How we compare casinos

A short tour of the comparison process behind TopRoyalList — what tends to move the needle for us, what we treat as background noise, and where we step out of the way and let you decide.

Start with the licence

Before we look at anything else, we check that the brand holds a UK Gambling Commission licence and that it's shown clearly in the footer. Licence details should be a click away — not buried inside a thick FAQ. If we can't verify a licence quickly, the brand doesn't make it onto the comparison.

Read the offer in full

Most casino headlines are designed to be eye-catching. The interesting part usually lives in the small print: minimum deposit, eligible games, wagering multiplier, time limit, and any cap on what you can withdraw. We read these in full and write our notes around the points a UK reader is likely to care about.

Try the site like a normal user

We sign up with a clean session, browse the lobby, run a few searches, and check how easy it is to find responsible-gambling tools and account settings. If something feels awkward — slow filters, hidden self-exclusion, vague promotion banners — that ends up in the editor's note.

Look at payments honestly

Deposit options are usually plentiful. The harder question is what withdrawals look like: which methods are supported, what minimum amounts apply, and how long the typical processing time is. We don't treat "up to" speeds as guarantees.

Weigh safer-gambling visibility

The presence of deposit limits, reality checks and a self-exclusion option is non-negotiable. What varies is how visible they are. Brands that surface these tools without making the user dig for them tend to score better on this dimension.

Where you take over

Comparison sites can do a lot, but a single site can't know your bank, your budget or your preferences. Once you're on a shortlist, the final step is always the same: open the operator's page, read the offer in full, set your deposit limit, and only then decide.

For the formal version of the same approach, see our editorial review policy.