ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Noah Rafkin

I run Bonus Bandit alone: every score, every verification, and every changelog entry on this site is mine, which means every mistake is mine too. That's the deal, one named person you can hold accountable, instead of an anonymous "editorial team."

How the testing actually works

I maintain real accounts with operators where it's lawful in my state, run test redemptions where feasible, and track terms documents over time with automated monitoring. When a flagged terms change lands in the review queue, I read it by hand before it touches a score. The rest of the evidence comes from verified player reports filed on this site and sustained sentiment tracking, all of it feeding the published scoring formula.

Background

Bonus Bandit publishes trust scores for 232 sweepstakes casinos, and I've opened and tested accounts at 143 operators myself, funding them, running KYC, and cashing out where the operator allowed it, because the scene had no reviewer who wasn't paid to say yes. Those two numbers are not the same set: some operators I tested have since left the market or shut down, and they keep their record without keeping a leaderboard row. Everything I learn goes into the scoring data, not a sales pitch.

Where this started

Bonus Bandit grew out of Beat The Spin, the browser extension I built to track daily sweepstakes bonuses. The extension's site carried my first operator reviews and state-law pages, and the testing behind them started in September 2025, before this domain existed. In July 2026 I moved all of that research here, where it feeds the Trust Scores and the public changelog. Beat The Spin remains my product; its old review and state pages now redirect to their current homes on this site. When Bonus Bandit reviews an operator the extension supports, that changes nothing about the score. The methodology has no input for it.

The research this feeds

The test log isn't a trophy shelf; it's the raw material for the site's published studies. Start with the quarterly industry report (the dated, citable digest of each quarter), the payout study (who actually pays, from first-hand redemptions), the complaint index (complaint rates across the market), the redemption-time data, and the state legality tracker. The underlying data is also published for reuse.

How I'm accountable

Every score change is logged publicly in the changelog with its reason. The scoring weights are versioned and published. How the site makes money is in the disclosure: affiliate links fund the work, but scores are computed mechanically and aren't affiliate-weighted, so no operator can buy a better one. If you think a score is wrong, email me the evidence at noah.rafkin@bonusbandit.win. Corrections get a changelog entry like everything else.

In the media

In August 2026 I joined Jon Bruford and Fintan Costello on The Gambling Files podcast (RTFM 271) to talk through how the trust scores are computed, what our redemption testing keeps finding, and the shell-company research behind the A1 / UTech network profile. Interview and data requests go through the press page.

Elsewhere

These are my personal accounts, the ones the site's structured data points at when it says who I am: x.com/nrafkin16 and reddit.com/user/lima-bean-sandwhich . Bonus Bandit's own channels are a separate list, on the community page.

I'm a researcher, not a lawyer or financial advisor. State legality pages cite primary sources but aren't legal advice. And the standing reminder: sweepstakes games are built so the house wins over time. If it stops being fun, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET.