The Best Online Casinos in New Zealand

New Zealand is not far behind from its nearest neighbor Australia in starting gambling development.

The first surge of playing for money was in the 30s of the XIX century. Enterprising new zealanders began betting on horseracing.

A local resident named George Julius became the most famous person who had a significant impact on gambling development in New Zealand. With his help, the country's first automatic totalisator appeared. The point was that players not at a sporting event could observe what was happening at the racetrack and place bets from hundreds of kilometers away from the races with some time lag.

It happened in 1913, but 7 years afterwards the authorities prohibited bookmakers' activities. "A breath of fresh gambling air" became available to New Zealanders only in 1994. For 80 years, you could have an adrenaline rush in New Zealand only by being on the racetrack.

A decade before, there were debates about permitting lotteries, casinos and slot machines in the country. The legalization of the sweet "forbidden fruit" turned into a gambling boom, but the side effects of this field forced the New Zealand government to partially ban the gambling market again in 2003.

Peculiarities of gambling in New Zealand

Since then, the Gambling Act has been in force, clearly structuring gambling by classes. For each class, there is a specific set of rules that you strictly have to observe. Their enforcement is controlled by a regulatory government body.

Certification of gambling involves 4 classes:

  • Class 1 - playing does not involve a win or a bet of more than 500 dollars. A winner of the bet or any other option with a win is considered an individual who has received income. Class 1 gambling is the only one available for individuals.
  • Class 2 - an organizer of a game is not required to obtain a license, but must be a legal entity. A win is limited from 500 to 5000 dollars, and a bet amount + potential winnings cannot exceed 25 000 dollars.
  • Class 3 and 4 - there are some borders between them, but they come into contact and cross paths with each other. An organizer of a game must have a state license and have a status of a legal entity. Winnings from 5000 dollars are allowed. Holders of a license for class 4 have the right to operate with slot machines.

All these rules relate to the "land-based" gambling market. As for online games, the situation is quite uncertain.

Formally, interactive gambling is banned in the country. The law says about "terrible divine punishment" for those who use the services of foreign operators (and there are no others in New Zealand) or other types of gambling. You could get large fines, and your means of communication, with which bets were made, could be withdrawn.

But in fact, New Zealanders easily play at those operators that are ready to accept them. Accounts of New Zealand citizens are in hundreds of online casinos and bookmakers, and poker players from this country can be found at the tables of all the top operators of online poker.

The authorities have long considered legalization of online gambling. Some political forces even lobby online gambling for ratings. Therefore, complete legality of the gambling market is only a matter of time. Complete lack of understanding of state control tools over the industry has become the main stumbling block.

Profit, taxes in New Zealand for players and operators

Due to the official absence of online gambling in the country, no taxes are provided for successful players. The same refers to online operators. They even would be ready to pay, knowing the percentage of gamblers among the local population, but so far, their relations with the state are absolutely not regulated.

Gambling Act 2003 contains fine amounts though. Individuals playing at international gambling operators may be fined the maximum 10 000 dollars. This will happen if the court is able to prove the systematic playing for a long time.

Legal entities that try to organize online gambling in New Zealand can get a fine of 50 000 dollars. This amount looks mocking in comparison with fines, for example, in Sweden, where for any violation of rules, an operator is fined hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in equivalent.

Factors affecting the casino ranking by OceanCasinos website for players from New Zealand

Taking into account the specifics of the gambling market in New Zealand, the OceanCasinos team was guided by the following criteria when ranking the best online casino operators:

  • Ability to play for users from New Zealand
  • Possibility to open an account in New Zealand dollars
  • Reputation of an international operator, backed by solid licenses
  • Payment systems with the New Zealand currency
  • Quality of game content, absence of untrustworthy providers among software manufacturers
  • Simplicity and comfort in using an operator's website
  • Limits on financial transactions
  • Usability of playing from mobile devices
  • Original bonus policy

The data presented on the site are not static. Employees of OceanCasinos regularly monitor changes in working conditions placed on websites of operators and make timely adjustments in their reviews.

Filters to help you choose an online casino

Filters will help users of the OceanCasinos website to choose the best company providing online casino services. Their use will save time for searching, instantly showing the most suitable game platforms from the total mass.

The following filter categories provide optimal results:

  • No admission restrictions for players from New Zealand
  • Selection by organizations issued licenses
  • Presence of a required payment instrument
  • Presence of content from a specific provider
  • Access from a mobile device
  • Exclusive bonuses and promotions for New Zealand players

Summary

The dynamics of the online gambling market development is very intense. Every day we can see new operators that want to try their hand in this field, and the existing companies are changing some of their rules, conditions and other aspects.

To ensure that players from New Zealand are regularly aware of what is happening, the specialists of OceanCasinos constantly keep an eye, tracking everything that happens in the online gambling industry.

OceanCasinos will help new users quickly and accurately navigate a lot of information and choose one or more of the most comfortable game platforms for themselves.

The site is useful not only for beginners, but also for experienced players, as it contains a large amount of detailed information, which many do not pay attention to.

The existing structure of OceanCasinos is close to optimal, intuitive and easy to use. The symbiosis of a large amount of information and easiness to find it have become a distinctive feature of the site.

All of the above is an excellent basis for a clear prioritizing of a player. It helps to avoid unjustified financial losses, that often happen to inexperienced players, and find the "golden mean" in the world of online gambling.

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