How we review and score
Every casino, sportsbook and lottery review on this site goes through the same checklist. Here is exactly what we look at, how the scores get built, and how often we re-test.
The review checklist
Every operator we cover is tested against nine areas. Each area is scored 0 to 10 and contributes a weighted slice of the final overall rating.
- Trust and licensing (20%). SA provincial licence, ownership, audit trail, year-launched, public complaint history, responsible gambling tooling.
- Game library or sports coverage (20%). Number of games or markets, software providers, exclusive content, depth on the leagues SA players actually bet.
- Bonuses and promotions (15%). Headline value, wagering requirement, time window, eligible games, transparency of T&Cs.
- Banking (15%). Local payment options (Capitec Pay, Ozow, FNB Instant EFT, vouchers), withdrawal speed, fees, limits, currency support.
- UX and mobile (10%). Site design, native iOS or Android apps, registration flow, KYC speed, search and filter, account features.
- Customer support (10%). Channels (live chat, phone, WhatsApp, email), hours, languages, response times we measured ourselves.
- Regional fit (5%). SA-Rand pricing, local payments depth, time-zone-friendly support, content tailored to SA leagues and lotteries.
- Sportsbook integration or product breadth (5%). For casinos, whether they also have a sportsbook. For sportsbooks, whether they have racing, esports, virtuals.
How we test, in practice
- We register a real player account at the operator, complete KYC, and place a small first deposit using the most popular SA payment rail (Capitec Pay or Instant EFT).
- We play through enough hands or spins to test the lobby, the live dealer rooms (where applicable), and at least one bonus claim.
- We request a withdrawal of between R200 and R500 and time how long it takes to land in our bank account.
- We open a customer support ticket on each available channel with a real but resolvable question (KYC step, deposit limit query, bonus T&Cs clarification) and time the response.
- We cross-reference the operator’s licence number with the relevant provincial regulator’s public register.
- We pull public complaint records from sources like Hellopeter, AskGamblers and the National Gambling Board where available.
Re-testing cadence
Reviews are re-tested at least every 6 months for headline scoring, and any time we get a credible report of a material change (payout speed dropped, KYC tightened, a complaint cluster emerges, a licence is revoked or added). The “Last updated” date on each review is the most recent re-test date.
Conflicts of interest
If we have a personal connection to an operator (we previously worked there, we have equity, family member is employed there) we disclose it on the review page. If we cannot review an operator without bias, we do not list them.
Corrections policy
If you spot a factual error in any review, email editorial@igamingreviews.org with the page URL and the specific line that is wrong. We update factual errors within 48 hours of confirmation, and the page’s “Last updated” date refreshes to reflect the change. We do not silently edit history.