About Chesterfield: Our Team, Mission & Review Methodology

Who We Are

Chesterfield is an independent gambling comparison site built for British players. We are not owned by any casino, bookmaker or betting group, and we do not accept payment in exchange for a better position in our rankings. Our job is simple: to help you choose where to play safely, with clear-eyed reviews, honest bonus maths and plain explanations of who actually holds the licence behind each brand.

The online gambling market moves quickly, and the marketing around it is designed to make every offer look generous. A "£500 bonus" can be worth very little once you read the wagering requirements, and a slick-looking site can turn out to be licensed thousands of miles away with limited recourse if something goes wrong. We exist to cut through that. Every operator we feature is assessed against the same criteria, tested where we can, and labelled clearly so you know exactly what you are signing up to.

Our Review Methodology

Every review on Chesterfield is scored against a consistent set of criteria. We weight those criteria to reflect what matters most to real players over the long run, rather than what looks flashy on a homepage. Where possible, we sign up, deposit, place bets or play games, request a withdrawal and record how the operator actually performs — not just what its terms and conditions promise.

Our scoring breaks down roughly as follows:

• Bonus value & fair wagering (25%) — the real, after-wagering value of welcome and ongoing offers. We calculate the true cost of the wagering requirement, check game weightings and flag maximum-bet rules, time limits and withdrawal caps that quietly reduce what an offer is worth.
• Payments & payout speed (20%) — the range of deposit and withdrawal methods, minimum and maximum limits, fees, and how long a withdrawal genuinely takes from request to arrival.
• Game & market range (20%) — the breadth and quality of slots, table games and live-dealer titles, or the depth of sports markets, odds and in-play options for betting sites.
• Licensing & safety (20%) — who regulates the operator, its track record, its security and its history of paying players fairly.
• Responsible-gambling tools & support (15%) — the availability of deposit and loss limits, time-outs, self-exclusion, reality checks and the quality of customer support when problems arise.

Scores are reviewed and can go down as well as up. If an operator's payout times slip, its terms become less fair or its support deteriorates, its rating changes accordingly.

How We Handle Licensing & Offshore Operators

Some of the operators we feature are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). Others hold licences from regulators outside the UK, such as those in Curaçao, Malta or the Isle of Man. We label the licensing status of every operator we list, and we never hide when a brand is licensed offshore rather than by the UKGC.

This distinction matters. A UKGC licence brings mandatory consumer protections, GAMSTOP integration and access to independent dispute resolution. An offshore licence does not carry those same UK protections, which changes the trade-off for the player — sometimes larger bonuses or fewer restrictions, but less regulatory recourse if a dispute arises. We explain those trade-offs openly on every relevant page so you can make an informed choice rather than discovering the difference after you have deposited.

Editorial Standards

Accuracy is the foundation of everything we publish. Bonus terms, odds, payment methods and licensing details are checked against the operator's own site before publication and reviewed on a monthly basis, because these details change often. We date our pages so you can see when they were last updated.

We operate a clear corrections policy: if we get something wrong, we fix it promptly and, where the error is material, we note that a correction has been made. Readers can report inaccuracies to us at any time. Crucially, no operator can pay to appear, to rank higher or to have a negative point removed. Our editorial judgements and our commercial arrangements are kept strictly separate.

How We Make Money

Chesterfield is free to use. We fund the site through affiliate commission: when a reader follows one of our links, registers with an operator and, in some cases, deposits or plays, we may receive a commission from that operator. This is standard practice for comparison sites and it costs you nothing.

What this commission does not do is influence our rankings, ratings or recommendations. We rank operators on merit against the criteria set out above. An operator that pays a higher commission does not get a higher score, and we will happily rate a lower-paying operator above a higher-paying one where the evidence supports it. If a commercial relationship ever conflicted with an honest review, the honest review would always win.

Our Commitment to Safer Gambling

Gambling should be entertainment, never a way to make money or escape financial pressure. We build safer-gambling guidance into our reviews, highlight the control tools each operator offers and signpost independent support throughout the site. If gambling is causing you or someone you know harm, free and confidential help is available. Please read our dedicated responsible gambling guide, which covers warning signs, self-exclusion, GAMSTOP, blocking software and support helplines.