Every score on Sir Casinos comes from the same checklist, run the same way, on every operator we cover. No casino buys a higher number, and no review goes live without a second person checking the work behind it. This page walks through exactly how a rating gets made, from the first login to the final score.
We built this process because most “best casino” lists in this industry are ranked by commission size, not by how an operator actually treats its players. Ours isn’t. Below is the exact framework our team applies to every casino, bonus, and payment method on the site.
How a Rating Gets Built
A review doesn’t start with an opinion. It starts with a checklist, and every casino goes through the same five stages before a single star gets assigned.
- Licensing and background check. We confirm the operator’s licence number directly against the regulator’s public register, identify the parent company, and note any past sanctions tied to that owner.
- Hands-on account testing. We register a real account, complete KYC, browse the live game library, and test the cashier from both the deposit and withdrawal side wherever regional access allows.
- Terms and fine-print audit. Bonus wagering multipliers, maximum cashout caps, game weighting, and withdrawal limits get read in full, not skimmed off a promo banner.
- Independent verification. We cross-check what a casino claims against regulator databases and independent player complaint channels, looking specifically for withheld payouts, closed accounts, or unresolved disputes.
- Scoring and editor sign-off. The writer proposes a score per category with evidence attached to each one. A separate editor checks that evidence before the piece publishes, and both are credited on the page.
If a casino fails stage one, the review stops there. An unlicensed or misrepresented operator doesn’t get a softened bonus, game, or support score to balance things out; it gets moved to our blacklisted casinos list instead.
Those five steps run the same way for every casino we cover, whether it’s a long-standing partner or a brand we’ve never worked with commercially.
What We Actually Score
Every casino review is broken into seven categories. Each gets its own score out of 5, and the reasoning behind that number is spelled out in the review itself, not left as an unexplained badge.
Licensing & Safety
Whether the licence comes from a recognised regulator, how the operator handles KYC and self-exclusion requests, and whether ownership is public or hidden behind shell companies.
Bonuses & Promotions
Not the headline number. We score how playable a bonus actually is: wagering multiplier, game weighting, maximum cashout, and expiry window. A big bonus with a steep multiplier and a low cap scores lower than a modest one with fair terms.
Game Selection & Software
Library size, provider mix, whether RTP data is published, and how the lobby actually performs under real use rather than in a marketing screenshot.
Payments
Deposit method range, minimum and maximum limits, and, most importantly, how long a real withdrawal actually took during testing, measured against what the casino advertises.
Customer Support
Live chat response time tested at different hours, whether a human or a bot answers first, and how support handles a genuinely awkward question rather than a scripted one.
Mobile Experience
Whether the site runs as a proper responsive browser experience or a dedicated app, and whether the mobile cashier and game library match the desktop version feature for feature.
Reputation & Player Feedback
Patterns across regulator complaint logs and independent player reports. Repeated withheld withdrawals, account closures after a big win, or unresolved disputes weigh heavily here, even when everything else scores well.
Our Scoring Scale
Every number on the site maps to the same five-point scale, so a 4/5 means the same thing whether you’re reading a casino review or a payment method guide.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 5/5 | Exceptional. No meaningful weaknesses found across any category. |
| 4/5 | Strong. Minor drawbacks that don’t affect the core experience. |
| 3/5 | Average. Usable, but with real caveats worth knowing before you sign up. |
| 2/5 | Below standard. Proceed with caution; specific issues are called out in the review. |
| 1/5 | Failing. We don’t recommend playing here, and we say so directly. |
Any category scoring under 3/5 gets its own explanation in the body of the review. We don’t publish a low number without saying exactly why it’s low.
Editorial Independence
Sir Casinos earns a commission when a player signs up through some of the casinos listed on this site. That relationship never touches the scoring. The same seven-category checklist runs whether or not a commercial partnership exists, and an operator that fails our licensing or safety check gets flagged regardless of what’s on the table commercially.
Casinos don’t preview their scores before publication, and no operator can pay to have a listed con removed. If a partner casino changes its terms for the worse, that change shows up in the next review update, not around it.
The People Behind the Ratings
Sir Casinos’s reviews are built by a team split across compliance research, hands-on product testing, and editorial review, so no single person’s impression decides a score alone. Between them, the team covers gambling licensing and regulation, casino product analysis, and responsible gambling standards.
[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER] how-we-rate-team-photo.png — team or workspace photo representing the Sir Casinos research and editorial team. Alt: “The Sir Casinos team researching and testing online casinos”. (Editor: source an on-brand team photo, upload, and replace this placeholder with the image.)
Every published review carries two credits: the writer who tested the casino, and a separate editor or reviewer who checked the licensing facts and evidence before it went live. Both are named on the article itself. That second pair of eyes exists specifically so a rating never rests on one person’s opinion.
Keeping Ratings Current
A licence, an ownership structure, or a bonus’s terms can all change months after we publish, so a rating is never treated as a one-time snapshot.
We recheck licensing status and live bonus terms on an ongoing basis, and a casino gets a full re-review sooner if any of the following happen:
- Its licence status or regulator changes
- Ownership or parent company changes
- Player complaints spike in a short window
- Bonus terms, cashout limits, or payment options change materially
You can see this process applied on every casino page on the site, starting with our full list of reviewed online casinos.