Last updated: June 2026 — Katherine Girvan, Acaciakennels
At Acaciakennels, every review you read on acaciakennels.com is the result of a thorough, hands-on evaluation process carried out by Katherine Girvan, the site's founder and lead reviewer. This page explains exactly how we assess eSports betting sites, what criteria we use, how we weight each factor, and why you can trust our ratings to be honest, independent, and genuinely useful to bettors in Great Britain.
We believe you deserve to know how our scores are calculated before you act on any recommendation. Transparency is not optional for us — it is the foundation of everything we publish.
Katherine personally creates a real account on every site under review using her own details. This includes completing the full KYC (Know Your Customer) process that UK-licensed operators require. By going through registration as a genuine customer, we get a true picture of how smooth or frustrating the onboarding experience actually is.
Every site is tested with a real cash deposit. We never review a site based on demo access or operator-provided credentials. Using our own funds means we experience the same payment flows, processing times, and potential friction points that you would encounter as a player.
Katherine places live bets across multiple eSports titles — including but not limited to CS2, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant — testing both pre-match and in-play markets. This reveals the true depth of the betting markets, the reliability of the platform under live conditions, and the accuracy of the odds on offer.
Where a welcome bonus or promotion is available, we claim it and work through the wagering requirements ourselves. This is the only way to accurately judge whether a bonus is genuinely valuable or loaded with restrictive terms.
We withdraw funds to verify processing speeds, any fees applied, and whether the site honours withdrawals without unnecessary complications. Withdrawal reliability is a significant trust signal.
Katherine contacts the support team through all available channels — typically live chat and email — with both general and specific queries. Response times, accuracy of answers, and overall helpfulness are all recorded.
The site or app is tested on a mobile device to evaluate layout, navigation, bet placement speed, and whether the full range of eSports markets is accessible on smaller screens.
Each site receives a final score out of 10. That score is built from six weighted categories, as shown in the table below.
| Category | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Licensing and Safety | 25% |
| Bonuses and Promotions | 20% |
| eSports Market Selection | 20% |
| Payment Methods | 15% |
| Customer Support | 10% |
| Mobile Experience | 10% |
No site receives a positive recommendation without holding a valid licence from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). We also check for responsible gambling tools, data protection practices, and whether the operator has a clean regulatory history.
We evaluate the real value of welcome offers and ongoing promotions after accounting for wagering requirements, time limits, game restrictions, and maximum win caps. A generous headline figure means nothing if the terms make it impossible to benefit.
We assess the range of titles covered, the depth of markets within each title, the competitiveness of the odds, and the availability of in-play betting on major tournaments.
We look at the variety of deposit and withdrawal options available to GB players, transaction speed, fee structures, and minimum and maximum limits.
Support is scored on availability (hours of operation), channel variety, and the quality and speed of responses experienced during our direct testing.
We test dedicated apps and mobile browsers, judging performance, design, and whether eSports-specific features work as well on mobile as they do on desktop.
Independence is non-negotiable at Acaciakennels. Here is how we protect the integrity of our reviews:
If you have questions about how a specific site was reviewed, or if you believe our information is outdated or inaccurate, please contact us directly through the contact page at acaciakennels.com. We take reader feedback seriously and will investigate and update our content where appropriate.