens to a platform that loses its licence?
It fails the eligibility gate and comes out of every ranking and comparison table that same day, with a note added to its brand page. Where the lost licence comes alongside unpaid player balances, the blacklist investigation process starts.
Could I run these numbers myself?
Yes, and that is the whole point. The sub-criteria above tell you what to measure and how to turn a measurement into a 0–10 value. If what you record differs materially from what we recorded, send your evidence to contact@casinotrust.org and we will re-test.