Last updated: April 2026 — James Whitfield, Leicestertowbarfitting
At Leicestertowbarfitting.co.uk, every review you read is the product of genuine, hands-on testing carried out by site owner and lead reviewer James Whitfield. James personally creates real accounts, deposits real money, plays real poker hands, and tests every feature before a single word is written. No operator pays for a positive rating, no affiliate deal influences a score, and no review is published without direct, personal experience of the site in question.
This page explains exactly how that process works, what we look at, how we weigh each factor, and how our final ratings are calculated. We believe you deserve to know the methodology behind every score before you trust it with your money.
James begins by signing up as a standard new player using a personal email address and going through the full KYC (Know Your Customer) process. He notes how long verification takes, how straightforward the process is, and whether any unexpected hurdles appear early on.
Before depositing any funds, James verifies the operator's licensing credentials directly on the regulator's official database. For UK players in 2026, a valid UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) licence is non-negotiable. He also checks for responsible gambling tools, self-exclusion options, and SSL encryption standards.
James deposits using a range of methods available to UK players and records processing times, any fees charged, and how clearly limits are communicated. Crucially, he also requests a withdrawal to test the full payment cycle and documents how long it takes from request to funds received.
James plays actual poker sessions across the formats on offer, including cash games, sit-and-gos, and MTTs where available. He assesses lobby design, software stability, traffic levels, and the quality of the overall playing experience on both desktop and mobile devices.
Every welcome bonus and ongoing promotion is claimed and tested against its stated terms. James pays close attention to wagering requirements, game restrictions, expiry dates, and how easy it is to understand and use the offer as a real player.
James contacts the support team through every available channel, including live chat, email, and telephone where offered. He logs response times, the quality of answers given, and how well agents handle questions a genuine poker player might ask.
Only after completing all the above steps does James write the review. Scores are assigned against the weighted criteria below, and the final rating is calculated to produce a single score out of ten.
Each poker site is scored across six core categories. The table below shows each category and the percentage weight it carries toward the overall score.
| Category | Weighting | What We Look At |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing and Safety | 25% | UKGC licence status, responsible gambling tools, data security, fairness audits |
| Bonuses and Promotions | 20% | Welcome offer value, wagering requirements, ongoing promos, fairness of terms |
| Game Selection | 20% | Poker variants available, cash game traffic, tournament schedule, software quality |
| Payment Methods | 15% | Deposit and withdrawal options, processing speeds, fees, withdrawal limits |
| Customer Support | 10% | Availability, response times, quality of answers, channels offered |
| Mobile Experience | 10% | App or browser quality, game availability on mobile, ease of navigation |
All sites receive a final score on a scale of 1 to 10. Here is what each range means in practice:
Independence is the foundation of everything we publish. James Whitfield funds all testing personally, meaning no operator can influence a review by withholding or providing test accounts, credits, or financial incentives tied to outcome. While this site earns revenue through affiliate commissions when readers click through and sign up, those commissions are never linked to the score a site receives. A site with a poor score may still carry an affiliate link, and a site may be reviewed and scored with no commercial relationship in place at all.
Scores are reviewed and updated regularly. If a site changes its terms, loses its licence, or improves its offering, the rating is adjusted to reflect the current reality. Readers can always see the date a review was last updated at the top of each page.
If you believe a review contains inaccurate information or you have a factual correction to raise, you are welcome to contact James Whitfield directly through the contact page. Legitimate corrections are investigated and acted upon promptly.