Reviewing Sportsbooks

Editorial Policy & Review Methodology

This page is both our editorial policy and our scoring rulebook: who writes our reviews, what we will and will not publish, how corrections work, and exactly how each ranking score is built from four measured inputs.

First scored batch (16 Sep 2026)

October rows are in the log; payout n is 2 for most books; 1xBet is n=1; the payout score is the median of public rows, not the latest test.

Fourteen books now carry a published overall score. Payout was n=1 for each of them at the time — one instrumented withdrawal per operator; most now have n=2 after the 1 Oct batch — and the bonus, markets and trust inputs come from a desk audit carried out the same day. Some licence strings were taken from operator documentation and public sources rather than opened on a public register; where that is the case the page says so instead of claiming a verified licence. Sister brands are disclosed on the cards and reviews of the operators concerned. A slow or failed withdrawal row is never deleted, relabelled or hidden because an operator is a commercial partner.

The published formula is overall = 0.40 × payout + 0.25 × bonus + 0.20 × markets + 0.15 × trust, rounded to one decimal, capped at 5.0. Payout comes only from the log: a passing crypto withdrawal scores 5.0 at 1.00 hour or less, 4.5 from 1.01 to 3.00 hours, 4.0 from 3.01 to 8.00 hours and 3.5 from 8.01 to 24.00 hours; a slow crypto withdrawal between 24 and 36 hours scores 2.5; anything slower, and any slow fiat withdrawal, scores 2.0. Fiat rows never enter a crypto median. Operators outside this batch keep a pending payout score and no overall.

First published log (16 Sep 2026)

Our first batch of instrumented withdrawals covers 14 operators, one test each. Crypto withdrawals pass at 24.00 hours or less, are marked slow above that if the funds arrive, and fail if the payment is refused, reversed or unpaid. Fiat rows are excluded from crypto medians entirely. Hours elapsed are computed from request time to arrival, never entered by hand. An overall ranking score still requires all four inputs — payout, bonus, markets and trust — so an operator with a test result alone cannot be a scored number one. The full table is on our payout log.

1. Payout Timing (40% weight)

The payout score is built only from rows in our own payout log: withdrawals we requested, timed from "withdrawal-requested" to "funds-received," and recorded with method, amount band, result, and evidence status. We take the median across passing and slow tests. Anything over 24 hours on crypto is scored down heavily. An operator with no logged test keeps a pending payout score and cannot be ranked first.

2. Bonus Value (25% weight)

Headline bonus size matters less than the terms. We calculate effective bonus value after wagering requirements, max-cashout clauses, minimum odds requirements, and eligible-market restrictions.

3. Market Coverage (20% weight)

Number of sports, average markets per event, live in-play coverage, and props depth on NFL/NBA/soccer.

4. Trust & Licensing (15% weight)

Active gaming license, minimum 24 months of documented payout history, and no unresolved reader complaints logged with us.

Operator-Reported Payout Windows

Operators publish their own payout windows, and other sites republish them. Where useful we show those figures on ranking cards and review pages, always labelled "Reported (not our test)" with the source named. They are context, not evidence:

  • A reported window never enters the payout log.
  • It never sets an operator's last-tested date, and never produces request times, arrival times, hours elapsed, or a pass/slow/fail result.
  • It never feeds a median, a payout score, or a number-one placement.
  • Once we complete a real withdrawal on that book, the logged timing replaces the reported line.

Update Cadence

We re-test payouts quarterly. Bonus terms are verified weekly. Any operator that fails a payout re-test is flagged on their review page and, if the pattern persists, removed from our rankings.

Affiliate Disclosure

We earn commissions on some links. Rankings are decided before commissions — a higher payout offer never buys a higher rank. Full detail: affiliate disclosure.

Who Writes Our Reviews

Reviews are produced by the Reviewing Sportsbooks editorial desk, the in-house team at The Fantasy Prophecy LLC. We attribute to the desk rather than inventing named personas with credentials we cannot evidence. Every review is checked by a second editor before it publishes, and the operator being reviewed never sees or approves the copy.

Sourcing Rules

  • Payout times come from withdrawals we requested ourselves, not from operator marketing claims.
  • Bonus terms are quoted from the operator's live terms page on the date of review.
  • Licensing is taken from the regulator's own register where a public register exists.
  • Anything we cannot verify is either left out or marked as unverified on the page. We do not estimate, round up, or reuse a competitor's figure.

Corrections Policy

If we publish something wrong, we fix the page and note material corrections. Email our contact form with the URL and the disputed claim — payout disputes are triaged first because they can change a rating. See contact.

Ratings & Structured Data

A score only appears in our structured data when the same score is visible on the page. We do not publish aggregate ratings, star markup, or review counts we cannot substantiate with our own testing.

What We Will Not Publish

  • Guaranteed-win claims, tipping services, or betting framed as income.
  • Content targeted at anyone under the legal betting age.
  • Loss-chasing tactics or advice to bet beyond a set bankroll.
  • Paid placement in a ranking, under any label.

Every page carries a responsible gambling notice. Support resources are listed on our responsible gambling page.