How We Rate Casinos
Last updated: 24 June 2026
Our ratings run from 1 to 5, and the number isn't a gut feeling. It comes from a fixed set of criteria, each weighted by how much it affects a real player's money and safety. A huge game library doesn't rescue a casino that charges 15% to withdraw. Below is exactly what feeds the score, and roughly how much each part counts.
The criteria and their weight
| Criterion | Weight | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Trust & licensing | 30% | Licence and regulator, ownership transparency, dispute process, player protection |
| Payments | 25% | Withdrawal fees, minimums, caps, real payout speed, NZD support |
| Bonuses | 15% | Wagering, max bet, time limits, game weighting, honesty of terms |
| Games | 15% | Library size, provider quality, live casino, RTP range |
| Support & safer gambling | 10% | Channels, response time, in-account RG tools |
| Experience & mobile | 5% | Site speed, mobile play, navigation, KYC friction |
Why payments weigh so heavily
Most review sites lead with bonuses. We don't, because the moment that actually tests a casino is when you try to cash out. A high minimum withdrawal, a percentage fee, or a slow payout queue costs you real money, every single time, long after the welcome bonus is spent. So payments carry a quarter of the score on their own, and a genuinely bad withdrawal policy can sink an otherwise decent site.
Trust comes first
The largest single slice is trust and licensing. We check who owns the casino, which body licenses it, and whether there's a real route to escalate a dispute. An offshore Curaçao licence is not the same as Tier-1 regulation, and we say so plainly rather than pretending all licences are equal. How we verify this is covered in how we test.
What the final number means
- 4.5–5.0: A site we'd happily use ourselves. Fair payments, honest terms, solid protection. Rare.
- 3.5–4.4: Good with caveats. Worth playing if the specific weaknesses (often payments or support) don't bother you.
- 2.5–3.4: Mixed. Some real strengths, some real problems. Read the cons closely before depositing.
- Below 2.5: We'd steer most players away. Usually a payments or trust failure serious enough to outweigh the rest.
Affiliate relationships don't move the number
We earn commission when some players sign up through our links, and that has zero influence on the score a casino gets. A partner can score low; a non-partner can score high. The methodology above is applied the same way regardless. Full detail is in our affiliate disclosure, and the safer-gambling criterion ties back to our responsible gambling standards.
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Online casino play in New Zealand is for players aged 18 and over. 18+.
Think a rating is wrong? Tell us why on the contact page, we revisit scores when the evidence changes.