How We Rate Online Casinos and Bookmakers

We rate online casinos and bookmakers on five marks, each from 1 to 9 with 1 the best, and finish with one of four verdicts. The marks are read from public records and the operator's own documents; none comes from an account we opened, because we do not open them.

The five figures in a form line

Read left to right, like the form beside a horse's name:

1. Licence. Who regulates the operator for Irish customers. A company on the GRAI register for betting earns the top mark. For casinos, where no Irish licence exists yet, the best a brand can do is a well-regarded foreign regulator such as Malta, Great Britain or Gibraltar, preferably with a parent company that also holds a GRAI betting licence.
2. Markets. Depth of the product: racing and sport coverage for a bookmaker, game range and live tables for a casino.
3. Payments. The methods listed in the operator's terms, from debit cards to Apple Pay, PayPal and bank transfer, and how clearly withdrawals are explained.
4. Safer-gambling tools. Deposit limits, time-outs, reality checks and self-exclusion, as described in the help pages.
5. Terms clarity. Whether a reader can find the rules on bonuses, voids and account closures without a law degree.

Where a page was blocked to our research or a fact could not be confirmed, the mark stays cautious. A blank is not a pass.

Four verdicts

• Nap: our pick in the category, with a top licence mark and few weak spots.
• Each-way: sound, with caveats that the review spells out.
• Watch: not enough confirmed, or too new; we wait for more evidence.
• Swerve: avoid. Every offshore brand, licensed in Curacao, Anjouan or Kahnawake or not at all, gets this verdict automatically, never appears in our ranked cards and never gets a link.

Where the evidence comes from

The order of authority is fixed. The GRAI register decides whether a bookmaker is licensed in Ireland. Other regulators' registers, Malta and Great Britain chiefly, come next. Then the operator's terms, help pages and app store listings, and finally reputable trade press. Our licensing guide explains why a Revenue licence number no longer counts on its own.

We do not claim to have placed bets, made deposits, timed withdrawals or chatted to support. Where a review quotes a payout time or an offer, it comes from the operator's published terms and is labelled as such.

What money does not buy

Some brands pay us a commission when a reader signs up, which our affiliate disclosure sets out. Commission does not move a form figure or a verdict, and a bigger welcome offer earns no marks: offers change by the week and the Act will restrict them once its inducement rules commence.

Keeping the card current

Ratings are reviewed when a licence changes, when the register is updated or when an operator rewrites its terms. Each page carries the date it was last checked. If you spot a fact that has gone stale, tell the editors through the contact page and we will look again.

A good form line describes an operator, not your chances. Gambling is for over-18s only, and our responsible gambling page lists where to get help.