A good bingo offer isn’t the one with the biggest number on the banner. It’s the one that leaves you with something once the small print has had its say. Here’s how we work that out, from the moment we open a site’s terms to the score you see in our tables.
Step 1: we read the terms, all of them
Every rating starts with the operator’s own promotion terms and conditions, not a press release, a banner or another review site. We check the offer page itself on the operator’s site wherever we can reach it, plus the general terms for things like payment methods, licence details and withdrawal rules. Each review records which terms were read and when they were last checked.
Step 2: we work out headline value and real value
Headline value is what the advert says: “100 free spins”, “£50 bingo bonus”.
Nominal value is the maths behind it. For free spins, it’s spins multiplied by spin value, so 100 spins at 10p is £10. For bingo bonuses, it’s the bonus you’d get on the minimum deposit.
Real value is what’s left after the restrictions: wagering, expiry, caps, which games count and what you had to do to qualify. We put these side by side in every review, so you never mistake £10 of spins for £10 in your pocket.
Step 3: we score the offer
Free spins offers get a Free Spins Score out of 100, built from nine factors:
| Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| Spin value | 10 |
| Number of spins | 10 |
| Deposit required | 10 |
| Wagering on winnings | 20 |
| Game choice | 10 |
| Expiry | 10 |
| Max winnings | 10 |
| Qualification | 10 |
| Overall value per £1 spent | 10 |
Wagering counts double because it decides whether a win is really yours. Under Gambling Commission rules, it can’t go above 10x the bonus, but none at all is worth far more than the ceiling. Here’s exactly how each factor is scored:
| Factor | Max points | How it’s scored |
|---|---|---|
| Spin value | 10 | 20p+ = 10 · 10p–19p = 7 · 5p–9p = 4 · under 5p = 2 |
| Number of spins | 10 | 200+ = 10 · 100–199 = 8 · 50–99 = 6 · 20–49 = 4 · under 20 = 2 |
| Deposit required | 10 | No spend = 10 · up to £5 = 8 · £6–£10 = 6 · £11–£20 = 4 · over £20 = 2 |
| Wagering on wins | 20 | None = 20 · up to 5x = 14 · 6x–10x = 8 |
| Game choice | 10 | Any slot or 10+ games = 10 · 4–9 games = 7 · 2–3 games = 5 · one game = 3 |
| Expiry | 10 | Shortest clock that applies. 30+ days = 10 · 7–29 days = 8 · 3–6 days = 5 · 48–72 hours = 3 · 24 hours or less = 1 |
| Max winnings | 10 | No cap in the terms = 10 · £200+ = 7 · £100–199 = 5 · £50–99 = 3 · under £50 = 1 |
| Qualification | 10 | Deposit only = 10 · deposit + spend on any slot = 7 · deposit + spend on one named game = 5 · minus 1 for each extra step (opt-in, manual claim), minimum 3 |
| Overall value | 10 | Nominal value per £1 you must spend: £2+ = 10 · £1–1.99 = 7 · 50p–99p = 5 · under 50p = 3. Halved (rounded down) if wins carry wagering |
We don’t try to guess what the spins will win. Slots are random, so the score measures the terms, not the outcome.
Bingo bonuses aren’t spins, so they don’t get a Free Spins Score. Instead, we show:
- Play-through: the bonus multiplied by the wagering. A £40 bonus at 4x is £160 of bingo.
- Daily pace: play-through divided by the days allowed. £160 over 30 days is about £5.33 a day.
- Max to cash: any cap on what converts once the wagering is done.
We rank bingo bonuses by wagering first, then by time.
What the score colours mean
Every Free Spins Score on BingoScorer is shown in one of three colours, so you can read an offer at a glance before you read a word.
- 70–100 Excellent
- 50–69 Good
- 0–49 OK, but could be better
- Green, 70 to 100: Excellent. Strong value on almost every factor. Usually no wagering on winnings, no cap, and a fair spend to qualify.
- Yellow-green, 50 to 69: Good. A decent offer with one or two real drawbacks, most often wagering on winnings, a cap or a single eligible game.
- Pink, 0 to 49: OK, but could be better. The offer works, but the terms take a big bite out of it. Read the review before you deposit.
The colour always sits next to the number and the word, so it never has to do the job on its own. Bingo bonuses don’t get a colour, because they’re measured by play-through rather than scored out of 100.
Step 4: we rank, and break ties
Tables are ordered by score. When two free spins offers score the same, the one with more game choice goes first; if they’re still level, the one that gives you longer to qualify wins. Bingo-bonus-only sites sit below the free spins offers in our main table, ranked by wagering and then time. Bingo bonuses that match on both are listed alphabetically.
Step 5: we keep it current
Offers change, sometimes quietly. When an operator changes its terms, we re-read them and re-score the offer. The “terms checked” date on each review tells you when that last happened. If you spot something that’s changed before we have, tell us.
What we don’t do
- We don’t guess outcomes. Slots are random, so we score the terms, not what the spins might win.
- We don’t sell scores. We earn commission from some links, and it never moves a rating. An operator can’t buy a place in our tables.
- We don’t publish codes we can’t verify. If a Promo Code isn’t in the operator’s terms, it isn’t on BingoScorer.
- We don’t cover unlicensed sites. Every site we rate holds a Gambling Commission licence for customers in Great Britain.
Who does the rating
Reviews are written and scored by Martin Eriksen, partner manager and bingo reviewer at Gambler Labs, the company behind BingoScorer. Every score is worked out using the method on this page, so you can check our sums yourself.