About CasinoTop

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Reza Shojaei

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Reza Shojaei owns the CasinoTop comparison methodology and the platform's structured intelligence framework. He combines editorial review with the Casino Data Index, Gaming License Index, SlotIndex, and PayoutIndex to compare operators, markets, slots, licensing signals, and redemption information in a consistent format across markets.

Casino Data IndexGaming License IndexSlotIndexPayoutIndex

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Why Trust CasinoTop

Trust in CasinoTop is structural, not declarative: it is built into the mechanics of how operator data is collected, how evaluation scores are calculated, and how commercial relationships are formally separated from rankings and editorial output. The scoring and ranking methodology is documented, fixed, and applied uniformly — no operator receives preferential weighting because of a commercial arrangement.

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What CasinoTop is

CasinoTop is a decision platform that structures online-casino operator data into standardized, comparable formats and maintains a defined separation between that data layer and any commercial relationships the platform holds. It is not a casino, a gambling operator, or a payment processor — its output is structured information, not a gambling service.

• Structures operator attributes — licensing, game counts, payout speeds, bonus terms, software providers — into a consistent schema applied identically across every listed operator.
• Applies a weighted scoring system across defined evaluation categories so that rankings reflect measured criteria rather than editorial preference or commercial priority.
• Outputs market-specific listings filtered by US state licensing and legal availability, ensuring players only see operators that are legally accessible in their jurisdiction — including both real-money licensed operators and sweepstakes-format casinos where relevant.
• Separates data collection, comparative scoring, and editorial explanation into distinct pipeline layers, so that changes in one layer do not propagate uncontrolled changes into another.
• Presents structured comparisons — including side-by-side views of bonuses, games, payouts, and ratings — so that readers can interrogate the underlying data rather than relying solely on a summary score.

What CasinoTop is NOT

This distinction matters for regulatory, legal, and editorial clarity.

How the platform works

CasinoTop operates through sequential, interdependent layers: raw operator data is collected and validated, normalized into a scoring schema, filtered by market and licensing criteria, and then translated into editorial explanation — each layer governed by its own documented rules.

1. 1
   Data input and attribute collectionOperator attributes are collected per a defined schema: licensing jurisdiction and status, available US states, game library composition, software providers, payout processing times, bonus terms, and support channels. Each attribute is sourced from primary or directly verified references and timestamped on collection.
2. 2
   Normalized scoring across evaluation categoriesCollected attributes are passed through a weighted scoring model that distributes evaluation weight across categories according to the documented scoring framework. No single category dominates the final score; weights reflect the relative importance of each factor to a US player's decision.
3. 3
   Market filtering by licensing and state availabilityScored operators are filtered against a US state availability matrix derived from active licensing records. An operator only appears in a state-specific listing if its license permits real-money or sweepstakes operation in that state — a constraint applied programmatically, not editorially. Platforms like Pulsz Social Casino and Crown Coins appear in sweepstakes listings under the same filter logic.
4. 4
   Editorial explanation without promotional framingScores and rankings are translated into plain-language editorial explanations by staff reviewers listed on the authors page. Explanations describe what a score reflects — specific product attributes and verified data points — and do not function as promotional endorsements. Reviewers are identified by name; Reza Shojaei, CasinoTop's founder and Editor-in-Chief, oversees methodology application and editorial standards.
5. 5
   User-facing decision support and FAQsThe platform surfaces comparison tools, filtering interfaces, and structured answers to common questions about rankings, legality, and how comparisons work — giving readers the means to interrogate operator data directly rather than accepting a single ranked output as definitive.

Editorial independence

CasinoTop maintains a formally documented separation between its commercial partnerships and its editorial output — a separation enforced at the system level, not left to individual discretion. The full terms of that separation are set out in the editorial independence and integrity policy.

• Affiliate relationships are disclosed on relevant pages but have no input into the evaluation pipeline — an operator's affiliate status is not visible to the scoring model and cannot influence category weighting or final placement.
• Operators cannot purchase ranking position, request score adjustments, or negotiate editorial treatment. The evaluation criteria are fixed in the documented methodology and can only be revised through a formal policy update — not through commercial negotiation.
• Evaluation factors and their weights are applied uniformly across all listed operators, including those with no commercial relationship with the platform, ensuring the scoring environment is consistent regardless of monetization status.
• Score updates and editorial revisions are initiated by changes to an operator's licensing, product, or published terms — not by the initiation, renewal, or termination of an affiliate agreement. This constraint is codified in the methodology documentation and enforced procedurally.
• CasinoTop includes responsible gambling resources as a standing editorial commitment, separate from operator reviews and rankings — reflecting the platform's obligation to inform players about risk management, independent of any commercial consideration.

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Ownership & operator

Platform history

casinotop.com was registered in 1998 — part of the first generation of online gambling domain infrastructure. The domain predates most current casino comparison platforms by more than a decade.

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