Overview: Every site we track gets a page of facts: how you cash out, how much the daily bonus is worth, which games it has, and more. Sites we've fully tested also get a score out of five. This guide explains where that score comes from and what it can and can't tell you.
The short version
- We score four things: redemptions, daily bonus, game selection, and trust and support.
- Each one gets a mark out of five. The overall score is a weighted average of the four.
- A formula suggests the first three marks from facts we've checked. We review every suggestion before using it.
- Trust and support is my own judgment, based on our records and testing.
- No site can pay for a mark, and our referral links don't change a score.
The four categories
Redemptions
How easy, fast, and reliable it is to cash out Sweeps Coins. The formula looks at four facts:
- The lowest amount you can cash out, in dollars.
- How long a cash-out takes, using the site's slowest end of the range.
- The playthrough on free coins: how many times you have to bet a coin before you can cash it out.
- How many ways you can cash out (bank transfer, gift card, crypto, and so on).
Daily bonus
What the free coins you get just for logging in are worth. The formula looks at two facts:
- The realistic daily value in dollars, using the middle of the site's range.
- How consistent it is: a bonus that's always about the same scores better than one that swings a lot.
Game selection
Whether the site has games that let you clear playthrough without losing much of your balance, the formula looks at four facts:
- How good the site's best ranked game is. We measure this as "expected keep": the typical balance you'd have left after meeting the playthrough, per 100 coins you start with.
- How many ranked games clear our bar, so you aren't stuck with one option.
- How many live and table games the site has.
- Whether we found games running a lower return than the version the game's maker publishes; fewer is better.
Trust and support
Reputation, honesty, and how quickly support answers. No formula sets this one. We mark it ourselves based on what we've recorded about the site, our own cash-out tests, and anything players should know. This is the most important metric, because a site can have a strong daily bonus or good deals, but if you can't trust it to cash out your balance, it doesn't matter.
How the overall score is built
The box on this page shows each category's share of the overall score right now. Those numbers come straight from the scoring settings the site is built with, so the box is always current.
A few rules hold no matter what the weights are:
- A site shows an overall score only once all four categories are scored.
- Marks are rounded to one decimal place.
- A missing fact doesn't count as zero. If the formula is missing a required fact, it does not suggest that category, and the category waits until the fact is checked.
Where the numbers are still being set
The formula is written and tested, but its thresholds aren't final. For each fact it uses, we still have to settle where the lines fall (for example, which cash-out minimum counts as excellent and which counts as poor) and how much each fact counts inside its category. We do that at a calibration sitting, and we record the result before using any suggestion.
Until then:
- The overall weights in the box above are the ones in use today. They may change at that sitting.
- The marks on site pages are ones I set by hand, using the same facts the formula reads.
- When the formula goes into use, this guide will list its thresholds.
Pilots
A pilot is a site we track but haven't finished scoring. Its page says "Pilot · testing in progress". It shows any marks we have so far, but no overall score.
How we rank games
Each site page lists the games we'd try first there. We rank them by expected keep: the typical balance you'd have left after meeting the site's playthrough at the smallest bet, per 100 coins you start with. We use the site's own cash-out minimum as the starting balance when we know it, and 100 SC when we don't. That's why the list says "Ranked for a 100 SC balance".
We leave out plays that are too likely to wipe out much of your balance. The box above shows that limit, the risk line: the highest chance a game can have of ending below half your balance and still be listed. Sites with a higher playthrough get a looser line, because every extra round of betting adds risk.
Some games can't be ranked yet, usually because we don't know enough about how much they swing. We list those by name under "Also listed here, not ranked yet", with no numbers.
Companies
The same parent company runs many sites. Company pages list a company's sites. A company gets its own trust number only once at least two of its sites are rated, and the calibration setting also sets the method for that number. Until then, a company page shows its sites' scores and no company number.
When facts change
Facts are rechecked on a schedule, and sooner when a site changes its terms. Each site page shows when its data last changed. A score can move when the facts behind it do.