Every rating on Stake Alternatives comes from the same process, applied the same way to every casino, so a 7.4 means the same thing on one page as it does on another. This page explains exactly what we test, how we weight it, and where the limits of our testing are. If a score ever looks wrong to you, this is the page that shows our working.
The five things we score, and how much each counts
We don't rate on vibes, and we don't rate on who pays the biggest commission. Five criteria carry the weight, roughly in this order of importance.
- Licence and safety (highest weight). Which regulator, and more importantly the operator's track record: does it pay disputed withdrawals, is there any independent audit, is the parent company findable. A Curaçao or Anjouan licence is light-touch, and we say so rather than treating any licence as a gold star.
- Withdrawal speed and minimums. Fast, cheap, low-minimum crypto payouts are the whole point of this category. We care about the tested reality, not the marketing line.
- KYC and anonymity. How far you get before the site asks for ID, and how painful that process is when it triggers. This is where "no-KYC" claims get honest scrutiny.
- Bonus and wagering terms. A 200% match at 60x with a low cashout cap is worse than a 100% match at 25x. We read the terms so the score reflects real expected value, not the headline percentage.
- Games and provably-fair. Slot depth, live-dealer range, whether the Originals are first-party and verifiable, and whether a sportsbook exists if you want one.
How we actually test a casino
For each brand, we do the following before we publish a score:
- Open a real account and, where possible, deposit a small amount of crypto.
- Play across the slot lobby and the Originals, and verify a provably-fair round using the seed and hash, the method we explain in our provably-fair guide.
- Request a withdrawal and time it end to end, noting where any KYC or risk review adds delay.
- Read the bonus terms in full, wagering, validity, max cashout, eligible games, restricted countries.
- Cross-check the stated licence against the regulator's register where one is public.
Reported vs verified: our honesty rule
Some numbers we can measure ourselves; some we can't. Where a figure comes from the operator, a bonus percentage, a "150+ coins" claim, a game count, or from a small sample rather than a large tested set, we label it reported rather than presenting it as a hard fact. We never invent a payout timing, a licence number or a bonus figure. If we could not confirm something, we say so on the page. Bonus terms and licence details in this category change weekly, so we re-check them on every update and stamp each page with a published and an updated date.
The limits of our testing
Honesty about method means honesty about its limits. We can't test every payment method, every country's access, or every game in a catalogue. Withdrawal timings are a small sample and yours will vary with network congestion and account age. A high score is not a recommendation to gamble, and it doesn't mean a site is risk-free, it means the site scored well on the five axes above relative to its peers. Gambling carries real risk regardless of the operator, which is why every page carries a responsible-gambling reminder.
Independence and affiliate disclosure
Stake Alternatives earns affiliate commissions when readers sign up at operators through tracked links. Those commissions don't change our rankings or scores: if a casino paid us nothing, its rating would be identical. We document our sourcing and independence rules in full in our editorial policy. If you ever spot a factual error, tell us via our contact page and we will correct it.