Editorial policy
How we review P2P gambling sites
P2P Rivals is an independent guide to peer-to-peer gambling. We don't run games, take deposits or hold player funds. This page sets out what we check before a site is linked, how often it is checked again, and how the site is paid for.
Who writes P2P Rivals
Every page is written and checked by the P2P Rivals editorial team. We do not publish invented author names, photos or credentials. Our checks are desk checks: we read each operator's terms, fee pages and lobby, the regulator's register and the law itself, and every fact on a page comes from one of those sources. Where a guide describes how a game plays, it describes the operator's published rules.
The two tiers, and the sites we name but never link
Every site we link to sits in one of two tiers. A third group is mentioned in the guides because readers search for it, but never linked.
| Tier | What it means | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | A gambling or exchange licence found on the regulator's own register or seal validator, matched to the site's company and, where the register lists them, its domain, on the date shown on its card. | Game guides and the best P2P sites list, with a link to the register entry so you can repeat the check. |
| Skill platform | A named company running real-money skill contests or fantasy under skill-game rules, with no gambling licence. Its legal basis is stated on the card. | Game guides only, labelled as a skill platform. Never in the best P2P sites list. |
| Named, not linked | No named company, no licence we could find on a register, or a reason we will not send readers there. | Mentioned in guide text with the reason. No link of any kind. |
The licensed tier covers regulators from the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority to Curaçao, Anjouan, Tobique and the US CFTC. An offshore licence gets a site listed; it does not make the site legal where you live, and each card shows the countries it excludes. The P2P gambling laws page explains the difference.
Unlicensed and anonymous sites are named because many readers arrive already knowing them, and a guide that left them out would be incomplete. Each mention gives the reason it is not listed: SwC Poker shows no licence and needs only an email to sign up, Online Money Games says it runs no location check and no KYC, and CSGORoll and CaseBattles.gg give company addresses in Nevis and Belize, which are not licences. They are never linked, because a link sends money to a site with no regulator to complain to if a withdrawal is refused. A licence alone is not always enough either: Duel's Anjouan licence validates, but its arena lobby listed games with offensive titles, so it is not linked.
What we check before a P2P site goes in a guide
- Licence on the register, matched to the domain. The licence number in the footer is searched on the regulator's own register, not the operator's copy of it. The company name must match, the status must be active, the seal must open on the regulator's domain, and where the register lists domains, the site's address must be among them. A licence for a different product, such as a casino licence on an exchange, does not count.
- The fee, as published. Rake, commission, battle fee or entry fee is quoted as the operator states it, with the date we read it. Where no fee is published, the card says so in those words rather than guessing.
- Country restrictions. Taken from the operator's terms and from the licence itself, and shown on every card under Not available. Several Anjouan seal checks, for example, list the countries the licence excludes.
- Bots and collusion. Whether the site lets bots fill seats, whether it says so before you join, and whether it publishes a collusion and fair-play policy with a way to report a case. Bot seats are a known issue in case battles and coinflip, and a US federal jury found Papaya Gaming liable in April 2026 for not disclosing bots.
- KYC and withdrawal terms. When identity checks start, minimum and maximum withdrawals, daily caps and what happens to bonus funds. A site that only asks for ID at the first large withdrawal can hold a balance while it checks, so the trigger point goes on the page.
Re-checks and dates
Every card shows the date its licence, fee and country list were last confirmed, and the list as a whole was last reviewed on 27 October 2026. Before a page is updated, each site on it is checked again against the register and its terms, and the date changes only when that re-check is done. A site that fails a re-check comes off the page.
Things change between reviews. Betdaq stopped taking bets on 21 October 2026, ChessBit has closed its real-money play, and the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission suspended Polar Ventures SDRL's authorisation from 29 September 2026. Closures and suspensions are acted on as soon as we learn of them, not left until the next page update.
Corrections
When a fact changes or we get one wrong, the page is corrected and its Updated date changes. Licences, fees and legal positions are corrected first, because those are the facts a reader acts on.
To report an error or an out-of-date fact, email contact@p2privals.com with the page address and, if you have one, the source that shows the correct figure.
How P2P Rivals makes money
The partner casino lists and offer banners across the site are commercial: we earn a commission when someone joins a casino through it, and our partnerships decide which casinos appear there and in what order. Those rows are standard online casinos, and their offers are shown as each casino lists them.
The P2P guides work differently. The P2P operators described in them are not our partners and are not linked; they are there because they run the format. A commission never changes which P2P sites are in a guide, which tier they sit in, or any fee, licence or legal fact on this site. A P2P site that fails a check is not listed at any price.
Responsible gambling
Everything on this site is for adults: 18 or over, or older where local law sets a higher age, such as 19 in Ontario. If gambling is causing harm, free help is available.
- GamCare (UK) Runs the free National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, open 24 hours a day.
- GAMSTOP (UK) Free self-exclusion from every online gambling site licensed in Great Britain. It does not cover offshore crypto sites.
- Gambling Therapy (international) International online support for anyone affected by gambling.
- Gamblers Anonymous Peer support meetings. The UK fellowship is at gamblersanonymous.org.uk.
- NCPG (US) The National Council on Problem Gambling runs the 1-800-MY-RESET helpline.
Offshore crypto sites are not part of GAMSTOP. On those sites, use the operator's own self-exclusion tool as well.