How We Rate and Review Online Casinos
Our goal at Topoffshorecasinos.com is to provide accurate information, and knowing how we rate online casinos is an important consideration. We aim to help 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. This way, you can have confidence that we are steering you in the right direction based on essential criteria.
The Criteria We Use When Rating
Topoffshorecasinos.com tests several factors before including a gambling site on one of our recommended lists. In the section below, we’ll further detail the main criteria platforms had to score high in 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 suitable platform.
Licenses and Audits
One of the most essential criteria is checking that the casino or sportsbook is fully licensed by a recognized offshore iGaming authority. These include the Malta Gaming Authority and the Curacao Gaming Control Board. This ensures the gambling site upholds stringent rules and regulations to keep its players safe.
Moreover, we check that sites conduct 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 in the casino’s jurisdiction and offering ways to set time or money limitations on their accounts. Finally, sites should allow players to activate cooldown and self-exclusion schemes.
Safety and Security
At Topoffshorecasinos.com, a player’s safety and security are of the utmost importance. Every website should use SSL encryption, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), and firewalls to protect players’ personal and banking data from illicit activities.
Casino Game Selection
Casinos must offer a wide 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 types of games.
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 around 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. We check for this feature while compiling our reviews.
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 differs 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 examine more niche options, such as snooker and Gaelic football. Plus, we check that the operator 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 significant 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, and 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 expiration 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, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Its visuals should be attractive while maintaining its usability. A good grade in the user interface will come from striking the correct balance between style and functionality.
Users playing from their smartphones is becoming more common daily. Therefore, a website must be 100% mobile-responsive without losing 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 generally 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 on a 0-10 ranking system. Sometimes, we may use a 0-5 ranking system; similar criteria apply.
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 significant cons, a score of 5 – 6.9 shows that such a website is decent. |
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 or recommend them. |
0 – 2.9 | Very Poor | A gambling website with this score is considered highly inadequate and falls short in several categories we test. Players should avoid 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.