How we decide what to publish, and what never changes it
Commercial relationships fund this site — casino affiliate programs pay us when readers register through our links. This page sets out exactly how a casino qualifies for a listing, how a score is calculated, and the specific rules that keep that commercial relationship from ever touching either decision.
How a casino gets listed
A casino doesn't appear on this site because it has an affiliate program we can join — it appears because it passed a specific testing process, and it stays listed only as long as it keeps passing.
- It must have a genuine no deposit offer. We only cover casinos with an active, no-deposit-required bonus available to Australian players — not deposit-match welcome bonuses relabelled to sound like no deposit offers.
- We register a real account. Using the same sign-up flow, the same bonus code, and the same identity verification steps an ordinary player goes through — no operator cooperation or special access.
- We verify the offer actually works. The bonus has to land in the account as advertised, on the game specified, within a reasonable time of email verification.
- We check who's actually behind it. Ownership, operating entity and regulator are confirmed against the operator's own terms and licence footer, not assumed from marketing copy.
- We attempt a withdrawal. Where a balance clears the wagering requirement, we test the cash-out process itself, including any KYC identity checks.
A casino that fails any of these — a code that doesn't work, an offer that turns out to be geo-restricted for Australia, a licence we can't verify — doesn't get published, full stop. There's no "publish now, caveat later" step in our process.
How scores are set
Every casino is scored out of 5 across seven equally weighted categories, based entirely on what we found during testing:
Bonus value
How generous the offer is relative to its wagering requirement and maximum cashout cap.
Sign-up speed
How quickly registration, email verification and bonus crediting actually happen.
Game selection
Breadth and quality of the software library across slots, table games and live dealer.
Withdrawal speed
How long a payout actually takes once requested, not the advertised processing time.
Support
Whether live chat, email and phone (where offered) actually resolve a real query we raised.
Payment options & licensing
How many deposit/withdrawal methods are genuinely available, and how the operator's regulator compares to tier-1 bodies like the MGA or UKGC.
The overall rating shown on each review is a straight average across all seven categories — there's no hidden weighting that lets a high commission rate offset a weak score on, say, licensing or withdrawal speed. The full breakdown of how each category is assessed is on our ratings methodology page.
If our testing finds a discrepancy between what a casino's terms page says and what we actually experienced — a higher real-world wagering multiplier, a lower cashout cap — we score against what we found, and we say so directly in the review.
Independence safeguards
We earn a commission when readers register through some of the links on this site — see our affiliate disclosure for the full detail. The following rules exist specifically to stop that relationship from influencing editorial decisions:
What determines a score
- Our own registration-and-verification testing, and nothing else
- The same seven-category methodology, applied identically to every casino
- What we found on withdrawal, not just on sign-up
What never determines a score
- Commission rate or affiliate program terms
- Payment for a listing, review, or homepage position
- Operator requests to remove or soften a specific downside
No operator sees, reviews or approves a page before it's published. If an operator disputes a figure after publication, we re-test before making any change — we don't take either side's word for it a second time.
Keeping pages current
Bonus terms, licensing details and game libraries all change over time, so every offer and review carries a "last checked" date rather than a one-time publish date. When we re-test an offer:
- If it still matches what's published, the checked date is refreshed.
- If a detail has changed — a wagering figure, a licence, a game the spins are tied to — the review is updated to reflect it.
- If the offer no longer exists or no longer qualifies as a genuine no deposit bonus, the listing is removed rather than left live with an outdated badge.
We'd rather a page briefly say less than say something that's stopped being true.
Corrections & complaints
If you spot something that looks wrong — an expired code, a wagering figure that doesn't match your own experience, a licensing detail that's changed — email us via our contact page with the page URL and what's out of date. We prioritise correction reports over most other enquiries and re-check the specific claim before editing anything.
If a casino operator disputes a review, the same process applies: no page is changed on the strength of a dispute alone, but we will re-run our test and update the page if the re-test supports the correction.
Frequently asked questions
Can a casino pay to be listed here?
No. Listing is based entirely on passing our registration-and-verification test for a genuine no deposit offer. Affiliate commission is earned only if a reader registers through our link after a casino is already listed on its own merits.
Does a higher commission rate mean a better score?
No. Scores are a straight average across seven testing-based categories and don't factor in commission rate at all.
Do operators see reviews before they're published?
No. Reviews are published without operator pre-approval. If an operator later disputes a figure, we re-test before making any change.
How do I report an error?
Use our contact page with the page URL and the specific detail that looks wrong. Correction reports are prioritised.