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Ranking methodology

How We Rank Casinos

No casino or online operator receives a score or ranking until identity, ownership, licence, regulator, New Zealand availability, terms and safer-gambling controls have been verified.

Published 1 October 2026 · Reviewed 1 October 2026 · Queenstown Gaming Guide editorial team

Editorial evidence flowing through review to publication
Original editorial-process illustration.

Eligibility before scoring

An operator first passes identity, domain, ownership, licensing, regulator and market-availability checks. A failed or incomplete gate means “not ranked”, not a low score.

What a future comparison may examine

Relevant factors can include clarity of terms, payment and withdrawal evidence, support accessibility, complaint routes, privacy, safer-gambling tools and offer freshness. Weightings must be published before scores are used.

Commercial safeguards

Compensation cannot buy a position. Sponsored placements remain labelled and separate from evidence. An expired offer is removed even if the operator remains eligible for editorial coverage.

Publication checklist

  • Entity and domain match
  • Licence and regulator verified
  • NZ availability checked
  • Terms captured with date
  • Payments and withdrawals evidenced
  • Safer-gambling controls reviewed
Need immediate gambling support?

Call the New Zealand Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 or text 8006.

How this policy changes publication decisions

This policy is an operational control, not a reputation statement. Every material claim needs an owner, a source that can support the exact wording, a verification date and a clear response when the evidence changes. Search snippets, copied affiliate tables and anonymous reviews cannot satisfy that standard.

  • Keep primary evidence beside the claim it supports.
  • Mark unresolved legal or factual points before publication.
  • Correct the page, changelog and dependent pages together.

Independence also means disclosing the commercial model. Sponsored links may earn the guide a commission; they are labelled, and commercial considerations do not override legal, safety or factual gates.

How to use this information

Start with the decision you need to make, then distinguish a stable fact from a live condition. An address or statutory rule may remain stable for years; a timetable, entrance condition, machine configuration or promotional term may change without notice. Follow the primary-source link closest to the claim and check that it describes the same venue, service, product and date.

Keep a simple record of what you checked and when. Do not fill an evidence gap with a directory excerpt, an old screenshot or another publisher’s confidence. Where two official sources differ, use the more specific and current source, describe the conflict, and ask the responsible organisation before relying on it.

Evidence rule: use the linked official source for the live fact, then record the date checked. If the source is unavailable or ambiguous, keep the claim unpublished and list it in Sources and updates.