Solo Developer, Canadian Casino Rules in One Place
I'm Valerii Zalivkin, and I built GambleGrade by myself. Casino terms are deliberately hard to read - the clauses that cost you money are buried deep in the small print. I pull each casino's rules, read them clause by clause, quote the exact wording that flags a problem, and publish the formula behind every score. You can see both: the casino's own words, and the math that produced the rating.
Who Runs This
Valerii Zalivkin
I built GambleGrade to put every online casino's rules in one place, across all 37 markets it covers. Casino terms are long, change without notice, and bury the costly clauses in the middle - so they get collected here, read clause by clause, quoted and dated, and you see them before the money rather than after.
- 2024Started buildingBegan work on GambleGrade with the mission of gathering all casino rules in one location and working through them clause by clause.
- 2024Formula publishedFinalized and released the six-pillar scoring formula in advance of computing the first score, ensuring the method was transparent from day one.
- 2025Pipelines builtDeveloped the scraping, terms analysis, scoring algorithms, and versioning infrastructure that operate the platform independently.
- 202637 markets liveWent live in August 2026 across all 37 markets concurrently, with each market's rules examined according to its own setting.
Rules Come First, Rankings Follow
- Rankings driven by which operator pays the most
- Scores backed by unnamed sources or unverifiable claims
- One generic template repackaged for each region
- Ratings shift when partnership money does
- Affiliate deals buried deep in fine print
- No methodology disclosed, no formula weights published
- Outdated content recycled without re-checking facts
- Scores calculated by a published formula you can verify yourself
- Every input is concrete and fully disclosed
- 37 markets, each with its own regulatory and payment ruleset
- Ratings recalculate when the underlying data shifts
- Affiliate partnerships listed openly - they do not affect position
- Six pillars of assessment, with documented weights
- Terms-of-service pages re-analyzed and all ratings re-scored monthly
Independence
Affiliate income covers hosting and the cost of running scrapers. The income has no access to the ranking code. A separation built into architecture, not just into promises.
Transparency
Methodology is public. Data sources are named. Formula weights are written down. A score does not go live unless I can walk backward through every step that produced it.
Data-First
I set the weights once. The scoring engine runs from there without me in the loop. No manual override exists. My opinion of a casino has zero influence on where it ranks.
From New Casino to Your Rating - The Complete Process
I build and run the formula myself. Automation handles the heavy lifting - finding casinos, pulling data, running the scoring, and publishing results. Every month, I re-score the entire catalog against the latest terms of service.
Finding New Casinos and Verifying Licenses
Daily crawlers search for new operators across 37 markets. When one appears, I verify its license against official regulator records - checking bodies like the AGCO, British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, and others. I look into who's behind it and flag any sanctions or revoked credentials. Only casinos with valid licenses get added.
Collecting Data at Scale
Automated scripts pull from regulator databases, public records, payment processors, and game providers. Thousands of data points are collected this way - no manual typing of bonus terms, no outdated snapshots, no guesswork. Everything feeds the score.
Running the Formula
Data gets normalized and fed into the scoring engine, which rates each casino across six pillars: trust and licensing, bonus fairness, payout speed, payment options, user experience and mobile, and player reviews. The formula produces the ranking. I don't hand-adjust scores, and no business deal changes the order.
Double-Checking and Explaining
I review anomalies and edge cases by hand, then write the reasoning that explains what the numbers actually show. My role is to make sense of the data - not to change it.
Publishing and Monitoring
Once the monthly re-scoring cycle completes, ratings go live automatically. Monitoring systems watch for license changes or drops in payout performance and flag anything worth a closer look.
Six commitments built into the score
These principles are embedded in the formula. Nothing overrides them.
Position is determined by data, never by money
Casinos cannot purchase placement. The platform runs on affiliate revenue, but the ranking itself comes purely from the formula - financial arrangements have zero influence on position.
The algorithm decides, I do not
I set the weights and select the data sources once. After that point, the scoring engine operates without intervention - no manual adjustments, no exceptions, no override buttons.
Built for the person funding the deposit
Every weight, every predatory term flagged, every feature on this site exists because it helps someone choose a casino more carefully - not because a casino operator requested it.
All methodology is visible and testable
The scoring logic is documented publicly. Data sources are named. Each calculation step is published. Anyone with the same inputs can reproduce any casino's rating.
Every rating recalculates monthly
Outdated scores mislead players. A scraper re-evaluates each casino's rating once per month against current licensing, recent payout test data, and the latest terms snapshot.
Errors and fixes live in the open
When a rating is incorrect or the scraper encounters a failure, I log both the error and the correction in a public changelog. Reader reports are tracked the same way.
Why Affiliate Revenue Never Changes a Casino's Score
How the system and day-to-day process keep casino ratings independent from the revenue that funds GambleGrade.
I run this platform on my own, with no sales team pushing for ranking changes. The scoring system draws only from the rating database - affiliate records are kept in a separate system that the formula cannot reach.
Every casino passes through the same six pillars with identical weights. Trust and licensing, bonus fairness, payout speed, payment methods, mobile experience, and user feedback - the inputs and thresholds stay the same for all brands, regardless of whether I earn commission from them.
When you click certain links, I earn a referral fee - always disclosed right at the link. Whether a casino pays affiliate commission only determines if I earn from it; it does not affect its rating or position in the catalogue.
Casinos can submit factual corrections - a new regulator licence, a new payment method like Interac, or updated branding. I verify each one by hand before it enters the system. Rating changes and ranking moves cannot be requested, negotiated, or bought.
Six pillars. One formula. Scores you can verify.
I rate every casino across six dimensions using fixed weights and verifiable inputs. The full breakdown - exact calculation steps, flag definitions, data sources - is published in my methodology so you can reproduce any score yourself.
Trust & Licensing
Regulator jurisdiction, operator history, automated scanning of terms-of-service pages for predatory clauses, live support response times.
Payout Speed
Real withdrawal times from transaction data - same-day payouts rank higher than multi-day delays.
Fair Bonuses
Actual bonus value after accounting for wagering requirements, cashout limits, and unfavourable restrictions.
Player Reviews
Player feedback from Trustpilot, AskGamblers, public forums, and other spaces where Canadian players share real experiences.
Payment Methods
Range of deposit and withdrawal options - including Interac e-Transfer, crypto, cards, and e-wallets - plus minimum deposit and maximum withdrawal rules.
Site Speed & Mobile
Load times, navigation clarity, mobile responsiveness, and reliable performance during high-traffic periods.