Mitchel Malyk Our Review Process
Every review follows the same steps, so results for different casinos can be compared:
What We Check at Every Casino
The first three criteria below carry most of the score, because they decide whether your card works and whether your money comes back.
Mastercard Deposits
We check which Mastercard types the cashier takes (credit, debit, prepaid), the minimum and maximum per payment in CAD, whether payments go through Mastercard Identity Check (3D Secure) and whether the casino adds a fee. A deposit that fails at two of our banks costs points, even when it works at others.
Payouts Back to Mastercard
This is the test many rankings skip. We record whether winnings can return to the card, to which card types, the minimum withdrawal and the real time from request to bank credit. When a casino pays out only through Interac, e-wallets or crypto, the review says so in its payout section.
Licence and Player Protection
We look up the licence number on the regulator’s own register. A registration with the AGCO in Ontario or the AGLC in Alberta, or a licence from a strong international regulator such as the Malta Gaming Authority, scores higher than a lighter offshore licence, because it gives players fund protection, independent game testing and a working complaint route. We also keep two questions apart: who supervises a site, and whether it is legal to play in your province.
Bonus Terms
We work out what a welcome offer requires in real play: a C$100 bonus at 35x means C$3,500 in bets. We also check whether a Mastercard deposit qualifies, the stake cap during wagering, the time limit and any cap on bonus winnings.
Security and Privacy
We confirm the site runs on HTTPS, that card numbers are tokenized and that the casino states compliance with the PCI DSS standard. A casino that asks for a full, unmasked card photo during KYC loses points.
Games and Fairness
We check that games come from established providers and that RNG games are certified by an independent lab such as eCOGRA, GLI or iTech Labs, or by a testing lab approved by the provincial regulator.
Support and Responsible Gambling
We ask live chat a payment question and time the useful answer, not the greeting. We also check for deposit limits, loss limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, and for BetGuard at sites registered in Ontario.
Bank Rules
Casino payments carry merchant code MCC 7995, and each card issuer decides how to treat them. We read the cardholder agreements of TD, RBC, CIBC, BMO and Scotiabank, note which banks bill gambling as a cash advance and record each agreement’s date. Bank rules are not scored per casino, but they shape our advice on which card to use..
Red Flags That Keep a Casino Off Our List
- No licence, or a licence number that doesn’t appear on the regulator’s register;
- Withdrawals delayed for weeks or cancelled for reasons the terms don’t state;
- Fees on Mastercard deposits that the cashier doesn’t show before payment;
- Bonus terms that change after a deposit or hide the maximum win;
- Requests for a full card number, a CVC or a banking password outside the cashier;
- No responsible gambling tools, or no age check before payouts;
- Unresolved player complaints about unpaid winnings.
Who Does What
| Team member | Role in a review |
|---|---|
| Melanie McCann | Tests the casino, writes the review and keeps the test log |
| Mitchel Malyk | Repeats the deposit and payout tests with a card from another bank and edits the payment sections |
| Curtis Joseph | Checks every figure, legal statement and bank rule against its source and approves publication |
Independence and Affiliate Links
Some casinos pay us a fee when a reader opens an account through our links. That money pays for test deposits and the team’s time. It does not buy a place in the ranking or change a test result: a partner that stops paying out to Mastercard loses points like any other casino, and we also review casinos we have no deal with.
Help Us Keep Reviews Accurate
If your experience at a casino doesn’t match our review, such as a declined card, a slower payout or a changed bonus, write to [email protected]. We re-test the point you report and update the page once the change is confirmed.
