Methodology

How the data is compiled

How Casino Capybara Research compiles, classifies, versions and corrects its gambling regulation datasets.

Where the data comes from

Casino Capybara reviews online casinos market by market. Each review records the licence the operator holds for that market and, where our reviewer checked it, the regulator’s register, directory or validator entry. Our market guides document the law and the regulator for each market with primary sources. The datasets restructure that work; they do not introduce facts that are not already published and sourced on Casino Capybara.

Online casino licence tracker: built automatically from the licence record of every review each time the site is built, so it always matches the reviews.
Regulation by market: one row per market, compiled from our market history guides and the Canada iGaming tracker, with the primary sources those guides cite.
Regulator directory: every body named as a licensor in the reviews. Official links are included only where our published content already cites them.

One record per brand per market

When a brand is reviewed in several languages for the same market, the English review is used; otherwise the market-language review is used and its language is recorded. The licence text is kept exactly as the review records it, so a reader can see the evidence behind every derived field.

How regulators are identified

A regulator is attached to a record in one of two ways, and the dataset says which. If the review has a structured regulator field, the regulator comes from our regulator registry, which only treats two names as the same body when they are textually identical or exact translations. If there is no structured field, a regulator is attached only when the licence text names it explicitly (for example “Autorizado por Coljuegos” or an MGA licence number). A bare place name such as “Curaçao licence” is recorded as a jurisdiction with the issuing body not named. We never infer a regulator from the market alone.

Licence numbers

Licence, permit, contract and resolution numbers are extracted with patterns specific to each regulator’s numbering format (for example OGL/2024/… for Curaçao, MGA/B2C/… and MGA/CRP/… for Malta, ALSI-… for Anjouan, Coljuegos contract numbers, SEGOB permit numbers). Company, tax and registration numbers are not treated as licence numbers.

Evidence levels

Each licence record gets one evidence level, describing what the review records rather than whether the operator is compliant. The levels are checked in this order, and the first that applies is used:

Checked against official register: The review records a check of the brand against the regulator’s own register, directory or validator (for example the iGaming Ontario operator list or the Kahnawà:ke permit-holder directory).
Licence number recorded: The review records a specific licence, permit, contract or resolution number that a reader can look up.
Regulator named, no number: The review names the regulator but records no number and no register check.
Unconfirmed: The review itself flags the licence as unconfirmed, cites only third-party sources, or records conflicting numbers.
No current licence found: The review records that no current licence was found, or that the site is closed to new players.
No licence recorded: The review carries no licence entry at all. This is a gap in our data, not a finding about the operator.

A record that mentions a register but also says its number is unconfirmed is classed as unconfirmed, not as checked.

Market status

Each market gets one status, from Licensed market open to Prohibited. The definitions are listed on the regulation by market page. Canada is split into Ontario, Alberta and the other provinces because each has a different regime.

Versions and updates

Every dataset shows a version date. For the licence tracker it is the date of the most recently updated review; for the other datasets it is the date of the latest change in the update history. Downloads carry the same version and the suggested citation.

Limits

Coverage is limited to the brands and markets Casino Capybara reviews. It is not a census of every licensed operator.
Licences change. Always confirm a licence on the regulator’s own register before relying on it.
Nothing here is legal advice.

Licence and citation

All datasets are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Each dataset page gives a ready-made citation. Please link to the dataset page when you use the data.