Betting has for a very long time been a massive part of New Zealand and, while it may have seen a few periods of very strict regulation, has continued to bloom as an industry.
Today, there is an exceptionally large number of Kiwis that have taken advantage of the fact that they are allowed to legally participate in many forms of betting, which is thoroughly regulated by the DIA (Department of Internal Affairs). This includes but is not limited to sports and horse racing betting, lotteries, pokies (slot machines) and betting at the numerous online casinos that are based outside of the borders of New Zealand.
In order to know all there is to know about betting and therefore gain an advantage, punters will need to take a close look at the laws and regulations, what to expect and what tips to take seriously.
Legal Betting in New Zealand
Betting is something that has long been a part of New Zealand culture and was actually documented as early as the 1830s, when numerous Kiwis would primarily wager on horse racing.
The small and isolated island forever impacted the world of sports betting when resident George Julius invented the automatic totalisator (now known as the tote board). Despite a couple of long periods of prohibition on almost every form of betting in the country, New Zealand gambling expenditures now exceed billion of dollars per year. Online betting at a facility outside of New Zealand is also permitted when looking at NRL live betting.
What’s more, all of the public gaming entities operating in New Zealand are legally required to donate a piece of their profits towards bettering the community.
Player Information
Any New Zealanders that are looking to engage in some online betting will have no problem with authorities, should they register with an establishment that operates from outside of the country’s borders.
Unfortunately, there are not an excessively large number of casinos that will accept deposits in New Zealand dollars, however, there are still plenty of top quality casinos that do.
This ultimately means that Kiwi punters are able to access an entire world of online betting and options, where they would usually be limited to one of the nation’s 6 land-based casinos.
Secure Online Betting
Due to the fact that there aren’t any brick and mortar casinos available in New Zealand, punters have to put their faith and money into the gambling regulations found in other countries.
That said, New Zealand has a huge market for betting and therefore attracts a lot of international casinos, with more and more of them introducing NZD to their list of accepted currencies. Punters need to ensure that these casinos are accredited by a highly-regarded testing agency, such as the well-known eCOGRA, as well as the fact that they have a proper license within the country that they operate from.
These are generally easy to find and should be displayed on their site (usually at the bottom) and the ones that aren’t easy to locate should be considered a red flag. Thereafter, punters simply need to sign up and start betting!