Online Casino and Sports Betting Sites Review Criteria

This casino or sports betting site has absolutely no faults. This is a rare score to achieve and is only reserved for the best of the best.

The best online casino and sports betting sites should achieve these scores. However, these are also relatively rate scores and should only be given to the top sites. Any casino that receives a score within this range has seriously impressed us and is truly exceptional.

These are really standout casino and sports betting sites that are noteworthy in some way. However, they might have 1 or 2 negatives which prevents them from being truly special. 

The majority of gambling sites will probably have a rating within this rating range. Could it be better? Absolutely. But it provides players with a solid experience.

These gambling sites have an equal amount of negative and positive traits. The site can do a lot more to improve what it offers players.

This gambling site is bland and unremarkable. To achieve a rating this low there needs to be some major negatives. Players should really look elsewhere if they want a better experience.

This site is not well designed and there are a lot of negatives such as, lack of games, badly designed games, pages that do not load, etc. Players should think twice before spending any time or money on this site.

These sites have a very cluttered design with a lot of moving elements making it difficult to focus on anything. The games that are promoted are not the top recognizable games and look like knock offs. These sites usually do not have a licence from UKGC or MGA or AGCO.

These are sites that are on the verge of being blacklisted. They usually do not have any valid licence or have a low quality gambling licence from a non-trusted territory. 

Any site that gets a score this low means that it has been identified as a scam site or has major complaints filed against it with any customer third party arbitration board. Many of these sites can be found in blacklists.

All sites must display a legitimate licence from the relevant gaming authority of that country or region. This means, UKGC for the UK, MGA for Europe and the rest of the world, AGCO for Ontario, and Kahnawake or MGA for the rest of Canada.

Lack of licence means we will not feature the casino / sports betting site. We do not currently work with Curacao licensed casinos.

We check whether a site is independently owned or part of a larger network. Established casino or sports betting networks can call on years of experience and usually have access to resources that a new independent site may not have. However, an independent site will usually have better bonuses than their bigger counterparts as they want to start gaining market share and signing up new players, but less will be known about them.

We also check whether the site has been independently audited by an independent third party such as eCOGRA and can prove their game fairness. 

All sites must have valid SSL encryption.

At Gambling Zone we take responsible Gaming very seriously. We believe gambling should be a fun leisure activity. However, we are also aware that we need to be socially responsible and we also need to ensure that all the sites we work with are also responsible. The first thing we look for is how easily you can find any Responsible Gaming information on the site. Having a dedicated responsible gaming page on the site is an absolute must. 

Once we are on the responsible gaming page we check the information provided on the page to make sure it is clear and easy to understand. We also check whether the site links to any external resources and whether they provide any responsible gambling tools. 

Finally, we also check the depth of the information provided. Is it just the basic required information, or do they go above and beyond what is required?

We examine how many products the site offers. Initially we will check whether the site offers different  online casino games, such as, online slots, table games, bingo, virtual sports, sports betting, etc. We will always award slightly more points to gambling sites that can provide a full product suite to players (slots + live casino + sports betting). However, this can be mitigated if the site specialises in a specific product and does it a cut above the rest of the competition.

We then begin looking at each product in more detail. We will check how many game providers are available. More points are awarded to sites that work with a varied amount of  well-known game providers. We will also check if the site has any exclusive games. Exclusive games are usually developed by only the best gambling sites that have strong relationships with game providers.

Finally, we will also check whether there are any other less known products provided by the site, such as live streaming on sports games or competitions, instant win games, scratchcards, and dedicated e-gaming pages.

While big bonuses might seem enticing at first glance, there are many other factors that make up a good bonus. First, we take a look specifically at the bonus and what the base offering is compared to other casino sites. We then begin examining it in more detail and delve into the mundane part of bonuses, the terms and conditions. While most players will not take a look at terms, this is really where all the important details are located. We will look at whether the bonus is limited, either by game or sport or time. 

We then take a look at the wagering requirements and check whether they are higher than the industry average. If the bonus is particularly high to get attention, then we need to see whether the wagering requirements are also very high. This would make the bonus less attractive.

After taking a look at the welcome offers, we take a look at any other bonuses and promotions and what they offer existing customers. We also check the difference between bespoke campaigns and network campaigns. We also check if there are a variety of promotions for each type of product that the site offers.

Finally, we also check whether the site has a loyalty program and the details and rewards surrounding such a program.

We evaluate the overall experience when browsing the site. We look for smooth mechanics, minimal lag, and engaging features. We also check whether it is easy to get around the site and how structured the menus are. We will take note if there are any bugs or annoyances, take into account if it is playable across different devices. We will also look at whether innovative features the site may have or anything that will make it stand out when compared to other betting sites.

We assess the site's compatibility and performance on mobile devices. Our review includes an evaluation of any issues encountered during mobile play and the game's suitability for both horizontal and vertical orientations. We will also check whether the site has a separate mobile app, on which devices is the app offered, and what the app features are. 

We scrutinise the amount of payment options available on the site and more importantly, whether the popular payment methods in a particular region or country are available on site. We then check the processing time for each payment method and whether any fees are charged by the site to process a payment.

We assess the different contact options that the site provides. Firstly, we check how many options are available. The more ways a site provides in order for a customer to contact them, the better. Most sites offer live chat and email as a bare minimum. Once we have established how many contact options there are we will check whether they are available for 24 / 7 or if there is a time limit on support. Finally, we will also check if there is multi-language support and note which languages the site offers.