New Zealand is not a country known for their gambling nature and is not a dynasty like that of
Las Vegas in the world of gambling by any means, but that does not mean that New Zealanders
don’t enjoy to gamble and have some fun at the tables. New Zealand has 6 casinos with the
most prominent operator being SkyCity which controls four of the six casinos that New Zealand
has. One in Auckland, one in Hamilton and two in Queenstown.
Going from 2003 when New Zealand set up the New Zealand Gambling act which made
gambling illegal in New Zealand unless it was permitted by this law. The law strictly forbids all
forms of gambling that have not been approved from this act. This act governs basically
everything in New Zealand related to gambling such as buying a lottery ticket, sports betting,
horse racing, etc, and all of these require you to be at least 18 years of age to participate. A
casino however, that requires you to be 20 years old.
The gambling act of New Zealand has quite weird rules when regarding online gambling. The
increase of popularity of the internet has caused the widespread increase of online gaming
around the world which includes New Zealand. These days you won’t see many people heading
down to casinos to gamble their money but rather people sitting from home and gambling from
the comfort of their home. The gambling act means that New Zealanders will be technically
falling outside of the law when utilizing websites for gambling that are not domestically owned
by operators in New Zealand. The causation of this? Well simply put, it is set up to punish the
business that partakes in the business that is gambling rather than the gamblers themselves.
Simply put, in New Zealand, there are two main companies that “monopolize” the gambling
industry for Kiwis. TAB and the New Zealand Lottery Commission. That doesn’t mean that
gambling craze for Kiwis has to go into full stop. Kiwis can actually use offshore casinos when
gambling and can use this as an opportunity as the New Zealand law is not set up to prevent
the use of offshore casinos. Advertising of these offshore casinos in New Zealand however is
strictly forbidden.
Where to go
This means that there are a variety of offshore casinos that are available for Kiwis to use. Below
are a list of the top 7 casinos that are available for the average Kiwi to get there gambling on.
- Come on (18+) (fast withdrawal, wide variety of games and retrobet on offer)
- Leo Vegas (18+) (King of mobile, Top class live casino and award winning)
- Play Ojo (18+) (Over 3000+ games, wager free spins and no wagering)
- Slots Magic (18+) (Multilingual, scratchcards section and special prize offers)
- LuckyLouis (18+) (Thrilling games and decent bonus)
- QueenVegas (18+) (Secure and safe, fast payouts and Quality games)
- Mr Green (18+) (Gentle theme, award winning casino and exclusive slots)
Kiwis spend almost 2 billion NZ dollars annually on gambling, which comes down to 480 NZ
dollars on average per person. Online and offline gambling was made legal by the federal
government but only ones that are registered with licenses with the New Zealand online casino
sites. This means that nothing connected to licensed registered casino holders can operate
casino sites, betting or even bingo for that matter.
Gambling Culture
New Zealand gambling culture is famous for their variety of different poker games at casinos.
This benefit lets the average gambling have easy access to all sorts of poker games, betting
sites, money wheels, lotteries, you name it. The freedom for Kiwis to use offshore gambling
sites lets the average Kiwi enjoy all these amenities within the gambling world.
The gambling culture involves a lot of money with Kiwis spending close to 600 million NZ dollars
on casinos which shows the attraction that online slots and casino games has for the average
Kiwi. Naturally, like every culture has, Kiwis have their own form for lucky numbers that includes
22, 18, 7, 13, 1 and 19. It’s a bit of fun to know that even New Zealanders will have their own
superstitions when it comes to gambling.
The industry is booming in New Zealand and the future looks bright for the market in New
Zealand, and with the further advancement of online casino technology and for gambling video
games, the gambling world is becoming more and more attractive over time for the average
Kiwi. The laws and the system has been set up to give comfortable and secure gambling for the
average Kiwi
Favorite games for New Zealanders
There are good games all around for gamblers, but Kiwis have their select few favorite games
which are extra attractive to the average Kiwi. The most popular games lead a variety of the
following with Blackjack, video poker, baccarat, online pokies (slot game), craps, and lastly
roulette.There are few online casinos which accept players and the New Zealand dollars which
makes their selection quite focused but the stats shows that the most popular games of Kiwis is
in factor “online pokies”. Online pokies is slang in Oceania for online slots.
2% of the population participate in online player statistics and show similar trends like the rest of
the world. Kiws can play any of these games that are stated here and will not be charged nor
fined by any of the laws provided by NZ laws.
However, for the average gambler it may be a good idea to check the licenses of the website
that is being used to make sure that something that is registered and allowed in New Zealand is
used for gambling. This can help prevent unnecessary things such as paying fines for
something that could of been prevented by simply looking at if the website has licenses to be
played in NZ.
Some other forms of gambling that are popular in New Zealand are some such as sports
betting, bingo, scratch cards, lotto and powerball (for people who watch tv). The most popular
form of sports betting is surprisingly horse races, this however follows similar trends in other
countries. The softwares and providers of these online games are from companies such as
NextGen, NetEnt and Microgaming. These are known as the most liked providers for gambling
services in New Zealand.
Forms of gambling
Horse betting in New Zealand is the most popular form for sports betting and is a huge business
especially with a rising market for Kiwi raised horses dominating the market for these races in
Australia. Gamblers from New Zealand and Australia that bet on horses are nicknamed
“punters” which is a fun little name for these users. There are options for horse racing in New
Zealand, with different book makers and hosts, but the horse races via TAB betting outlet is
known as having a monopoly hold of the market. There are a few quick steps related to betting
which includes: - Choosing an online bookmaker
- Sign up for an online bookmaker
- Fund your NZ betting site account
- Place horse racing bets
Punters can bet on every race from New Zealand which covers both the North and South Island.
In New Zealand they have a variety of different odds and futures for betting groups that includes
some such as: Captain Cook Stakes, New Zealand Derby, New Zealand Oaks, Spring Classic,
Karaka Million, Auckland Cup, etc.
“Online Pokies”
There is a short history for modern pokies in New Zealand, with the first machine in 1887. This
was instantly a hit and grew like wildfire. Since then the popularity grew with that and eventually
became online with the advancement of technology. There are a variety of different types of
Pokies for gamblers in New Zealand. These includes like:
-3 reels: simplest. 3 different reels and single payline with simple retro design.
-Multiple paylines: the advancement with more opportunities and huge variety. More money,
more risk, more gains.
-Progressive: increasing jackpot. Naturally this can get addictive with the payload getting bigger
with every spin of the wheel.
-Free/Real Money: free pokies is just a free version to attract new users to the idea of online
gambling by simply playing for free.
The best pokies can be found on a variety of sources but PokiesOnlineNZ.co.NZ is a simple
popular one. However, at the end of the day doing your own research and finding what fits for
you is almost always the best solution.
Poker/blackjack
Poker and blackjack are simple games that have always been known for there popularity in the
gambling world and for the variety of different fun interactions that every hand/game can have.
In New Zealand, the market is not as big as in other countries with a lot of popularity going
towards horse racing and “online pokies”, but blackjack and poker still are interesting. In New
Zealand, Guts Poker and Party Poker have a strong reputation in the industry for being two of
the best poker and blackjack websites in New Zealand. They hold a good system and have a
good deposit and play system for new players to get interested in starting to play.
How to spot a trustworthy online casino in New Zealand
In the gambling industry in New Zealand, there is an overall lack of record for online casino
gaming and the regulation of operators for the online gambling market. This means that the New
Zealand Gambling Commission does not have a direct list to refer to when it comes to casinos
to trust or to know are up to the standard.
There are some gaming authorities out there which can be used to check for offshore gambling
casinos. This can be done by checking the different authorities that register the use of licensed
online casinos for the global market. These include some like:
-Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner
-Malta Gaming Authority
-Curacao Gaming Control Board
-Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
These are just a couple of the different authorities that can be used to follow up to check the
licenses for the casino you are using and to be sure no laws are being broken related to the use
of online gambling for Kiwis.
Checking for customer support and reviews is always a good method for checking if the
website/casino is reliable and knowing that is something that is suitable for use. Naturally, it is
best to look for customer reviews that are set up by New Zealanders to know that you are using
something that has been used by a fellow Kiwi. Customer support and reviews is a good
method for knowing that the website is reliable and a good background for taking care of its
customers.
Summary
Gambling in New Zealand is a growing market and has been growing over time with the
increase in popularity for online casinos, horse betting and the overall increase of usage for the
average Kiwi. Kiwis have a variety of options and even though the rules are somewhat strict, the
system is set up to punish business that pursue gambling rather than the average gambler.
Kiwis have a variety of opportunities for gambling and for different forms that they can use to
gamble and to choose what they like to play. With the variety that New Zealand has in the
different offshore casinos that the average player can use but also the culture that New Zealand
has for their players makes for a very interesting setting and gives a fun place for the average
New Zealander to enjoy the gambling world from the comfort of their own home.
Gambling is a growing market and with the variety of opportunities, games, ideas and bonuses
that are offered from a variety of different services, it gives lots of opportunities for holding
interest in gambling for the average user, but also for holding long term users and maybe taking
in some new Kiwis to enter the world of gambling in New Zealand.