How We Test Online Casinos

Last updated: 24 June 2026

Most review sites write about casinos from press releases. We don’t. Every casino on Candyland has been tested for real — our reviewer registered, deposited their own money, played, claimed a bonus and requested a withdrawal. It’s the only way to judge a casino as an actual player experiences it. A full test takes 3–10 working days, and below is exactly what we do at each stage.

Stage 1 — Background check

Before signing up we vet the casino. We check the licence and its status on the regulator’s register — for UK-licensed sites we check the operator on the UK Gambling Commission register (gamblingcommission.gov.uk), and for offshore brands like Candyland we confirm the Curaçao licence claim against the issuing authority rather than take it on trust — and we make clear the site is not UKGC-licensed and not on GamStop. If a licence is missing, expired or suspended, testing stops. We identify the operator (legal entity, country, sister brands), scan complaint history on AskGamblers, Casino Guru and Trustpilot for volume and patterns, check the SSL certificate, and read the terms for red flags such as winnings confiscation or unrealistic wagering.

Stage 2 — Registration

We open a normal account — no VIP treatment. We time the sign-up, count the required fields and judge how clear the process is. We test KYC verification: which documents are requested and how long the check takes. We confirm the welcome bonus behaves as advertised and that its terms are visible before activation. Pass/fail: registration under 5 minutes, verification within 48 hours, bonus terms available up front.

Stage 3 — Deposit

We make a real deposit, usually £20–50, across two or three methods from different categories — debit card, e-wallet (Skrill/Neteller) and bank transfer or a local option. For each we record the minimum, the crediting time and any fee, and we confirm the balance and any currency conversion behave correctly. Because credit-card gambling is banned for UKGC-licensed sites, we note whether an offshore cashier still lets you deposit by credit card — a protection UK players lose on a site like this. Pass/fail: instant crediting, no hidden fees, low minimum (around £10), and methods UK players actually use.

Stage 4 — Bonuses

We activate the welcome offer and dissect it. We record the wagering multiplier, the base it’s calculated on (bonus only vs bonus + deposit), the max bet while a bonus is live, and game weightings (slots usually 100%, table games far less, live often nil). We work out the real cost: a £100 bonus at x40 means £4,000 of bets, and at ~96% RTP you’d expect to lose around £160 clearing it — so a heavy bonus can carry negative value. We check the clearing window and any caps on max win or withdrawal. Pass/fail: fair wagering at or below x35, at least a 14-day window, a workable max bet, no buried restrictions.

Stage 5 — Games

We test three categories: slots (at least ten different titles), table games (roulette, blackjack, baccarat) and live casino. We assess catalogue size and provider mix, look for marquee titles and confirm leading studios (NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Play’n GO) are genuinely present, and we check load speed and stability on desktop and mobile. For live tables we judge stream quality, table variety and dealer professionalism. Pass/fail: a deep, varied lobby that loads quickly and runs without crashes.

Stage 6 — Withdrawal

This is the stage that exposes weak casinos, so we treat it as the most important. We request a payout to the deposit method and to an alternative, and we time it in two parts: the casino’s pending/approval period and the transaction time to land. We note any extra verification, new document requests, fees, and minimum/maximum and weekly limits. We also flag ‘reverse withdrawal’ features that let a casino tempt you to un-cash a payout. Pass/fail: ideal under 24 hours, acceptable up to 3 working days, a red flag beyond 5; no fees preferred; a sensible weekly cap.

Stage 7 — Support

We test every channel — live chat, email, phone if offered. We time the live-chat wait, confirm 24/7 availability if claimed, and judge whether answers are genuine or canned by asking product questions about wagering, withdrawal limits and verification. For email we time the reply (24 hours is acceptable) and assess completeness. Pass/fail: live chat answering within ~3 minutes, email within 24 hours, competent rather than scripted replies.

Stage 8 — Mobile and security

Every casino is tested on a real phone. We check responsive layout, page and game load speed, navigation and a working cashier, and we play at least three games on mobile (a pokie, a table game and a live table). On security we confirm HTTPS/SSL, look at data-handling and account protection such as 2FA, and verify the safer-gambling tools (limits, self-exclusion, reality checks) covered in Responsible Gambling are actually present and easy to find.

From test to score

The notes, screenshots and timings from these eight stages feed directly into our scoring — see exactly how the numbers are weighted in How We Rate. The same person who tested writes the review, in line with our Editorial Policy. Questions about our method? Reach the author directly via Contact.