How We Rate Bookmakers: Our Rating Methodology

Our editorial promise

We’ve run this site since 1998. Today AsianBookie is four things in one place:

• a bookmaker directory
• an odds comparison tool
• a tipster cup
• one of the busiest betting forums in Asia

Here’s what that means for our ratings.

We don’t take your bets. We’re not a bookmaker. We don’t hold player funds, take deposits or settle wagers. Nobody here is rating themselves.

Advertising doesn’t touch the numbers. Bookmakers pay us for ad placement and affiliate referrals. That money funds the site. It does not buy a score, a spot in a list or a kinder paragraph. Our commercial team has no vote on ratings, and nobody in sales can edit a review. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

A low score stays a low score. If a popular advertiser tests badly, it gets the bad number, and we say why. We’d rather lose a campaign than lose your trust.

We show our working. Every claim in a review should be something you can check:

• a licence number
• a timed withdrawal
• a margin we calculated
• a term in the T&Cs

Where we can’t check something, we say so. We don’t guess.

Before we score a bookmaker: the inclusion gate

These four checks come before any score.

A review with a Not verified outcome opens with this warning:

> Licence not verified: [Brand] says it holds a [regulator] licence, but we could not find it on the regulator’s register on [date]. Until it is verified, this site is not recommended.

Regulators we recognise, and how we treat them:

• UK Gambling Commission (gamblingcommission.gov.uk) and Malta Gaming Authority (mga.org.mt): top-tier regulators with strong player protection.
• Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (isleofmangsc.com): top-tier, with player-fund protection rules.
• Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA), licence register at gamingcontrolcuracao.org. Since the new gaming law took effect on 24 December 2024, each operator needs its own CGA licence. Old master-licence numbers ending in /JAZ do not count as a current licence.
• Kenya Gambling Regulatory Authority, which replaced the Betting Control and Licensing Board under the Gambling Control Act 2025. Its licences cover the Kenyan market, so we check the licence actually covers the site and the players it serves.
• Anjouan and Vanuatu: recognised, but lighter-touch regulators. A licence here can pass the gate, but scores lower on licensing than Curaçao’s new regime, Malta or the UK. Anjouan licence numbers start with ALSI, and we check the number, company, domain and expiry date in the public register.
• PAGCOR is no longer a valid licence for offshore sites. The Philippines banned offshore gaming under Executive Order 74 (November 2024), and all offshore (POGO and IGL) licences were cancelled in December 2024. A PAGCOR licence therefore cannot cover a site that takes players in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam or Indonesia. Where a site still cites PAGCOR, our review says the claim cannot be current and applies the outcomes above.

• The padlock in your browser works on every page of the site, including the cashier.
• Card processing is handled to the card industry’s security standard (PCI DSS). See pcisecuritystandards.org.
• Withdrawal methods match deposit methods. Can you deposit with a card but only withdraw by bank transfer? That’s a flag.
• Money-laundering and identity checks are clear. Endless document requests with no stated reason are not.

• Withdrawals pending for weeks with no explanation.
• Accounts frozen or limited right after a big win.
• Terms changed after you’ve wagered.
• Support that goes silent the moment money is involved.

New bookmakers with no record get tested with real money before they get near a listing.

• Deposit limits, loss limits and wager limits.
• Session timers and reality checks.
• Time-outs and locking yourself out.
• Clear signposting to independent support in the player’s own country.

Two failures end it on the spot:

• A deposit limit that doesn’t apply instantly.
• A self-exclusion that a live chat message can reverse.

How we score: two scorecards, 12 criteria each

Once a bookmaker passes the gate, we score it 1 to 10 on each criterion. Everyone on the team uses the same bands:

• 1 to 3: poor
• 4 to 6: acceptable, but with gaps
• 7 to 8: good
• 9 to 10: genuinely market-leading

Half-points are allowed when a site sits between two bands.

We use one of two scorecards, depending on what the brand is mainly known for. Sportsbook-led brands, such as SBOTOP, CMD368, Nova88 and 12BET, use the sportsbook scorecard. Casino-led brands use the casino scorecard. Every review names the scorecard it uses.

Sportsbook scorecard

1. Payout reliability and withdrawal speed (13%). Our heaviest criterion, because it’s the one that costs you money when it fails. We request real withdrawals and record three timestamps: request submitted, approved, funds received. We also track complaints about limits and freezes.
2. Licensing and regulation (12%). We check the licence is current, that the site operates under the legal entity that holds it, and how strong the regulator is (see the gate above). Above 8 means a top-tier licence held by the operating company itself.
3. Odds competitiveness and margin (11%). We price a fixed sample of matches each cycle and work out the margin, the bookmaker’s cut, on the main markets. Take a two-way market at 1.91 and 1.91: 1 ÷ 1.91 = 0.5236, and 0.5236 + 0.5236 = 1.0472, a 4.7% margin. Under 5% on mainstream Asian handicaps scores 9 or 10. Over 8% scores poorly.
4. Market depth and Asian handicap coverage (10%). Asian handicap lines, over/under, correct score and first-half markets, and how early prices appear before kick-off. A site with 30 leagues and shallow lines scores lower than one with 200 properly priced ones.
5. Deposits, withdrawals and currencies (8%). Local bank options, e-wallets, crypto where legal, currencies accepted, fees, and minimum and maximum limits.
6. Mobile and desktop usability (8%). We sign up, deposit, bet and cash out on a mid-range Android phone, an iPhone and a desktop browser, recording load times and how many taps a bet takes.
7. Live betting and streaming (8%). In-play market depth, how fast odds update, cash-out availability, and streams that work without buffering.
8. Bonuses and terms fairness (7%). Wagering requirements, time limits, maximum win caps, game or market weighting, and whether the offer is advertised honestly.
9. Customer support (7%). We contact support by live chat and email with a real question at a busy hour, and log the response time and whether the answer was correct.
10. Security, privacy and data protection (6%). Encryption across the site, sensible password and two-factor options, a clear privacy policy, and ID checks proportionate to the amount withdrawn.
11. Community reputation and forum feedback (5%). What our readers report over time: payout behaviour, account closures, bonus disputes, and how the operator responds when a complaint goes public.
12. Responsible gambling tools (5%). Limits, time-outs, self-exclusion, and how visible the help links are.

Casino scorecard

1. Payout reliability and withdrawal speed (13%). As on the sportsbook scorecard: real withdrawals, three timestamps, complaints about limits and freezes.
2. Licensing and regulation (12%). As on the sportsbook scorecard.
3. Live game range and providers (11%). How many live and RNG games are on offer, which studios supply them, and whether the lobby covers the games our readers actually play, such as baccarat, roulette, game shows and slots.
4. Stream quality and dealer professionalism (10%). Stream stability on mobile and desktop, picture quality, table speed, and dealers who run the game correctly and courteously, including in local languages where offered.
5. Table limits and VIP tables (8%). Minimum and maximum stakes across tables, the availability of low-stakes and high-limit or VIP tables, and whether limits are published honestly.
6. Deposits, withdrawals and currencies (8%). As on the sportsbook scorecard.
7. Mobile and desktop usability (8%). As on the sportsbook scorecard, tested in the casino lobby and at live tables.
8. Bonuses and terms fairness (7%). As on the sportsbook scorecard, including game contribution rates and maximum bet rules.
9. Customer support (7%). As on the sportsbook scorecard.
10. Security, privacy and data protection (6%). As on the sportsbook scorecard.
11. Community reputation and forum feedback (5%). As on the sportsbook scorecard.
12. Responsible gambling tools (5%). As on the sportsbook scorecard.

How the weights add up to one overall score

Each criterion score (1 to 10) is multiplied by its weight, the results are added together, and the total is multiplied by 10. The final number is the brand’s rating out of 100.

A few things worth knowing about how this works in practice:

• Every criterion is capped at 10, so no single strength, such as a very large bonus, can lift the total by more than its own weight.
• We never adjust a criterion to reach a number. Each criterion is scored from the evidence and the total is whatever comes out.
• Where the score lands matters. 70/100 is our recommendation line, and it applies only to brands with a verified licence. Verified brands at or above 70 get a full recommendation. Brands just below are listed with a clear warning. Anything materially lower is removed from the directory.
• The licence outcome overrides everything. A Not verified licence caps the total at 70/100 with no recommendation. A Failed licence means no score. No weighted total can rescue a brand with an expired licence, or one whose self-exclusion you can talk your way out of.

How we review bookmakers: real accounts, real money

We use our own funds and open accounts like you would. If an operator ever provides a test account or credit, we say so in that review.

Each cycle we:

1. Register and complete verification. We time sign-up, ID checks and first deposit.
2. Deposit real funds using mainstream methods: cards, e-wallets, bank transfer, and local options where they exist.
3. Place real bets across pre-match and in-play markets, including Asian handicaps at several lines, or play real rounds at live and RNG tables for casinos.
4. Check live odds against other bookmakers during matches, to see how fast and how far prices move.
5. Withdraw and time it. Three timestamps, documented. This is the number we trust most.
6. Break a rule on purpose. We push a limit, miss a wagering deadline, and ask support something the FAQ doesn’t answer.
7. Log everything. Screenshots, timestamps and notes go into the review file.

Every bookmaker in the directory is re-tested at least once every 3 months. Any new listing is tested before it goes live.

How we handle community feedback and forum reports

Our forum is a live stress test. Members post about deposits, withdrawals, limits and support tickets every week, and a lot of that never shows up in a press release.

Here’s how we turn that into something usable:

• We collect reports with detail. A post that names a bookmaker, a date, a method and an amount beats ten posts saying “they’re terrible”.
• We verify before we act. We look for a second, independent report of the same behaviour, then put the specifics to the operator for comment.
• We don’t publish unverified accusations. Threads stay as member discussion. Our reviews only carry claims we’ve checked.
• We weight patterns, not volume. Twenty complaints from one group of accounts about the same match weigh less than five separate payout delays spread over three months.
• Serious reports trigger a re-test. A pattern of stalled withdrawals moves that bookmaker to the top of our testing queue, usually within 1 to 3 working days.

To report a bookmaker problem, start a thread in our Suggestions & Help forum. Name the bookmaker, include dates and amounts, and add screenshots with your account number and personal details blurred.

When a bookmaker falls below standard

There are three levels. We tell the operator what we found before we publish anything.

• slower payouts
• new terms applied to existing accounts
• support that stops responding
• a licence under review, or a licence that can no longer be found on the register (outcome changes to Not verified)

The score falls, and the review explains why.

• a licence revoked or expired (outcome changes to Failed)
• withdrawals refused without cause
• funds seized
• a pattern of unresolved complaints

The bookmaker comes off our recommended lists. Where the evidence supports it, it goes on our blacklist.

Two rules we don’t bend on:

• We give the operator a chance to respond. They get 10 to 15 working days to reply with evidence before a downgrade or removal goes live.
• We keep the record. A removed bookmaker’s review page stays up, marked as not recommended. Deleting the history would make the rest of our ratings easier to fake.

How often we update ratings, and how we handle corrections

Ratings are living documents, not one-off articles.

• Scheduled re-tests run every 3 months per bookmaker.
• Odds and margin checks run far more often, because prices change daily.
• Event-driven checks happen whenever something serious lands: a licence change, an ownership change, a payout scandal or a wave of forum reports.

Corrections. Spotted a mistake? Post it in our Suggestions & Help forum. Include the page link, what is wrong, and any source you have. If you are right, we fix it and date the correction. The dated correction note goes at the bottom of the review. We don’t quietly edit a rating and pretend it never happened.

Editorial independence and disclosure

Plain version: AsianBookie makes money from advertising and affiliate partnerships with some of the bookmakers we write about.

What that does not mean

• It doesn’t buy a rating, a score, a ranking or a positive sentence.
• It doesn’t get a bookmaker past the inclusion gate or change its licence outcome.
• It doesn’t stop us publishing a complaint or a downgrade about a paying partner.
• It doesn’t let anyone outside the editorial team change a review.

What it does mean

• Affiliate and sponsored links are explained in our Affiliate Disclosure.
• Ratings are written and approved by the editorial team only. See our Editorial Guidelines.
• Team members who review a market declare any personal or financial connection to the operators covered.

We can’t recover your money from a bookmaker. We’re not a regulator or an ombudsman. What we can do is investigate, add your case to what we know, and let it influence the score.

Betting law differs across Asia, and online betting is illegal in several of the countries we cover. Check your local rules before you open an account anywhere. If betting has stopped being fun, our Responsible Gambling page lists free, confidential help in your country.