Our sources
Where our facts come from, how we label them and what we could not read. 21+ only.
How we label sources
- Primary: PAGCOR and other official documents we read ourselves (below).
- Secondary: news and trade press, always cited inline on the page with the outlet and date. Where we only saw a headline or snippet we say so.
- Not used: claims we could not trace, hosts that blocked our fetcher (we say "could not open"), and anything we could not verify; those appear as "not verified by us".
- Invented examples (turnover, odds and house-edge arithmetic) are labelled as invented.
| Source | What we used it for | When |
|---|---|---|
| PAGCOR regulatory page (lists) | Registered brands and domain names; licensed-casino and accredited-administrator lists (PDF, dated 20 Oct 2026); game offering per row | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR Guarantee | Directory of authorised online gaming websites; categories; links to self-exclusion | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR Guarantee announcement | Launch date 18 June 2025; purpose | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR Responsible Gaming Code v6.0 | 21+ rule, restricted persons, definitions (NDRP, GEL, problem gambler), ad requirements | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR memorandum on rebates and cashback (7 May 2026) | 1.50% rebate and 15% cashback caps, approval, transition (scanned PDF read page by page) | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR self-exclusion page | Self and family exclusion periods, documents, submission | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR helpline announcement | National Problem Gambling Helpline 02-8248-9568, launched 26 May 2026 | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR Contact Us | Online Gaming Platform Helpdesk issue types; CICC 1326 for illegal sites | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR notice to the public | Counterfeit certificate sites and reported websites (undated in the text we read) | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR verification app announcement | Board approval 8 Oct 2026; December 2026 target; DBP Data Center partner | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR list of accredited gaming affiliates (PDF) | Headed 'Game Content Providers' (20 Oct 2026 edition): not a marketing licence | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| PAGCOR Philippine Gaming Industry Data (CY 2025, 1Q and 2Q 2026) | Quarterly gross gaming revenue by sector (labelled 'based on PAGCOR records as submitted to GCG'); our sums and percentages are marked as ours | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| Philippine App Store listings (Casino Plus PH, NUSTAR-Slots Casino Games, ArenaPlus, PT Gaming) | Seller name, website and privacy links and each listing's own licensing wording, compared with PAGCOR's company names; seller statements, not verification of licences | Opened 27 Oct 2026 |
| Ad Standards Council Circular 2025-010 | Gambling ads must be ASC-screened; PAGCOR tagline memo of 28 July 2025 | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| GCash / Mynt newsroom | 3,200+ merchants cancelled; QR scam types; reporting channels | Read 27 Oct 2026 |
| Apple's public App Store lookup (Philippines) | Seller, release and update dates, version, advisories and description of 20 apps whose seller matches a PAGCOR-listed company (CSV on the casino apps page); the API shows a legacy 17+ where the store page shows 18+ | Read 28 Oct 2026 |
| JILI Games game pages | 277 game pages read, 172 of them slots: max win, volatility label, paylines and feature lines (the JILI slots list shows 171, leaving out an e-sabong-themed title, and the JILI game guides use the same data); JILI publishes no RTP figure on them | Read 28 Oct 2026 |
| Brand home pages (ptgaming.ph, nustargame.ph, okbet.com, arionplay.com, ggpoker.ph, 747.live) | Payment wording (GCash, Maya), e-sabong wording in FAQ markup and where listed addresses redirect, as one observation from one server; most other brand sites returned access denied to automated requests | Read 28 Oct 2026 |
| BSP: InstaPay fact sheet, PESONet FAQ and QR Ph rebranding FAQ | InstaPay and PESONet speed, limits and fees; QR Ph (merchant) vs InstaPay QR (personal) codes; complaint route (rebranding FAQ dated 29 Jul 2026) | Read 31 Oct 2026 |
| Maya Stories: fake payment requests | Maya's own advice, hotline and help portal shown in the page footer (published 5 Sep 2025) | Read 28 Oct 2026 |
Reference sites used for game maths and rules (secondary): Wizard of Odds (roulette, Dragon Tiger, baccarat house edges), Pagat (Big Two and Pusoy Dos), the Wikipedia article on Tong-its (flagged there as needing a rewrite) and SlotCatalog (third-party slot listings, always shown next to the provider's own figures). We could not open the GMA 2017 Tongits article or GGRAsia and ASGAM reports (access denied) and did not use them.
See methodology, corrections, the data hub, and how to read the PAGCOR lists. Gambling can be addictive. Know when to stop.