How We Rate and Review Online Casinos

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Written by Joe Powell

Updated: 08:25 am EST, 04/09/2024

How We Rate and Review Online Casinos

Our goal at Topoffshorecasinos.com is to provide thorough and accurate information guides. This will allow you to learn all there is to know about online casinos, poker rooms, and sportsbooks. Our priority is for you to have a safe, fun, and responsible gambling experience. Here, we’ll explain how we rate and evaluate each casino so that you can understand what we’re looking for.

The Criteria We Use When Rating

At Topoffshorecasinos.com we test several factors before including a gambling site on one of our recommended lists. In the section below, we’ll go into further detail about the main criteria platforms had to have to make it to our lists. This way, we can provide accurate and honest reviews to make it easier for our readers to choose a platform that is suitable for them.

Licenses and Audits

One of the most important criteria is checking that the casino or sportsbook is fully licensed by a recognized offshore iGaming authority. These include the Malta Gaming Authority, Curacao Gaming Control Board, and the UK Gambling Commission. This ensures that the gambling site upholds stringent rules and regulations to keep its players safe.

Moreover, we check that sites carry out regular audits by an independent regulatory body that monitors their practices. This way players can play with peace of mind knowing that the games are fair and that they are protected.

Safe Gambling Measures

Gambling online should be fun, however, it should be treated as an expense. Online gambling sites should provide responsible gambling help to avoid compulsive gambling. These include checking that users are of legal age and offering ways to set time or money limitations on their accounts. Finally, sites should grant players the ability to activate cooldown and self-exclusion schemes.

Safety and Security

A player’s safety and security are of utmost importance at Topoffshorecasinos.com. Every website should use SSL encryption, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), and firewalls to protect its players’ personal and banking data from illicit activities.

Casino Game Selection

The casinos have to provide a large range of games across different categories to rank high on our list. Online slots, including classic slots, video slots, and jackpot slots, are usually the most popular type of game. They come in hundreds of exciting themes and have various Return to Player rates (RTPs) plus variances. Therefore, we ensure that there is a variety of slot titles for players to choose from.

Other well-loved options include blackjack, baccarat, roulette, poker, and other table games. Additionally, we look out for specialty games, such as keno, scratch cards, video poker, and bingo. Finally, players should have access to a live casino with live dealer table games and game shows round-the-clock.

Free Play Mode

Several top offshore casinos allow players to try out most of their virtual library in demo mode. This way players can get a feel for the game and understand how it works, before placing a real money bet. While compiling our reviews, we check for this feature.

Game Software Providers

Featuring games from the top, reputable game providers means that players get high-quality and immersive games. Such developers regularly test their games for fairness by third-party entities and have won several prominent awards in the iGaming industry. Some of the pillars of the iGaming market include NetEnt, Betsoft, Rival Gaming, Microgaming, and Visionary iGaming.

Poker Platform

Some offshore casinos feature a separate poker platform where you can play against other live players in the US and internationally. This is different from virtual poker games or live casino poker where you play against a computer or against a live dealer.

If a poker platform is available, we analyze the different types of poker games available, such as Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven-card stud, and more. We also check how many tournaments it features and the types of tables it offers, like anonymous tables, quick seat poker, and zone poker.

Sport Event Options

When reviewing sportsbooks, we check that they include all major sports such as football, basketball, and ice hockey. We also examined more niche options, such as snooker and Gaelic football. We also ensure that it includes popular and secondary national and international leagues, a racebook, plus political and eSports betting.

Sportsbook Odds

To rate well in our list of recommended sportsbooks, the gambling site needs to provide competitive odds for its users. This metric is fundamental since a gambling website with poor odds will have a big advantage. Furthermore, a sportsbook should allow players to see the odds in decimal, American, or fractional ways.

Customer Care & Support

At any point in time, users may need assistance from the customer support team of the gambling site they are betting at. For this reason, we test each method the platform provides, including live chat, email, or phone. We check opening hours, how quickly they respond, how trained and professional the team is, and how players can get in touch with the casino.

Payment Options

When you sign in to your casino account to play for real money, you’ll want to find a variety of safe banking options to choose from. Here, we keep an eye out for the supported payment methods, the accepted currencies, any charges for players, as well as the minimum and maximum deposit and withdrawal limits.

Speed of Banking Transactions

Some offshore casinos take a higher-than-average time to process banking payments, both for deposits and withdrawals. Therefore, this is one of the areas we test.

Once our team opens an account, we check how easy it is to deposit funds and how long it takes for the funds to reach your account. The same is done when it’s time to withdraw any winnings. Platforms with longer than average waiting times do not score well on our lists.

Bonuses & Promotions

Bonuses are a great way to increase your bankroll and many online gambling sites offer them to encourage players to bet there. Our team evaluates the casinos’ welcome and existing bonuses by looking at what’s available, their rollover requirements, and their expiry date. High wagering requirements with a short expiration can make it hard for a user to fulfill.

User Interface – Mobile Experience & Desktop Experience

The website must be simple to use and navigate on all devices – smartphones, tablets, and desktops. The visuals of the site should be attractive, whilst maintaining its usability. A good grade in the user interface will come from striking the correct mix between style and functionality.

The number of users playing from their smartphones is increasing daily. Therefore, a website needs to be 100% mobile-responsive without losing its functionality, design, or quality. This is why when rating, we give a separate score for a user’s experience on a mobile device as well as a desktop.

Registration Process

A long and tedious registration process can be difficult for anyone. A seamless, fast, and hassle-free onboarding procedure is a big plus in our books. When reviewing a casino, we open an account to see how fast, secure, and how much information is requested. Some sites also allow players to access all of their platforms with only one login.

Any Additional & Innovative Qualities

In this area, we look out for other qualities that could enhance a player’s overall journey or other noteworthy elements that we haven’t mentioned above. Some examples of these are live betting and streaming options in the sportsbook or racebook. On the other hand, when reviewing casinos we look out for exclusive games, slot tournaments, whether the library is updated with new games, and more.

Understanding the Scores

When reviewing and ranking casinos, we give an average mark out of 10 which combines all of the points mentioned above. Along with this, we provide a grade for many of the categories where we focus specifically on that characteristic. See the table below to understand what the numbers represent.

Score Description Meaning
9 – 10 Exceptional An outstanding gaming website with top-notch features in every category and only a few minor flaws.
7 – 8.9 Above Average This score shows that the gaming platform has several noteworthy elements but it lacks other features that keep it from receiving our highest rating.
5 – 6.9 Average Although it does not feature any major cons, a score of 5 – 6.9 shows that such a website is a decent one.
3 – 4.9 Below Average We find that gambling sites that fall into this section have yet to make significant changes to improve. Although they have a few advantages, we do not advise using them and do not recommend them.
0 – 2.9 Very Poor A gambling website with this score is considered to be highly inadequate and falls short in several of the categories we test. Players should keep away from such websites as they may have significant security risks.

Why You Can Trust Us

We aim to deliver detailed, transparent, and honest articles and guides. Our content is written by an independent expert and then thoroughly verified by an additional team member. Each person within the team researches each topic extensively and understands what our readers are looking for. Ultimately, our objective is to give our readers unbiased, relevant, and up-to-date information.

In a nutshell, you can rely on Topoffshorecasinos.com to consistently offer the best gambling sites, saving you the trouble of searching the Internet for them yourself.