We’re an editorial site, not a casino. Our job is to tell you which operators are worth your money and which aren’t — and we list both the casinos we earn commission from and the ones we don’t, so you get the full picture before you decide. That call doesn’t change based on whether we earn from the operator.
Who runs this site
Beat The Fish has been online since 2005. Joshua Hill — owner and editor in chief — has reviewed US online poker rooms and casinos for the entire run of the site. A small team of contributing reviewers covers specific verticals (poker, blackjack, video poker, bonuses), each with their own real-money accounts at the operators they cover. Every published review is edited and approved by Joshua before going live. We don’t publish anonymous reviews and we don’t run AI-generated content under fake author names.
What we cover
Beat The Fish reviews online poker rooms and online casinos that accept US players. We evaluate both state-licensed and offshore operators, because each serves a legitimate purpose for different players. State-licensed sites offer regulated consumer protections in the states where they operate; offshore sites remain the practical option for most US players. Every operator’s regulatory status is labelled clearly on its review page so readers can weigh it against their own priorities.
A site clears this bar before we list it
Our review process
Every review is based on a real account, a real deposit, and at least one real withdrawal. We don’t review operators we haven’t personally used. The process is the same for every site — it doesn’t change based on how well-known the brand is or whether we have a commercial relationship with them.
How we score
Every casino is scored on eight weighted dimensions. The weights are fixed and identical for every operator — they don’t change based on what kind of casino we’re reviewing, who owns it, or whether we earn from it. The overall score is the weighted average of the eight dimension scores. You can see the full band-by-band scoring rubric on our reviews hub.
| Dimension | Weight |
|---|---|
| Safety & Licensing | 20% |
| Payout Speed & Reliability | 18% |
| Bonus Value | 14% |
| Game Selection | 13% |
| Mobile Experience | 12% |
| Customer Support | 11% |
| Banking Options | 7% |
| UX & Design | 5% |
Why publish the weights? Because a “9.2/10” is meaningless if you don’t know how it was calculated. With our weights public, you can read any review and know what each dimension contributed to the overall — and weight your own decision differently if your priorities differ from ours.
Keeping reviews current
The biggest problem with US casino reviews is that they go stale. An old review might still claim a $1,000 welcome bonus that the casino quietly cut to $500 months ago. Most review sites only catch it when a reader complains. We built our own system to catch it within days. Two complementary layers — one human, one automated:
Every active operator gets a full re-test at least once a year. A reviewer goes through the entire process again — fresh deposit, fresh withdrawal, fresh support test — and scores are recalculated from scratch.
Our own AI system fetches each operator’s terms and bonus pages every week, compares them against the published review, and flags any discrepancy. A human reviewer confirms each change before the live review updates — usually within days.
Every change — whether caught by the weekly AI sweep or picked up during an annual re-test — is recorded in that review’s public changelog, visible from every review page. AI handles the monitoring; a human always makes the editorial call.
When we don’t recommend an operator
Some operators get a “not recommended” status despite being legal and operational. The flag is publicly visible on the review and explained in the editorial copy — we don’t silently de-list. Reasons we’ll downgrade or remove an operator include:
- Documented withdrawal slow-rolling beyond ordinary KYC delays
- Predatory bonus terms — wagering above 50×, expiry under 7 days, or max-bet rules disclosed only after the player has claimed
- Misleading regulatory claims — a licence we can’t verify with the issuing authority
- Repeated unresolved complaints we’ve verified across multiple independent sources
- Retroactive T&C changes that void player balances on terms the player never agreed to
- Any approach offering payment, commission uplift, or other incentive to improve a score or remove a review
Editorial independence and the commercial side
We earn most of our revenue from affiliate commissions when readers sign up at operators we recommend. That arrangement is the standard model for independent review sites — and it only works if readers trust the reviews. Here are the lines we hold to keep that trust:
No casino can pay to be added to the site
No casino can pay to improve a score
No casino can pay to remove negative coverage
Commercial partners can be downgraded or removed if their service deteriorates
Keep a public changelog on every review showing what changed and when
Catch bonus and T&C changes within days using our own AI monitoring — not months after the fact
We earn commissions from some of the operators we recommend when readers sign up through our links. This doesn’t affect our editorial assessments — we review brands honestly regardless of whether we have a commercial relationship with them. We also include operators we have no relationship with, particularly state-regulated US casinos, because we think readers deserve a complete view of their options. We receive no compensation for these mentions.
How we use AI
AI plays a specific, limited role on this site. It runs the monitoring that catches stale data — fetching operator terms pages weekly, comparing extracted bonus and T&C data against what we have on file, and flagging discrepancies. We also use AI for fact-checking, copy-editing, and structural review of drafts written by humans.
We do not use AI to: generate the editorial substance of reviews, set scores, make recommendations, or write content under a human’s byline without that human writing it. The point of AI in our pipeline is to make humans more accurate and current — not to replace them. If you read a review here, a human tested the operator, formed the opinion, and wrote the words.
Corrections
We make mistakes. When we do, we correct them publicly — not silently. Spotted something wrong? Tell us via our contact form. We read every report and respond, usually within 48 hours. When we issue a correction, the review’s changelog records what changed and when. Material errors that affect a recommendation get flagged at the top of the page until the next test cycle catches up.
Common questions
Can a casino pay to be added to the site?
No. We pick what we cover based on whether US players actually use it and whether we can verify it ourselves. A casino offering us money to be reviewed isn’t a casino we’d want to recommend.
Can a casino pay to improve its score?
No. Scores come from a fixed weighted rubric — we couldn’t move them on request even if we wanted to without breaking the same scoring formula we use everywhere else. If a partner’s score is going up, it’s because their service got better; if it’s going down, it’s because their service got worse.
What happens when a casino's bonus terms change?
Our automated monitoring fetches every reviewed casino’s terms and bonus pages weekly. When something material changes — wagering increase, withdrawal limit cut, new restricted state — the system flags it for human review. A reviewer confirms the change and updates the live review, with the change recorded in that review’s public changelog.
Why do you include offshore casinos at all?
Because for most US players, offshore is the only option. Only a handful of states have a regulated online casino market, and outside those states offshore sites are what people actually use. Pretending they don’t exist or refusing to review them doesn’t make them go away — it just leaves players to figure it out from worse sources. We label every offshore operator clearly, show its licensing on the review page, and explain what “offshore” means for a player’s protections. See our state-by-state guide for the current legal status where you live.
How do I report something I think is wrong?
Use our contact form. Include the URL, the specific claim you’re disputing, and any evidence you have. We read every report and reply, usually within 48 hours.
Do you use AI to write reviews?
No. AI on this site does monitoring work — fetching pages, comparing snapshots, flagging changes. Every editorial judgement, every score, every paragraph of opinion comes from a human reviewer who actually used the site. AI never writes published copy.
What if a casino disputes a review?
We’ll consider factual disputes if the casino can provide documentation that we recorded something incorrectly. We won’t change opinions, soften negative copy, or move scores because a casino objects. Any improper approach — offering payment or threatening legal action over a review — gets noted in the review itself.
Editorial inquiries, corrections, story tips, takedown requests, or feedback on this policy: contact us. We read and respond to every editorial message personally — usually within 48 hours.