Verification is the paperwork between you and your money. It is partly a legal duty and partly risk work, it runs in five stages, and every stage can be prepared for in advance.
Basic contact details only. Nothing has been proven yet.
Done
Identity matched
Photo ID, sometimes a selfie
The name, date of birth and face on the document are checked against what you typed and against a database or a person.
Done
Address matched
A recent bill or statement
Proves residence, and catches a mismatch between the address on the ID and where you actually live now.
Now
Funds explained
Only above a threshold
Triggered by amount, by stake volume or by a risk flag. Asks where the money came from, not merely that it exists.
Later
Cleared
Withdrawals release normally
Not a one-off state: a dormant account, a new card or a large win can send it back to stage two.
What verification is actually for
The letters stand for know your customer, and the phrase is a legal obligation rather than a product feature. In most regulated markets the licence holder has to establish who its customer is, confirm the customer is old enough, screen the name against sanctions and politically-exposed-person lists, and understand where unusually large sums came from. That duty is on the operator, and it does not become optional because a customer finds it inconvenient.
Underneath the duty sits a commercial second layer. A payment reversal, a stolen card or an account opened with someone else’s document is a loss the operator usually absorbs, and the same checks that satisfy the licence also reduce that loss. Both layers are visible in how a check behaves: the legal layer is why a completed check can be a hard precondition to a payout, and the commercial layer is why the automated part is tuned to catch patterns rather than to be pleasant.
What ties the two together is that a check has a job. Identity proves who; age proves eligibility; address proves where; funds prove origin. When a request arrives, it is worth asking which of those four jobs it is doing — a question that also makes a disproportionate request easier to challenge.
The five stages, in the order they usually run
Most accounts move through the same sequence, and knowing the position on the sequence tells you what is still to come.
Opening an account proves nothing. It creates a record against which the rest is checked.
Identity is the gate: everything downstream waits behind it, including a withdrawal.
Address is usually requested at the same time, and often sits behind the same review.
Funds is conditional. Many accounts never reach it, and it is triggered by amount or behaviour rather than by time.
Cleared is a current state, not a medal. It can lapse.
Each stage is described in full on the document page, and the timing of each is broken down on timelines.
The six documents an account may ask for
Usually two or three of these are enough. The codes below are the ones used across this site; each card links onward from the documents page.
DOC-01
Photo identity document
Proves
Your name, your date of birth, your nationality
Usually accepts
Passport, national identity card or photo driving licence — which of these is accepted is set by the operator
How to send it
Colour photograph of the whole document, all four corners inside the frame, sharp, no flash glare, no cropped edge
Watch outExpired documents are normally refused even when nothing else about them changed. A name change needs the supporting paperwork, not a second document in the new name.
DOC-02
Liveness or selfie check
Proves
That the person holding the ID is present, and that the ID is not a copy of someone else’s
Usually accepts
A live capture inside the operator or vendor app; some setups ask for a head-turn or a blink
How to send it
Same device, front camera, even light on the face, no hat, no sunglasses, no filter, nothing covering the chin
Watch outA screenshot of a photo, a printed photo held to the camera, or a friend holding the document are exactly the cases this check exists to catch.
DOC-03
Proof of address
Proves
Where you actually live now
Usually accepts
A utility bill, bank or card statement, tax notice or government letter, usually issued within about three months
How to send it
One page, your full name and the full address legible, date visible, the rest may be redacted
Watch outMobile-phone bills and invoices addressed to a company are commonly rejected, and so is a document older than the window the operator states.
DOC-04
Payment-method ownership
Proves
That the card, bank account or wallet you used belongs to you
Usually accepts
A bank statement line, a screenshot of the card in the app with all but the last four digits hidden, or a wallet address the operator can match
How to send it
Enough to tie the name and the last four digits to your account; the full number is never needed
Watch outDocuments in someone else’s name are the single most common reason a withdrawal stalls, because they change whose money it looks like.
DOC-05
Source of funds
Proves
Where the money you staked came from, transaction by transaction
Usually accepts
Bank statements covering a stated period, payslips, or a gift or loan agreement
How to send it
The period the operator asks for, with the relevant credits visible and inbound-transfer names legible
Watch outA balance screenshot is not a source of funds: it shows the money exists but not where it came from. The question is the origin, not the total.
DOC-06
Source of wealth
Proves
How the money was accumulated in the first place, over years
Usually accepts
Employment contract or payslips, tax assessment, sale of a property or business, inheritance paperwork, pension statement
How to send it
An official or third-party document; a self-written statement rarely satisfies this on its own
Watch outThis is the heaviest request in the whole process and it is normally reserved for high deposited amounts, high stake volume or a specific risk flag.
The process by the numbers
5stages in a standard check, from account to cleared
6document types an account may ask for, usually two or three
72hcommon outer edge of a manual document review, in working hours
0documents you should send that were not requested inside your own account
What a cleared check does not mean
It is not a statement about the operator. Every licensed operator runs a version of this; none of them is reviewed here.
It is not a guarantee of a payout. Verification is one condition among several, including the payment method the withdrawal goes back to.
It is not a permanent state, and it is not the operator’s private property. The data-protection law that applies to the operator bounds what it may keep and why.
It is not something to work around. Using another person’s document turns a slow process into a lost balance and, in most jurisdictions, an offence.
If a check is stuck, the fastest honest route is the withdrawal-hold page, which sets out what to ask for in writing. If the concern is data rather than time, source of funds covers the heaviest request in the process and how to send the least that satisfies it.
NEXT
Verification is one part of an account
If you want to see what a licensed, age-gated operator account looks like in practice, the partner link below opens one. Nothing about it changes the advice on this page.
This page is funded by an affiliate link to gamdom.com/r/csgo2026. If you open an account through it we may earn a commission. It costs you nothing extra, it does not change what we write, and no operator pays for a position on this page. 18+ only. Gambling involves risk and can cause serious financial harm — including debt, damaged relationships and mental-health problems. Verification discusses money and identity, so never send a document to anyone who did not ask for it through the account you opened, and never send more of a document than the check requires. Free, confidential support exists in most countries through national gambling-harm helplines. Never stake money you cannot afford to lose, never borrow to gamble, and never stake more to recover a loss.