How we review casinos

Every review on this site follows the same process, and we would rather publish nothing than publish a guess. This page explains exactly what we check, where our information comes from, and what our scores mean.

Licence first

Before an operator appears anywhere on PlayMagpie UK, we confirm its licence on the Gambling Commission's public register and record the account number. Reviews link to the operator's register entry so you can check it yourself. We re-check every listed operator's licence status monthly, and an operator whose licence lapses comes off the site the day we find out.

Where our facts come from

At this stage of the site's life, our reviews are verified against documents, not tested with deposits. That means: when we state a withdrawal time, it is the operator's own documented processing time from its banking or help pages, quoted with the date we checked it. It is not a time we have measured ourselves, and we will never present it as if it were. If we later run tested accounts, measured times will be labelled separately from documented ones.

Bonus information comes from the operator's own significant terms and full terms pages, checked on a stated date. UK rules changed in December 2025: bonuses at licensed casinos can no longer carry wagering requirements above 10x the bonus amount, and offers can no longer require you to gamble across more than one product type. Where a page of ours mentions an offer, the wagering requirement, minimum deposit, expiry, win caps and game restrictions appear next to it.

What we score

• Withdrawals: documented processing time per payment method, pending periods, weekend processing, and any fees or limits that change the real picture.
• Verification: what documents are required, when checks are triggered, and how much friction to expect. Verification is a legal requirement at every UK-licensed casino; the difference between operators is how smoothly they run it.
• Bonus fairness: not the headline size of an offer, but what its terms actually permit: wagering, game weighting, win caps and expiry windows.
• Trust:licence history, complaint patterns in public records, and whether the operator's terms say what its marketing implies.

What we will not do

• Feature an operator without a current UKGC licence.
• Describe an offer as free when it requires your money or carries wagering.
• Publish a number we could not verify to a source.
• Take payment for placement, scores or softer coverage.

If you spot something we got wrong, tell us. Corrections are made visibly, with the date of the change.