Every bookmaker on Licensed Betting Sites earns its score the hard way. We open a real account, fund it with our own money, place bets across racing and sport, request withdrawals, and contact customer support. Then we run that data through a seven-category weighted formula that has been audited and unchanged since the April 2026 editorial relaunch.
The Seven Categories
Scoring weights total 100. Higher weight means greater influence on the final 5.0 score.
| Category | Weight | What We Test |
|---|---|---|
| Odds Value | 20% | Sample of 100 markets across NRL, AFL, racing and Champions League. Margin compared against market average. Top-of-market wins on price scored separately. |
| Payment Speed | 15% | 97 timed real-money withdrawals across PayID, Bank Transfer, Visa, Mastercard. Median time from request to landing in the account. |
| Market Variety | 15% | Coverage breadth (sports + racing codes), depth (player props, exotic markets), Same Game Multi leg counts, futures market availability. |
| Platform Quality | 10% | App store ratings, page-load speed, navigation depth, accessibility audit, in-play betslip latency. |
| Live Features | 10% | In-play markets per match, cash-out availability and accuracy, live streaming, auto-cashout, partial cashout. |
| Customer Support | 5% | Two real-world tickets per operator: one technical, one financial. Response time, accuracy, channel availability. |
| Referral Code Value | 25% | The headline test. T&C clarity, fee transparency, BetStop integration, payout caps, deposit limits set at sign-up, and the operator's most recent ACMA enforcement record. |
Re-tested every six months. Operators on our Not Recommended list are excluded from all award categories.
What a Real Test Looks Like
For every operator we publish a Test Log. Here is the dabble Test Log dated April 2026:
| Test | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Account opening | Photo ID, PayID verified | 17 minutes end to end |
| First deposit | $100 via PayID | Instant, no fee |
| Sample bets placed | 4 racing, 4 NRL Round 6 SGM, 2 Champions League outright | 10 placed, all settled correctly |
| First withdrawal | $80 via PayID | 2 minutes 14 seconds to bank account |
| Support ticket: technical | Asked about Same Game Multi cashout | Live chat answer in 3 minutes 40 seconds, accurate |
| Support ticket: financial | Asked about deposit limit options | Live chat answer in 2 minutes 50 seconds, accurate |
| BetStop check | Attempted account opening for BetStop-registered tester | Blocked correctly at ID verification step |
| Responsible gambling tools | Audit of in-app deposit limits, time-out, self-exclusion flow | All present, deposit limit takes effect immediately |
Worked Example: How dabble Got a 4.8/5.0
Each category is scored 0 to 10. The 0 to 10 score multiplied by the category weight, summed, divided by 20, gives the final 5.0 score. Here is dabble's April 2026 calculation:
| Category | Weight | Score (out of 10) | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Odds Value | 20% | 9.0 | 1.80 |
| Payment Speed | 15% | 10.0 | 1.50 |
| Market Variety | 15% | 9.5 | 1.43 |
| Platform Quality | 10% | 9.5 | 0.95 |
| Live Features | 10% | 10.0 | 1.00 |
| Customer Support | 5% | 9.5 | 0.48 |
| Referral Code Value | 25% | 9.5 | 2.38 |
| Total weighted points | 9.54 / 10 | ||
| Final score (divided by 2) | 4.77, rounded to 4.8 / 5.0 | ||
Final scores are presented to one decimal place. We never publish raw weighted points externally because the rounding behaviour of the 0 to 10 sub-scores would mislead readers about the precision of the underlying tests.
What Disqualifies a Bookmaker
Some failures are immediate. The following findings push an operator straight to the Not Recommended list regardless of category scores:
- No valid Australian state or territory licence registered with ACMA
- BetStop integration not enforced at account-opening (we test this with a registered tester)
- Withdrawal blocked or delayed beyond 7 business days without clear regulatory reason
- Recent ACMA infringement notice in the most recent quarterly enforcement round
- Accepting bets from accounts the operator has previously closed or self-excluded
Update Cadence
Rankings refresh weekly. Full re-tests run twice a year, in April and October. Operators that change ownership, lose a licence, or appear in ACMA enforcement actions are re-tested immediately.
Where the Data Comes From
All withdrawal-speed timings published on this site come from our own real-money tests. We do not republish operator-reported speeds. Odds-margin samples are pulled from the live operator websites between 9am and 11am AEST every Tuesday during the regular AFL/NRL season. ACMA enforcement data is pulled from the ACMA's published register and the agency's monthly enforcement bulletins.
If you spot something on a bookmaker page that doesn't match this methodology, email [email protected] and we will retest.