Every rating on Tavern comes from a timed, real-money withdrawal. Here is exactly what we measure, how the score is weighted, and why the numbers are what they are.
We rate fast withdrawal casinos on five criteria, and each one carries a fixed weight in the overall score out of 10. The weights are heaviest where a Canadian player actually feels the pain, which is the wait for money to arrive. A large welcome bonus does not move the number on its own, because a bonus you cannot clear is not the same as cash in your account.
Payout speed is the largest slice because it is the reason readers come here. Methods and verification each take a fifth of the score, since the fastest rail in the world is useless if the casino does not offer it or holds your first cash-out for a document review. Limits and fees cover whether you can withdraw a real amount without a punitive minimum or a surcharge. Trust and licensing sit at ten percent: important as a floor, but a long clean record does not excuse a slow payout.
We do not score a casino from its banking page. We open a real account, deposit our own funds, clear a small real-money balance, and then request a withdrawal with the exact time written down. When the money lands, we write down that time too. The rating reflects what happened between those two timestamps, on a real weekday and, where it matters, on a weekend.
Almost every casino quotes a single figure for withdrawals, and that figure is usually the approval time, not the moment the cash reaches you. We keep the two apart. The approval time is how long the operator sits on your request before releasing it. The settlement time is how long the payment rail behind Interac, a card refund or a blockchain takes after that release. An Interac e-Transfer approved "instantly" on a Friday night can still land on Monday, because the banking rails behind it are closed, and our notes say so.
The single biggest cause of a slow first payout is know-your-customer verification, so we track when a site asks for ID, how long it holds the documents, and whether a first withdrawal is stalled behind a review that could have been done at signup. A casino that verifies you up front earns points here. One that waits until you try to cash out, then freezes the request, loses them.
Where a casino offers crypto, Interac e-Transfer and e-wallets, we time more than one, because the same brand can pay in under two hours by crypto and in several business days by card. The published score reflects the realistic fast route for a Canadian player, and the review text names which method delivered it.
| Score | What it reflects |
|---|---|
| 9.0 to 10 | Verified crypto or e-wallet cash-out cleared in under two hours in testing, low verification friction, real withdrawal limits. |
| 8.0 to 8.9 | Same-day settlement on at least one method, minor friction such as weekend delays or a modest fee. |
| 7.0 to 7.9 | Reliable within a day or two, or fast only on crypto while fiat routes lag. |
| Below 7.0 | Slower than the market, higher friction, or a payout that missed the operator's own quoted window. |
Tavern earns money through affiliate links. When you sign up with a casino through a link on this site, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. That is how independent review sites stay free to read, and we want you to know it plainly rather than find it in the small print.
The commercial relationship stops at the link. It does not buy a higher score, a better ranking position or a softer review. Scores come from the weighted criteria above and from timed tests, and the ranking order follows the scores. If a casino pays slowly, we say so, whether or not we earn from it. When a bonus carries heavy wagering, we call it out, because a same-day payout means nothing behind a 35x requirement.
We review a mix of provincially regulated and offshore operators. Offshore brands are not regulated by a Canadian province, and we flag that trade-off in the review rather than hide it. For the wider picture of who we are and how the site is funded, see our about page, and please read our responsible gambling resources before you play.