How 70+ Data Points Build Your Casino Rating
Every casino gets scored across six pillars - trust and licensing, bonus fairness, payout speed, payment convenience, user experience, and player feedback. I analyse over 100 individual parameters for each brand. The methodology is open; the rankings are never for sale.
How the Score Works
Every casino gets a single score from 0 to 100. That score is built from six equally-weighted ratings - Trust & licensing, Bonus fairness, Payout speed, Payment options, User interface & mobile, and Player feedback. The weights are fixed, they apply across all 37 markets, and they're published here so you can check the maths yourself.
How I rate casinos for NZ
The page isn't just translated - every casino is scored through the lens of your jurisdiction.
Each country uses its own set of rating weights - what matters here may differ from what matters elsewhere.
The Six Pillars - How Every Score Is Built
Six independent metrics, six different data streams, six separate calculations. Every casino score is built the same way - here is what each pillar measures and where the data comes from.
Trust & Reliability Score
Evaluates a casino's licensing strength, Terms & Conditions fairness, and customer support - the three pillars of trust.
Each licence jurisdiction carries an individual weight I assign based on regulatory oversight, consumer protection strength, dispute resolution mechanisms, and score requirements. Higher oversight earns a higher weight.
The casino's licence score equals the highest weight among all its verified licences. Multiple licences don't stack - only the strongest one counts.
An automated parser scans every casino's Terms & Conditions for red and yellow flags. Score starts at 100 - penalties are subtracted for each flag found.
A full snapshot of every casino's T&C is saved weekly. When terms change, they are re-scanned automatically and the score updates. Historical snapshots are kept.
Customer support is scored as a simple checklist of 5 equally weighted flags. Each flag is worth 20 points (total = 100). I verify each one by hand.
Formula: (number of flags met ÷ 5) × 100 = CS Score
Fair Bonuses Score
Measures the real, withdrawable value of casino bonuses - not just the flashy number on the banner.
Best bonus score of any type. Each individual bonus is scored, then one brand-level FBS is computed.
The actual monetary value of each bonus is broken into weighted components. Each component is scaled 0-100 using its own best/worst thresholds.
All monetary bonus values (bonus cap, min deposit, max cashout, max bet, free spin value) are automatically converted to NZD before scoring.
Bonus conditions determine whether you'll actually be able to withdraw winnings. Wagering difficulty, cashout limits and bet restrictions are each evaluated.
The same wagering multiplier can be much harder depending on what it's applied to. The stated wagering is multiplied by a difficulty coefficient.
Example: 30x on Deposit + Bonus (×2.0) = effective 60x wagering. Same 30x on Bonus only (×1.0) = effective 30x.
Fixed penalty points are subtracted from the score when certain conditions apply. Missing wagering data triggers a completeness penalty - hiding terms is a red flag.
Bonus type multipliers - final adjustment by bonus category:
Adjusted score = min(100, score after penalties x (1 + multiplier))
Payout Speed Score
How fast your winnings actually reach your account - from withdrawal request to money in hand.
Each casino's payout speed is mapped to a score. The fastest available payout method determines the score.
Payment Convenience Value
Scores the breadth and quality of deposit & withdrawal options available to New Zealand players.
Each payment method is classified into tiers based on popularity and relevance for New Zealand players. Higher tiers contribute more points.
UX & Mobile Score
Measures how smooth, fast, and intuitive the casino experience is on both desktop and mobile.
Google Lighthouse audits run weekly on every casino's pages (mobile strategy). Core Web Vitals directly affect the score.
I test every casino on iOS and Android myself, grading navigation clarity, game search, and registration friction.
Customer Reviews Aggregated
Combines player ratings from GambleGrade and independent review platforms into a single weighted score that reflects real player experiences.
CRA is a weighted combination of two independent data sources: player reviews submitted directly to GambleGrade and ratings collected from major independent review platforms across the internet.
CRA = ( 5 × InternalScore + 95 × ExternalScore ) / 100
If one source has no data (e.g. no internal reviews yet), the remaining source automatically takes 100% of the weight.
Players rate casinos directly on GambleGrade on a scale of 1-100. The internal score is the simple average of all eligible ratings. This score is then capped based on how many reviews exist - a casino with just 1 or 2 reviews cannot reach the maximum score, regardless of how high the ratings are.
InternalScore = min( avg(ratings), volume_cap )
To prevent a single 100/100 review from giving a casino a perfect score, the internal score is capped based on the total number of eligible reviews.
Ratings are collected from independent review platforms to get a broader picture of player satisfaction. Each platform uses its own scale.
ExternalScore = avg( source_rating / scale_max × 100 )
External sources tracked (7):
New sources are discovered and added automatically as they become available. Not every casino will have ratings on every platform.
External platform ratings may be subject to inaccuracy of up to 10% due to differences in rating scales, review moderation policies, and update frequency. These ratings are provided for reference and should not be treated as exact measures.
What Your Score Means
Each casino gets a grade from 0 to 100 based on six key areas: licensing and regulation, bonus terms fairness, how fast they pay out, payment methods available, the quality of their site and mobile app, and what other players say. The score shows you how a brand stacks up across all six.
Performs brilliantly across the board. I've tested their payouts firsthand, checked their terms and found no hidden penalties, confirmed they're regulated by a solid licensing authority, and verified their T&S doesn't contain dodgy traps.
Solid across most areas. One or two aspects could be stronger, but the important things - licensing, payout track record - hold up well.
Has some real strengths but also some rough spots. Read through the individual pillar scores and their terms breakdown before you sign up.
Meets the basics without standing out. Bonuses read fairly, payouts arrive within their stated timeframes, and the terms don't throw up any major warning signs.
Multiple areas drag the score down. Slow withdrawals, aggressive wagering terms, or terms clauses that lean heavily in their favour show up in the analysis.
Struggles across most dimensions. I wouldn't recommend playing here.
Your Casino Score - Transparent and Formula-Based
Drag the sliders to see how each metric contributes to the final Overall Rating Score. This is the exact same formula used for every casino.
What Goes Into Your Casino Rating
From the moment a new casino is discovered to the day you read its score - here's every step of the process. No shortcuts, no paid fast-tracks.