How We Research

Most of what we publish explains how something works: a slot feature, a betting market, a budgeting habit. Explanations are only useful if they are accurate, so this page describes where our information comes from and how we check it.

The sources we start from

We prefer primary sources, meaning the documents written by the people who make or regulate the product.

• Game information screens. Every licensed slot includes a help or paytable screen describing its symbols, features and stated return to player. For articles such as our explainer on cluster pays slots, these screens are the starting point.
• Operators' published rules. Sportsbooks publish settlement rules for each market. Our football guides rely on these, read across several operators to spot where they differ.
• Regulators' public pages. Gambling authorities publish licensing conditions, safer-gambling requirements and consumer guidance. We use them for articles about regulation and player protection.
• Studios' own descriptions. Game makers describe their mechanics in product pages and release notes, which help confirm how a feature is meant to behave.

What we treat with caution

Forums, tipster accounts, affiliate reviews and social media posts can be a useful sign of what readers are curious about. We do not treat them as evidence. Claims about "hot" machines, winning patterns or guaranteed systems are not repeated as fact; where they come up, we explain why they do not hold.

We also avoid quoting specific return-to-player values, odds or limits for named games and events. Those numbers vary between versions, operators and dates, and a figure that is right in one place can be wrong for a reader somewhere else. Instead, we explain how to find the number yourself.

How a fact gets checked

1. The writer drafts the article and notes where each key statement comes from.
2. A second member of the team reads the draft against those sources, and redoes any worked example from scratch.
3. The editor reads for tone, cutting any wording that suggests easy money or certainty, and confirms the article includes a reminder about age and local law.
4. The article is published with its date, and the date changes when it is substantially revised.

Regional articles

Several of our features discuss online play in Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea. These describe trends and culture rather than giving instructions, and legal status in those countries is often restrictive. Describing something is never a statement that it is allowed for you.

Keeping articles current

Games are updated and rules change. When a reader points out an error, or when we notice that a source has changed, we review the article and correct it. Significant corrections are made to the text directly rather than hidden in a footnote.

Related pages

How we choose topics and set the tone of an article is covered in How We Write About Games. Terms used throughout the magazine are defined in Slot and Betting Terms. If you spot something we have got wrong, please tell us via Drop Us a Line.

All of our content is meant for adults aged 18 and over.