How platform reviews and market rankings work

1. We build an evidence dossier

The normal review process includes account creation, deposits, product use, support contact, bonus-term checks, and withdrawals where the platform allows them. The dossier records what was tested, when it was tested, the source for each material claim, and any unresolved limitation.

Player sentiment is researched separately. The normal target is at least 10 usable Reddit cards and 10 usable Trustpilot cards. A lower count is allowed only after an exhaustive search is documented, scarcity is demonstrated with a structured search manifest, and a human editor approves the exception. A new platform is not treated as defective merely because it has a small public discussion footprint.

2. Player-source rules are narrow

Public player quote cards use Reddit and Trustpilot. Quotes remain faithful to their source and retain a source link. Casino.Guru and AskGamblers may be used as private research leads, but odds.guru does not quote, reproduce, or publicly cite their content. A lead must be verified against an operator page, terms, regulator record, firsthand test, or another publishable source before it supports public copy.

3. Editorial produces the review and base score

The written review explains the product experience, licensing and dispute recourse, payments and withdrawals, support, market or game depth, bonus terms, material drawbacks, and player-reported patterns. The base score uses that editorial evidence and stays on the review page even when the platform occupies a different position in a country directory.

Welcome bonuses are decomposed into their actual components—such as deposit match, rakeback, cashback, free bets, risk-free offers, free spins, or no-deposit value—and combined under the published True Value methodology. We do not substitute the headline bonus amount for realizable value.

4. The default ladder is a separate editorial ordering

Each vertical has one documented default ladder. Editors can reorder it using review evidence, product quality, audience fit, current performance context, market saturation, and commercial context. Every manual reorder requires a reason, an actor, and audit history. Platforms without an affiliate agreement can still appear and can fill any position not occupied by an active market placement.

5. Approved placements are sparse and market-specific

A commercial or editorial placement can reserve an exact position for an exact list of countries, verticals, surfaces, and dates. Scopes are snapshotted when approved: an agreement never expands automatically because a platform later appears to operate in another country. Overlapping approved claims to the same slot fail closed until a person resolves the conflict.

Empty positions are filled from the default ladder. That means a directory can have a commercially agreed #1 while #2 onward remain normal default recommendations. Internal agreement references and deal terms are not published.

6. Market scores follow the visible order

The resolver starts with base review scores and calculates a monotonic market score: #1 can never display a lower score than #4. It makes the smallest practical adjustment needed to preserve that rule on the 7.0–9.5 recommendation scale. An authorised editor can set a manual market score when context requires it; the value, rationale, actor, and audit history are retained, and the monotonic rule still applies. Review pages continue to show the base score.

7. Availability, licence, and promotion are different facts

Availability answers whether the operator is known to accept players. Licence status answers whether it holds a local licence. Promotion status answers whether odds.guru is permitted to send affiliate traffic. An available but locally unlicensed platform may remain in a market list with clear wording. A platform known not to accept players is excluded from that market ranking. An affiliate traffic restriction blocks commercial placement without being presented as a player-access restriction.

Reviews and educational articles are never hidden by these market statuses. Regulatory and availability information can change, so readers should confirm the current position at signup.

8. Which rule applies on each surface