Public method
How we decide what belongs — and who ranks higher.
CasinoList is an independent catalog of land-based casinos. Counts come from the gaming regulator. Rankings follow a published formula. Money never buys a place.
Honest
Named sources and a check date on every fact.
Unbiased
Ranking places are never sold or sponsored.
Verifiable
You can open the same regulator reports we use.
The short answer
Regulator facts first. Review stars never.
We list only licensed floors you can walk into. Table and slot counts cite the local gaming board — in Las Vegas, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). Expert hotel awards can add points. Google star ratings, review-platform scores and Yelp are never stored and never used to rank.
Why this can be trusted
Three rules we do not bend
Official registries only
Inventory comes from public regulator files and dated named sources — not marketing brochures, scrapers or review-site APIs.
One published formula
Eligible casinos score 60 points on the gaming offer (NGCB) and 40 on expert inspections. Weights and thresholds are on this page.
Independence by design
Future ads are limited to two labelled formats. Neither can move a ranking, FAQ or methodology line.
Who gets a page
What belongs in the catalog
In scope
- Physical casinos and licensed gaming halls with a street address and a real floor
- Venues under a named regulator or licensing authority for that market
- Legal gaming zones only — destinations where land-based gambling is allowed by law
What we leave out on purpose
- Online casinos, casino apps and sportsbook apps — even when a land brand also runs them
- Unlicensed rooms, private clubs without a licence, grey or prohibited markets
- Consumer review-site scores and reader “best of” votes that campaigns can swing
- California-style standalone poker clubs in Nevada (poker sits inside casino licences)
Where numbers come from
Sources we use — and refuse
We use
Local regulator / licensing registry
The backbone for every market we publish.
NGCB Nonrestricted Count Report (Las Vegas)
Tables by game, slots by denomination, poker tables, race/sports flags.
NGCB Square Footage Report (Las Vegas)
Pit, slots, poker, race & sports floor area.
Official casino sites
Hours, dress code, hotel, dining anchors, poker-room notes — facts, not copied prose.
Expert inspections as text
Forbes Travel Guide, AAA, MICHELIN — quoted as facts, never as our own stars or logos.
We refuse
Google stars, review platforms, Yelp
Their terms forbid storing ratings or building a catalog ranking from them. They measure opinions, not licensed inventory.
Scraping and unofficial snapshots
Data only through official publications and permitted channels — never copied visitor reviews.
Paid ranking influence
Sponsorship cannot change score, sort order, FAQ or this methodology.
How the score works
Real listings · not ads100 points · 60 gaming · 40 awards
Scores run inside area cohorts (Strip, Downtown, Locals) so a neighborhood floor is not crushed by a mega-resort. Las Vegas is the first live market; every new market follows the same pattern with its local regulator.
Gaming offer
NGCB Count + Square Footage
60
- 20
Tables
Percentile of total table games in the cohort
- 15
Table variety
Share of 11 NGCB game categories on the floor
- 10
Slots
Slot percentile + penny and high-denom presence
- 5
Poker
Poker tables present; bonus at 10+
- 5
Race & sports
Race book or sports pool on the licence
- 5
Floor size
Percentile of total gaming square footage
Expert inspections
Forbes · AAA · MICHELIN (current year)
40
- 12
Forbes Travel Guide
Hotel level for the resort (scale noted if partial)
- 8
AAA Diamonds
Hotel inspection level
- 10
MICHELIN Keys
Hotel Keys for the resort
- 10
Restaurants & spa
Michelin stars / Bib and Forbes F&B or spa caps
Ties break by more tables (NGCB), then more floor area, then name.
Not in the formula — on purpose
- Google stars, review-platform scores or Yelp — terms forbid it; opinions are not inventory
- Reader polls — campaign-driven and unstable year to year
- Hotel room count — that measures lodging, not the casino floor
- Minimum bets — no stable official feed; used only in a separate low-limit list with fresh phone checks
- Any sponsorship — tested never to move the ranking
Catalog vs ranking
Clear gates, published numbers
≥ 1 table
Catalog page
Every NGCB Vegas-area location in scope gets a home when it has table games (slots-only venues sit on their own shelf).
≥ 10 tables
Ranking eligible
Enough inventory to compare gaming offer fairly inside the cohort.
Part-resort awards
Count with scale
A Forbes Five-Star tower still counts — we state how many rooms it covers versus the whole resort.
Check us yourself
Same files the regulator publishes
Every casino page names the source and the date we checked it. For Las Vegas you can open the NGCB reports at gaming.nv.gov — Nonrestricted Count Report and Square Footage Report. When our figure and an operator figure disagree, we show both instead of picking silently.
Money and influence
Independence is not a slogan
- Ranking positions are never sold and are not affected by any commercial relationship.
- Future advertising is limited to two labelled formats — Match recommendation and Hide rivals on your card — and promotes physical venues only.
- Maximum one advertising block on a page. Places in the ranking are never for sale.
Found a mistake?
Tell us. We correct in public.
Email the page URL and what is wrong. We update the fact, the check date and the source note. Editorial rules live next to this guide.
Approved 2026-10-07. Weight or threshold changes land in a changelog on this page. Scores recalculate on every site build; NGCB counts refresh quarterly, square footage yearly, awards yearly.
Effective Oct 7, 2026