About this site
How We Review Online Casinos
Ireland has no casino licence to check, so our score measures something else: how well an operator's licensing is documented and how easily you can verify it yourself.
Every casino score on this site links back to this page, because the number needs to be explained. Ireland has no licensed online casino, so a badge that says “licensed and regulated” tells you almost nothing about whether the casino games are legal here.
That fact shapes how we score. We cannot check a casino against an Irish gaming licence that does not exist, so we measure something narrower and more useful: how well the operator documents its licensing, and how easily you can verify it yourself in the public registers.
The legal background matters. The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 created the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, known as the GRAI. Remote betting licences commenced on 1 July 2026, while applications for gaming licences open across 2027 and 2028. Credit cards have been banned for gambling since 5 February 2026, and all gambling is 18 and over. You can read the wider picture in our Irish casino licence guide.
What our score actually measures
Each brand receives a transparency score out of 10. It measures how well a casino’s licensing is documented and how easily a reader can verify it.
It says nothing about the quality of the games, the speed of withdrawals, or the feel of the mobile app. A 9.5 does not mean a casino is more fun or more generous than an 8.0. The scale rewards disclosure and traceable corporate structure.
A high score is a finding about documentation, not a recommendation to play.
We do not score how enjoyable a casino is, and we do not rank operators by game range. The number is an editorial transparency rating against the published rubric, built from the public registers and not from play testing. You can see the full method in our editorial guidelines.
The five criteria
The score is built from five criteria. The breakdown below shows the published rubric and point values.
- Casino licence in a public register 3 points
- Irish regulatory touchpoint 2 points
- Disclosure on the operator’s own pages 2 points
- Accuracy of its Irish claims 2 points
- Corporate traceability 1 point
Full marks in the first criterion go to a casino whose licence appears in a public register under the exact company name used on the site. Marks fall when the casino name and the licensee name differ, or when the licence page is vague about which entity operates the casino.
An Irish regulatory touchpoint means a company that also holds a GRAI betting licence. That does not licence the casino, but it gives an Irish reader a traceable legal entity and a local regulatory relationship. A brand with no GRAI presence loses those points.
Disclosure on the operator’s own pages covers how easy it is to find the licence information. Full marks require the licensee name, the registration number, and the licence type to be visible without scrolling through the bottom of a long terms page.
Accuracy of its Irish claims catches operators that present a GRAI application as if it were a licence. That costs points, because an application is a long way from a licence and readers deserve the difference stated plainly.
Corporate traceability is the smallest category. It rewards an operator that makes the group structure clear, from the casino brand back to the licensed company and its corporate owner.
How we check a licence, step by step
We work through four steps for every brand we score. The same order applies to every review, and every check carries a date.
- Find the company behind the casino
We read the footer, the terms and the about pages to identify the company that operates the casino, not the brand name used for marketing.
- Check the regulator’s own register
We search the Malta Gaming Authority or Gibraltar gambling register for that exact company name, not a third-party comparison site.
- Separate the casino licence from any betting licence
A GRAI number on an operator’s site covers its sportsbook. It tells you nothing about casino games, so we check the casino licensee separately.
- Compare claims and date the check
We put the operator’s own claims next to the register entry and record the date we read both. Any mismatch appears in the score.
Three public registers matter for Irish-facing casinos. Each has a different limit, and the table sets them out side by side.
| Register | What it publishes | What it does not publish |
|---|---|---|
| GRAI, grai.ie/register | 40 licences on 6 October 2026, all betting or intermediary | Any gaming licence, because none exists yet |
| Malta Gaming Authority, mga.org.mt | 317 licensees, company numbers, authorisation numbers and licence types | Nothing on Irish betting licences |
| Gibraltar register, gamblingdivision.gov.gi | 29 B2C remote operators, holder names and categories such as Gaming Operator (B2C) | No licence numbers at all |
- GRAI register 40 licences on 6 October 2026, all betting or intermediary, no gaming licences.
- MGA register 317 licensees on 7 October 2026, with company names, numbers and licence types.
- Gibraltar register 29 B2C remote operators, with names and categories but no licence numbers.
The Gibraltar register is the hardest to verify. Secondary sources sometimes repeat a supposed licence number for a Gibraltar operator, but we have seen the same number attached to two different companies. That is one reason we do not print Gibraltar numbers at all.
What we did not test
What we check
- Casino licence in a public register.
- Operator’s own disclosure pages.
- Accuracy of Irish claims.
- Corporate traceability.
What we do not test
- Deposits or withdrawals.
- Game counts in any lobby.
- Account tools from the inside.
- Current promotions.
We did not deposit or withdraw money at any of these casinos, so we cannot tell you what a payout takes in practice. That information would require an account, a payment method in the Republic, and live transactions.
No lobby was counted, and this site never publishes a game count. Catalogues change by the week, so a figure printed today is stale by the time anyone reads it.
No account was opened here, so deposit limits, reality checks and self-exclusion tools were never tested from the inside. Those features matter to responsible play, and we direct readers to responsible gambling for the tools and supports that are available.
We do not quote current promotions. An offer visible on a UK page is often not available in the Republic, and the terms change constantly. A bonus figure printed today could mislead a reader next month.
Those checks would need an account and an Irish connection to the operator’s live site. We will not describe a test we did not run. If we add them later, the rubric and scores will change, and this page will say so.
Why the scores sit close together
Most of these operators are large, long-established companies with licences in the same two jurisdictions, Malta and Gibraltar. The spread between scores is narrow because the differences are about disclosure, not legality.
A brand can score high because one company holds both the casino licence and the Irish betting licence, which creates a single, traceable legal entity. Paddy Power Casino works this way. PPB Counterparty Services Limited appears in the MGA register with MGA/CRP/131/2006 and in the GRAI register with GRAI-1003-RB-26-0001.
A brand loses the accuracy-of-claims points when its own material presents a GRAI application as if it were a licence. PlayOJO is an example. Its operator, Skill On Net Limited, holds MGA/CRP/171/2009 and does not appear on the GRAI register. The brand material says it is in the process of obtaining a GRAI licence, which is an application and not a licence.
Do not read a 9.5 as a better casino than an 8.0. The higher number means the licensing story is easier to verify. The lower number may reflect a different corporate structure or less precise wording on an operator’s own pages, rather than a legal problem.
When we change a score
We recheck a score when we publish a new review, and we also recheck when a register changes. A new licence, a revoked entry, a renamed company or a different casino licensee all trigger a fresh look.
One event has not happened yet. When the GRAI begins issuing gaming licences across 2027 and 2028, the whole rubric will need to be revisited. At that point some scores will move, because an Irish casino licence will become something a reader can actually verify.
Every claim on this page and every brand score carries the date it was checked. Where a score appears, the register date sits beside it. That date matters more than the number, because a register can change quickly.
How we are paid
CasinoCraic earns money through affiliate links. If you click through and open an account, some operators pay us. That money does not move a score. The order of the comparison table is supplied separately from the editorial scoring, and the affiliate relationship is set out on the affiliate disclosure page.
This page was written by the site’s editor, Ciarán Mac Eachmharcaigh. It follows the method set out in the online casinos hub and the editorial guidelines linked above.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 10 out of 10 CasinoCraic score a guarantee that a casino is safe?
A 10 means the licensing documentation is traceable and clear, not a guarantee of safety. Safety also involves withdrawal terms, dispute resolution and responsible gambling tools, which we do not test from inside an account.
Why does the score not measure game range or payout speed?
We did not run those tests. They need an account, a live Irish connection and real transactions, and we will not describe a test we did not run.
Which licences do casinos serving Irish players hold?
The GRAI has not issued any gaming licences yet. Remote betting licences commenced on 1 July 2026, and gaming licence applications open across 2027 and 2028.
Can I check the licence myself?
You can check the MGA register and the GRAI register directly using the links above. The Gibraltar register names licence holders and categories, but it publishes no licence numbers.
Does an MGA licence mean the casino can operate legally in Ireland?
An MGA licence means the operator holds a Malta licence. It does not grant an Irish gaming licence, which arrives in a later GRAI phase.
How often are the scores rechecked?
Scores are rechecked at publication and again whenever a regulator’s register changes in a relevant way, such as a new licence, a revocation or a different licensee.