ARS (Automatic Rating System)

Every casino on Bonuscasinoexpert is scored through a combination of three inputs: our Automatic Rating System (ARS) — a weighted scoring model built from measurable, verifiable data — hands-on testing by our review team, and real player feedback. No single input decides a casino's final score on its own. The table below is the full list of criteria that feed into a casino's score, what each one covers, and how it's verified.

Criterion	Weight	What We Check	How We Verify It
Licensing & Regulation	20%	Whether the operator holds a valid, current gambling licence, and from which regulator (e.g. MGA, Curaçao, or a licence recognised in Germany, Austria or Switzerland specifically)	Cross-checked directly against the issuing regulator's public licence register, not just the badge displayed on the casino's own site
Payout Rate (RTP) & Verified Payouts	20%	Provider-published RTP figures across the casino's game library, and whether real withdrawal requests are paid out as promised	RTP figures cross-checked against independent testing bodies (e.g. eCOGRA, iTech Labs) where available; payout reliability tracked through real test withdrawals and player complaint volume over time
Bonus Terms & Fairness	15%	Wagering requirements, maximum cashout caps, game contribution rates, and how clearly terms are disclosed	Full terms read and logged for every bonus tied to a reviewed casino; cross-referenced against our bonus listings
Deposits & Withdrawals	15%	Range of payment methods, minimum/maximum limits, and actual withdrawal processing time	Timed directly during testing using a real funded account — not taken from the casino's advertised processing times
Player Reputation & Complaint History	15%	Volume and severity of player complaints, and how the operator responded to them	Drawn from verified reviews on our casino reviews section and, where a formal complaint was filed, tracked through to resolution
Game Library & Software Providers	10%	Number and reputation of software providers, game variety, and whether new releases from major studios are added promptly	Manually catalogued during testing; cross-referenced against our software providers directory
Customer Support	5%	Availability (live chat, email, phone), language support, and response quality	Tested directly by our review team with real support queries, including response time logged during testing

Total: 100%. The logic behind this distribution: Licensing and Payout Rate & Verified Payouts carry the most weight (20% each) because they're foundational — a casino that fails on either one shouldn't be able to rank well no matter how strong the rest of its offering is. Bonus Terms, Deposits & Withdrawals, and Player Reputation sit in the middle (15% each) as the factors that most directly affect a player's actual day-to-day experience and outcomes. Game Library (10%) and Customer Support (5%) carry less weight — both matter, but neither one is grounds on its own to rate an otherwise trustworthy, well-paying casino poorly.

Score	What It Means
9.0 – 10	Excellent — meets every core criterion with no meaningful weaknesses found during testing
7.0 – 8.9	Good — solid across most criteria, with at most minor, disclosed drawbacks
5.0 – 6.9	Average — playable, but with at least one criterion (commonly bonus terms or support) meaningfully below our standard
Below 5.0	Not recommended — a genuine issue was found in licensing, payout reliability, or complaint history

A score below roughly 3.0, or a confirmed pattern of unresolved player complaints, is grounds for a casino to be excluded from our rankings rather than simply scored low — you can check an operator's standing, including flagged reputation issues, in its listing on our casino reviews section. Every casino is re-tested at least once per quarter. A full re-review is also triggered immediately, outside the normal quarterly cycle, by a licence change, a confirmed unresolved player complaint, or a material change to a casino's bonus terms. Björn Scholz — Head of Casino Research. iGaming expert with 20 years of experience; started as a professional online poker player before moving into content covering online casinos, poker, and sports betting. A complaint alone doesn't automatically lower a casino's score — how the operator responds does. We track whether a casino's representatives engaged with a complaint, how quickly, and whether it was resolved. A pattern of ignored or dismissed complaints affects the Player Reputation & Complaint History criterion directly, and can trigger a full re-review outside the normal update cycle. If you've had an issue with a casino listed on our site, you can get in touch with us directly — real complaints, including ones that don't get resolved in the player's favour, are part of what keeps this methodology grounded in actual outcomes rather than self-reported operator claims.

Authors

Björn Scholz

Head of Casino Research

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iGaming expert with 20 years of experience. Started as a professional online poker player, then moved into content covering online casinos, poker, and sports betting across publications including bonuscasinoexpert.com

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