Transparency, Funding & Editorial Independence
How our affiliate funding works, why commissions never influence our rankings, and how we keep our reviews independent and honest for Luxembourg players.
Why This Page Exists
We think you deserve to know exactly how this site is funded, how we build our ratings, and what — if anything — could influence what you read here. Too many comparison sites bury this information or skip it entirely. We’d rather put it front and centre.
Our Promise in One Sentence
We earn money from affiliate partnerships, but the money never buys a better score, a higher ranking, or a softer review. Full stop.
Who This Is For
This page is written for Luxembourg bettors who are weighing up international, licensed operators. Because online gambling here is a state monopoly run by the Loterie Nationale, most readers who want a wider choice end up looking at operators licensed abroad. That makes independent, honest comparison more important — not less.
How We Are Funded
Running a thorough review site takes time, testing, and money. We fund that work through affiliate commissions, and we want to be completely open about what that means.
What an Affiliate Link Actually Is
When we link to an operator, that link often carries a tracking tag. If you click through and later register or deposit, the operator may pay us a commission. This can be a one-off fee, a share of the operator’s net revenue over time, or a mix of both.
Crucially:
- You never pay more. The commission comes out of the operator’s marketing budget, not your pocket. Prices, bonuses and terms are identical whether you use our link or go direct.
- You are never obligated to use our links. You can always type an operator’s address directly into your browser.
- Not every link earns us anything. Some operators we cover have no commercial relationship with us at all.
Why We Use This Model
The alternative funding models — paywalls, intrusive advertising, or selling reader data — are worse for you. Affiliate commissions let us keep the content free and open while aligning our long-term interest with yours: if we recommend bad operators, we lose your trust, and trust is the only thing that keeps a site like this alive.
How Commissions Do — and Do Not — Affect Rankings
This is the heart of the matter, so we’ll be blunt about it.
The Firewall Between Money and Scores
Our commercial team negotiates partnerships. Our editorial team writes reviews and assigns scores. These two functions are kept separate. An operator paying a higher commission does not move up our list, and an operator paying nothing is not pushed down or hidden.
If a highly-rated operator refuses any commercial deal, it stays highly rated. If a generous partner performs badly in testing, it gets marked down — or dropped.
What We Guard Against
The online gambling affiliate space has well-documented problems with commission manipulation and affiliate fraud, where rankings are quietly sold to the highest bidder or inflated through fake engagement. According to the Anti-Corruption in Gaming & Compliance Standards resource on this topic, protecting against exactly this kind of manipulation is a core integrity issue for the industry. We take that seriously by keeping our scoring criteria fixed and published, so a commercial conversation can’t retroactively bend a rating.
A Simple Comparison
| Factor | Does it affect our score? | Does it affect our revenue? |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing & player protection | Yes | No |
| Payout reliability & complaints history | Yes | No |
| Fairness of bonus terms | Yes | No |
| Size of commission offered | No | Yes |
| Whether we have any deal at all | No | Yes |
The point of the table is simple: the things that raise your score are things that help you, not things that pay us.
How We Build Our Scores
Transparency is only worth something if you understand the method behind the numbers.
The Criteria We Weigh
Every operator we review is assessed against a consistent set of factors, roughly in this order of importance:
- Licensing and legal standing — who regulates them and how strictly.
- Player protection — safer-gambling tools, dispute resolution, fund segregation.
- Payout track record — how quickly and reliably players are paid, and complaint patterns.
- Terms and conditions — especially the fairness of bonus wagering rules.
- Range and quality of markets, odds, and games.
- Support and usability — customer service, apps, and everyday experience.
Experience and Testing
Where possible, our assessments draw on hands-on account testing — registering, depositing, placing bets, requesting withdrawals, and contacting support — rather than copying marketing material. When we haven’t been able to verify something directly, we say so plainly instead of guessing.
Understanding Licensing (And Why We Flag It)
Because Luxembourg players routinely encounter operators licensed abroad, we score licensing heavily. Not all licences offer the same protection, and you should know the difference before you deposit.
The Four Frameworks You’ll Meet
| Licence | Strictness | Player protection | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) | High | Strong — funded complaint process, strict compliance, fund safeguards | The gold standard most readers will see |
| Curaçao | Moderate | Moderate — reformed toward central oversight, but historically lighter | Extremely common; quality varies by operator |
| Anjouan | Lower | Limited — more permissive, thinner oversight | Increasingly used; treat with extra caution |
| Kahnawake | Lower–Moderate | Limited — long-standing but light-touch | Permissive framework; verify operator conduct directly |
What This Means for You
An MGA licence generally gives you the strongest recourse if something goes wrong, including a recognised dispute mechanism. Curaçao is far more common and can be perfectly fine with a reputable operator, but oversight has historically been lighter. Anjouan and Kahnawake are more permissive, which means more of the responsibility for judging trustworthiness falls back on you. We always name the licensing framework in our reviews so you can make an informed call.
Editorial Independence
We hold ourselves to a standard we’d want from any source we rely on.
What Independence Means Here
- No pay-to-play placements. Positions on our lists cannot be purchased.
- No ghost-written operator content. Operators do not write or approve our reviews.
- Clear labelling. Where content is sponsored or an offer is promotional, we say so.
- We correct mistakes. If we get something wrong, we fix it and don’t pretend otherwise.
Bonuses: How We Present Offers
Bonuses shown to Luxembourg players are quoted in euros (€). We keep sports welcome offers and casino promotions clearly distinct, because their terms and wagering rules differ significantly. We never invent bonus amounts, licence details, or statistics — if a figure is unverified, we describe the offer in general terms rather than inventing numbers. Bonus terms change often, so we always encourage you to read the operator’s own T&Cs before opting in.
Responsible Gambling Commitment
No comparison, bonus, or review matters more than your wellbeing. Gambling should be entertainment, never a way to make money or solve financial problems.
The Non-Negotiables
- You must be 18 or over. All betting and gambling activity is strictly for adults.
- Only stake what you can afford to lose. Set a budget before you play and stick to it.
- Use the tools available. Reputable operators offer deposit limits, loss limits, time-outs, reality checks, and self-exclusion. Use them proactively, not just in a crisis.
- Never chase losses. Trying to win back money is how a hobby becomes a problem.
Where to Get Help
If gambling stops being fun, or you’re worried about yourself or someone else, free and confidential support is available. Visit BeGambleAware.org for advice, self-assessment tools, and links to support services. Reaching out early is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Questions, Corrections and Feedback
We want this site to earn your trust the honest way — through accuracy and openness. If you spot an error, disagree with a rating, or want us to explain our reasoning on a specific operator, get in touch. Reader scrutiny keeps us sharp, and we’d rather hear about a mistake from you than let it stand.
Play smart, stay in control, and never bet more than you can afford to lose.
18+ · Affiliate link · Play responsibly