Methodology
How we rate.
Betting reviews on SureBets carry a 1-10 editorial score shown alongside four supporting scores. They are not aggregated user votes. Affiliate links are disclosed separately from the verdict. This page explains what each score is intended to measure, what happens when evidence is missing and how calculator estimates differ from exact betting maths.
The five scores
One headline rating, four things it is built from.
Overall
The headline 1-10 editorial score. It summarises the available evidence and the four supporting scores below. It is a judgement, not a simple mathematical average.
Trust
Licensing information, payout and withdrawal evidence, account restrictions, complaint patterns and KYC handling. Missing or inconclusive evidence should be identified on the review instead of treated as confirmation.
Markets
Breadth and depth of sports and events, odds quality and margins, the range of bet types, in-play coverage, and exchange or broker access where it is relevant. A book with thin markets or padded margins loses points here regardless of its bonus.
Bonus
The real value of the welcome offer and ongoing promotions after we read the wagering requirement, minimum odds, maximum bet and time limits, not the headline percentage. A 500% bonus with a 10x min-odds clause scores below a modest offer you can actually clear.
Support
Responsiveness and competence across available support channels, how payout questions are handled, escalation paths and language coverage. A review should only describe a support test when that interaction is documented.
The scale
What a score actually means.
Scores run from 1 to 10 and are editorial rather than crowd-sourced. As a rough guide:
- 9.0 to 10· top-tier current recommendations, with any material caveats stated in the review.
- 7.0 to 8.9· strong choices with specific caveats we spell out in the review.
- 5.0 to 6.9· usable but flawed: a weak bonus, thin markets, slow support or limited oversight.
- Below 5.0· avoid for now; the review explains the specific trust or payout problem.
A material change to licensing, withdrawals, restrictions or offer terms should trigger a re-check. When the evidence changes, the score and verdict should change with it.
The evidence
The evidence checklist behind a review.
This is the standard we work toward, not a claim that every historical review has every form of evidence. A missing check should be visible to the reader and resolved during the next substantive update.
- · Licensing claims checked against public regulator information where available.
- · Published offer terms reviewed for wagering, minimum odds, maximum bets and expiry.
- · Deposit, withdrawal or support experience included only when it can be substantiated.
- · Missing evidence labelled as not verified rather than inferred from marketing copy.
- · Sponsored links and the affiliate relationship disclosed independently of the score.
- · Responsible-gambling information and local eligibility treated as material review facts.
Independence
Affiliate revenue, disclosed, and ring-fenced from the score.
We earn a commission when readers sign up through some of our links, and we mark paid outbound CTAs as sponsored. That revenue is separate from the rating, verdict and caveats. Reviews without an affiliate relationship use the same score fields and methodology link.
Calculators
How our betting calculators estimate.
Our Stake VIP rank and weekly/monthly bonus calculators are estimators. Stake does not publish its exact VIP thresholds or reload formulas, so the figures are community-sourced estimates built from public VIP information. We keep them dated and label them plainly, never as official Stake numbers.
Each result shows a Min, Expected and Max band of roughly ten percent either side of the Expected figure, reflecting real-world variation from promotions, your product mix (sports versus casino) and rounding. Use them to plan, not as a guaranteed payout. The arbitrage, matched-betting and odds calculators, by contrast, are exact: they apply standard betting maths to the numbers you enter.
Keeping ratings current
Reviews are dated, and revisited when terms change.
Operator terms change. Each review shows its recorded update date, and readers can use that date to judge whether a time-sensitive offer or restriction needs another check. Material corrections should update both the copy and the date.
Spot something wrong?
Tell us and we will re-check it.
If a withdrawal, bonus or term did not credit the way our review suggested, we would rather hear it from you than have other readers hit the same wall.
Safer gambling
SureBets is for adults only. Check that an operator is permitted in your jurisdiction before opening an account. If betting feels out of control, stop and use the self-exclusion and support services recommended by your local regulator. No bonus is worth chasing losses.