Mobile Betting in New Zealand: Which Apps Are Worth Installing, and What They Really Take From Your Wallet
New Zealand’s mobile betting market looks nothing like the markets most punting guides describe. Since 28 June 2025, the Racing Industry Act 2020 has reserved online sports and racing bets in New Zealand to one operator group — TAB NZ, which runs two brands, TAB and Betcha. Every other app a Kiwi punter can install onto a phone is, in New Zealand law, being offered by an unlicensed provider; the Department of Internal Affairs told such providers to withdraw with immediate effect. That single fact rewrites the cost question. The cost of a mobile bet in New Zealand is not only the stake multiplied by the odds, nor only the bookmaker’s margin baked into the price. It is also the absence of a New Zealand regulator behind the app, the absence of a local complaints route when something goes wrong, and the absence of any harm-minimisation framework the player can actually reach.

This page walks through the landscape of mobile betting in New Zealand as it stands now, with the law, the apps, the offers, and the arithmetic — and says plainly which set of costs belongs to which kind of punter.
Data current as of: 30 October 2026. Verified against the Department of Internal Affairs register and the Racing Industry Act 2020 (as amended).
- The Ten Brands a Kiwi Punter Will Meet on an App Store
- What the New Zealand Betting Market Actually Looks Like
- The Law, and What It Means for the Punter
- Safer Gambling: What TAB NZ Offers and What Is Missing Nationally
- Bonuses, Free Bets and What “Bonus Cash” Actually Costs
- The Mobile Experience: What the Two Lawful Apps Actually Do
- What a Mobile Bet Really Pays
- The Maths of Picking a Market
- What a Punter Needs to Check Before Claiming Any Offer
- Responsible Gambling, in Practice
- The Two Brands, One Group, and Why That Matters
- Offshore Brands and What They Cost a New Zealand Punter
- Verdict on the Ten Brands
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Ten Brands a Kiwi Punter Will Meet on an App Store
The first shelf to close is the one the search actually asks for: which betting apps might a New Zealand punter install? The honest answer is that the legal field is two apps, and the practical field a punter sees is ten. The table below lays both side by side, with each brand’s New Zealand status and what the brand’s own published terms say about the point at issue.

The two licensed New Zealand brands come first — TAB and Betcha are not rivals but the two online faces of the same operator group, TAB New Zealand, which runs the business under a 25-year partnership with Entain signed in 2023. Every other brand in the table is one a New Zealand resident can find on an international app store or a search result but that holds no licence to operate in New Zealand. None of those brands is recommended here; they are listed because a comparison that pretends they do not exist misleads the reader.
| Brand | New Zealand status | What the operator’s own terms state |
|---|---|---|
| TAB | TAB NZ brand — the only operator lawfully allowed to offer racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 | TAB NZ lists deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion inside its app, and points to the Gambling Helpline 0800 654 655 and the text line 8006 |
| Betcha | TAB NZ brand — the second of TAB NZ’s two online brands, lawful under the same section 74AAA | Betcha carries a 17+ App Store age rating, lists Safer Betting tools in the app, and names the same 0800 654 655 helpline |
| BillyBets | Not licensed in New Zealand — no licence that applies in New Zealand is named by the brand | The cashier lists New Zealand in its country selector, but the only currency filter shown is Euro |
| Alawin | Not licensed in New Zealand — no licence that applies in New Zealand is named by the brand | Alawin accepts customers aged 18 or over only |
| RTbet | Not licensed in New Zealand — names a Curaçao licence that gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand | The sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball, with live betting and virtual sports |
| FunBet | Not licensed in New Zealand — no licence that applies in New Zealand is named by the brand | The sportsbook covers football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball, with live betting and a 24/7 bookmaker |
| 22Bet | Not licensed in New Zealand — Curaçao licence 8048/JAZ held by TechSolutions Group N.V., no right to take bets from people in New Zealand | Run by TechSolutions Group N.V., which also operates 20Bet, Bizzo and National Casino |
| Rooster Bet | Not licensed in New Zealand — Tobique Gaming Commission e-gaming licence 0000002, held by Novatrix SRL, no right to take bets from people in New Zealand | Operated by Novatrix SRL, incorporated in Costa Rica |
| Golden Panda | Not licensed in New Zealand — no licence that applies in New Zealand is named by the brand | Offers a Sports section with sportsbook, esports and virtual sports, plus casino, live casino, crash games, rewards, cashback, a VIP Club, Golden Goals and Prediction Markets |
| Winz | Not licensed in New Zealand — Anjouan and Tobique licences named, no right to take bets from people in New Zealand | The footer states it holds a licence delivered by Anjouan and Tobique |
A word on what the table does not say. The licence column is short on the foreign brands on purpose: a Curaçao or Anjouan number is not a New Zealand licence and confers no right to take bets from a person in New Zealand. The harms column might say more, but no brand in the table publishes what happens when a punter cannot withdraw, when a bonus is disputed, or when a self-exclusion request is ignored — and that silence is the cost the foreign brands impose, regardless of how generous the welcome offer looks.
What the New Zealand Betting Market Actually Looks Like
The shape of New Zealand mobile betting follows from one rule and one commercial deal. The rule sits in section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020: no person other than TAB NZ may offer racing betting, sports betting or other racing or sports betting to a person in New Zealand, regardless of where that person is resident or incorporated. The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted the section, and the change took effect on 28 June 2025. The Department of Internal Affairs, the gambling regulator under the Gambling Act 2003, told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect. There is no licence register for bookmakers, because there is only one lawful operator to register.

The commercial deal is the 25-year partnership TAB NZ signed with Entain in 2023. Entain runs the TAB business under that agreement, which gives Entain a 50/50 share of gross profits and guarantees at least NZ$150 million a year to TAB NZ for the first five years; Entain also pledged a one-off NZ$100 million payment to the racing sector. The deal is the reason the same group runs both TAB and Betcha: they are two brands of the same New Zealand operator, and Betcha is positioned as the online sister brand rather than a rival bookmaker.
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 sits beside this picture but does not change it. The new law licenses online casino gambling in New Zealand and creates an application process for casino operators. TAB New Zealand is among the parties that won the right to apply for a casino licence. Sports betting remains reserved to TAB NZ under section 74AAA. A punter who reads “TAB NZ gets a casino licence” and concludes TAB NZ is now one of many licensed betting operators has misread the law.
A Few Wrinkles Worth Naming
Greyhound racing is closing in stages from 1 August 2026. From that date, offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either. The greyhound calendar still runs through the back half of this year, and the bets a punter placed earlier in the year settle on the racing code’s normal terms.
New Zealand does not geo-block offshore bookmaker websites. The law puts liability on the operator, not on the network. A punter who can reach a foreign app store can still install the apps; the question is what protection that punter has when the bet goes wrong.
The ban covers events held inside and outside New Zealand. TAB NZ takes fixed-odds and tote (or pool) bets, with published rules covering Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6, plus Multis and Same Game Multis whose legs come from one event. Live betting appears in the TAB NZ apps; any statutory restriction on in-play markets is not established, so a punter who wants the rule around in-play framing is advised to check TAB NZ’s current product page rather than assume a blanket prohibition.
Virtual (computer-simulated) sport falls under the 2026 online casino law as casino gambling, not sports betting. Whether esports betting counts as “sports betting” under the Racing Industry Act is not established. A punter who sees an esports market on a TAB NZ app and on an offshore app is advised not to assume the two are regulated the same way.
The Law, and What It Means for the Punter
The legal frame is narrow but sharp. Section 74AAA prohibits an offshore bookmaker from taking sports or racing bets from a person in New Zealand. The penalty for breaching section 74AAA is not stated in the section, and no prosecution of an offshore bookmaker was found. The Department of Internal Affairs warns that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins.
The player’s position sits in section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003, inserted in 2025: an individual may not be convicted for placing a bet with an offshore betting operator in breach of section 74AAA. No source states a penalty for a player. The safe framing is that New Zealand law targets the operator, the regulator warns the player of the risks, and no published penalty for the player was found. The page does not say offshore betting is illegal for the player, and does not say it is legal.
Advertising for offshore brands sits in a quieter corner. The Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code applies to betting advertisements: ads must not target children under 14 or young people aged 14 to under 18, must not encourage harm, and must be truthful with terms available. The Code does not contain a New Zealand equivalent of a “whistle-to-whistle” ban for betting.
Tax, and Why “I Won, So I Owe IRD” Is Usually Wrong
For most punters, the answer is no. Inland Revenue guidance treats recreational gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is not taxable. The case changes if a person bets as a business, which is a different question and a different set of records — Inland Revenue or an accountant is the right next step rather than this page.
The operator side has its own arithmetic. TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74%, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. Overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty: 12% of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16% from 1 January 2027. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets ceased on 30 June 2026. A duty being paid does not make an offer lawful, so a brand stating it pays New Zealand tax is not the same as a brand stating it is licensed in New Zealand — there is no second reading of that sentence.
Safer Gambling: What TAB NZ Offers and What Is Missing Nationally
The harm-minimisation tools sit on the punter’s side of the screen, and they belong to the operator in this market, not to the regulator. TAB NZ’s apps list deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. The exclusion applies across both TAB NZ brands, so a self-exclusion through TAB carries over to Betcha. The Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line 8006 are free, 24/7, and named inside both apps.
There is no single national online-betting exclusion register in New Zealand. The register the 2026 online casino law will require covers online casinos only. A punter who self-excludes through TAB has excluded from TAB NZ; the same punter who opens an offshore account has not excluded anywhere the offshore account respects. That gap is one of the costs the foreign brands impose, and it is not visible on the welcome screen.
The age for TAB NZ betting is 18. The TAB NZ app carries a 17+ App Store age rating, while the operator’s own terms state that customers must be 18 or over to bet. Account opening at TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address and ID. Land-based casinos in New Zealand set the age at 20 — a separate rule with no carryover to betting.
The Problem Gambling Levy funds treatment and prevention. TAB NZ’s 0.74% contribution (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028) sits in that flow; offshore operators serving New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty instead.
Bonuses, Free Bets and What “Bonus Cash” Actually Costs
TAB NZ’s apps carry the operator-facing version of a welcome incentive: Bonus Cash that can be split across multiple bets, and a Mega Multi bonus of up to NZ$50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. Terms and conditions apply, and the size of the bonus does not, on its own, tell the punter what the offer is worth.
Two kinds of cost live inside any “free bet” or “bonus cash” offer. The first is the wagering requirement: the punter has to turn the bonus over a number of times, at a minimum price, before the bonus becomes withdrawable cash. The second is the market margin baked into every bet the punter places to clear the bonus: the bookmaker keeps its slice on every bet, and a margin of 5% across the bets the punter has to place is a real cost on top of any turnover requirement. The numbers belong to the operator’s published terms, and a punter who treats a headline bonus figure as the offer’s value is reading the wrong line.
The TwentyK Bonus Bets vocabulary outside New Zealand — sign-up offers, free bet clubs, “risk-free” bets refunded as bonus cash — does not map cleanly onto TAB NZ’s product. TAB NZ’s offers are described as the operator’s own terms describe them, and the only statement the page makes about value is that the offer is worth what the turnover and margin arithmetic says it is, not what the headline figure suggests.
One last note on a related idea. A punter who reads “Betcha is a new app, so the offer must be generous” is guessing. Betcha’s launch date on the New Zealand App Store is 6 August 2024, and the App Store listing shows the operator behind it is Entain New Zealand Limited. Newness here is a function of the Entain partnership rather than a fresh entry into the market, and the offer’s generosity is advised to be read from the published terms, not from the app’s age.
The Mobile Experience: What the Two Lawful Apps Actually Do
TAB NZ’s app — “TAB – Racing & Sports Betting”, published under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board, first released on 8 September 2014 — covers horse and harness racing, rugby union, rugby league and other sports, pre-match and live. The product includes Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis, one-tap Popular Multis, and a Place Extra option that lets punters back runners to finish up to tenth in selected races. Inside the app, Trackside live race streaming sits next to the bet slip, with racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, and a simplified wallet for deposits and withdrawals.
Betcha carries a 17+ App Store age rating, publishes Safer Betting tools inside the app, and lists the same 0800 654 655 helpline. Its first release on the New Zealand App Store was 6 August 2024. The product shape is closer to a streamlined sports and racing app than the full TAB experience, which makes sense given Betcha’s position as the younger brand of the same operator group.
The mobile experience outside the two lawful apps is the same as the mobile experience on any offshore sportsbook. The apps vary in quality, in sport coverage, in live-betting depth, in payment method list, and in how well the cashier page handles a New Zealand account. None of those variations changes the New Zealand legal position: only TAB NZ may lawfully take racing and sports bets from a person in New Zealand, and every other app a Kiwi punter installs falls outside that rule.
Practical Considerations for Installing a Betting App in New Zealand
A New Zealand punter who is choosing which app to install has three questions that the answer table above did not quite cover.
The first is whether the app store the punter uses is the New Zealand one. The TAB NZ and Betcha listings on the New Zealand App Store are the ones under the seller names named earlier, and the age ratings are the New Zealand ones. The same apps on a foreign App Store, or under a different seller name, are not the same listings.
The second is what the app does with a verified New Zealand address. TAB NZ requires one to open an account; the offshore apps ask for it only as part of their standard sign-up, with no New Zealand regulator to enforce what the operator does with the data. A punter who cares about where ID documents end up is advised to read the offshore brand’s privacy and data-retention terms before uploading anything.
The third is what the app does when a punter wants to stop. TAB NZ’s apps carry deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in-app. The offshore apps describe their responsible-gambling tools in their own terms, and the binding force of those terms sits in the jurisdiction the brand names — Curaçao, Anjouan, Tobique, Costa Rica, the Comoros — none of which is New Zealand.
What a Mobile Bet Really Pays
Two pieces of arithmetic matter for every punter: what a winning bet pays back, and what the bookmaker keeps on every bet placed. Both are worth pinning down, because both are quiet on the screen.
A winning bet returns the stake multiplied by the decimal odds. A NZ$10 bet at odds of 2.10 returns NZ$21 — the NZ$10 stake back, plus NZ$11 of profit. A combination bet multiplies the odds of each leg together: three legs at 1.80, 2.00 and 2.50 produce combined odds of 9.00, and a NZ$10 stake returns NZ$90 on a winning combination. The stake is not “spent” on the bet; it is part of the return.
The bookmaker’s margin is the other side of the same coin. A market with two equally likely outcomes priced at 1.91 on each side has a payout share of about 95.2% and a margin of about 4.8% — the bookmaker’s cut on every dollar bet on that market. A market with the same outcomes priced at 1.85 has a payout share of about 92.6% and a margin of about 7.4%. The difference looks small, but across many bets the difference is the difference between a punter’s bankroll lasting the season and not.
A free bet whose stake is not paid back with a win is worth less than its face value. A NZ$50 free bet at odds of 3.00 is worth about NZ$50 multiplied by (3.00 minus 1) divided by 3.00, multiplied by the payout share of the market the market is — that is, on a market with a 95% payout share, the free bet is worth about NZ$31.70 on average. The face value is the headline; the expected value is what the punter actually gets.
A punter who clears a bonus at a market with a higher margin pays more for the bonus than a punter who clears it at a tighter market. The required turnover is the same number of dollars either way, but the expected cost of clearing it scales with the margin of the market the punter bets on.
The Maths of Picking a Market
Two punters with the same stake and different market choices finish the season at different positions for reasons that have nothing to do with luck. The price the bookmaker offers on a market already includes the margin, and the margin is what the bookmaker keeps on every bet placed at that market, win or lose.
A punter who backs a 1X2 football market with a margin of 5.5% loses NZ$5.50 of every NZ$100 bet, on average, before any prediction skill is applied. A punter who backs the same event at a totals market with a margin of 4.5% loses NZ$4.50 of every NZ$100 bet. The skill is in picking the winner; the cost is in picking the market, and that cost is paid regardless of the result.
For combination bets, the multiplication of odds compounds both the upside and the cost. A three-leg multi at combined odds of 9.00 with a margin of about 6% on each leg looks generous on the screen; the implied payout share is roughly 79%, and the punter is paying about 21% of every dollar bet for the privilege of needing all three legs to win.
A punter who reads a price of 2.10 as “if I am right I get NZ$21 for a NZ$10 bet” has the payout right and the cost invisible. The cost is the margin on every losing bet placed, which is most of them, and the difference between two operators’ margins on the same market is a real edge — or a real drag — that compounds over a season.
What a Punter Needs to Check Before Claiming Any Offer
Three checks sit ahead of any headline figure, in this order.
The first is the wagering requirement. The published terms state how many times the bonus must be turned over, on which markets, and at what minimum price. A 5x turnover on the bonus amount at minimum odds of 1.50 is a real cost; a 1x turnover with no minimum price is a different offer.
The second is the minimum price for qualifying bets. A punter who backs heavy favourites to clear a turnover requirement is paying the margin on a market where the bookmaker has priced the favourite tighter than anywhere else. Minimum odds of 1.50 are common; minimum odds of 2.00 force the punter into markets with more uncertainty, which usually means a higher margin.
The third is the deadline. Most bonuses expire, and the punter who leaves the clearing to the last week is betting on the events the bookmaker chooses, not on the events the punter wants. The deadline belongs on the punter’s first reading of the terms, not on the last.
The fourth, for offers whose headline includes a cap on winnings, is the cap. A free bet whose payout is capped at NZ$500 is worth a different number from a free bet with no cap, and the cap is written in the terms rather than on the headline card.
What “Risk-Free” Actually Means in This Market
A “risk-free” bet in TAB NZ’s vocabulary, where the term appears, is a settled bet whose loss is refunded as Bonus Cash — not as cash. The punter’s stake is returned in a form that carries its own turnover requirement, and the punter who reads “risk-free” as “no cost” is reading a marketing word, not a contract.
The punt who clears the refund on a market with a higher margin than the market the refund pointed at has paid the bookmaker’s margin twice — once on the original losing bet, once on the clearing bets. The refund was a discount on the second round, not a refund in money.
Responsible Gambling, in Practice
TAB NZ’s app carries deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. The exclusion applies across both TAB NZ brands. The Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line 8006 are free, 24/7, and named inside both apps. Safer Gambling Aotearoa is the public-facing harm-minimisation body.
A punter who sets a deposit limit and then loses the account credentials has not set a limit; the limit lives on the account, not on the punter. The punter who self-excludes through TAB has excluded from TAB; the punter who opens an offshore account has not excluded anywhere the offshore account respects.
A punter who asks the offshore app for self-exclusion and is refused has no New Zealand complaints route. The Department of Internal Affairs’s warning — minimal consumer safeguards, possible non-return of unspent credits, possible non-payment of large wins — sits ahead of any welcome offer. The Gambling Helpline does not have jurisdiction over an offshore operator’s decisions.
The Two Brands, One Group, and Why That Matters
TAB and Betcha are the two online brands of TAB New Zealand. They are not rivals, and a comparison that frames them as competitors misreads the market. The Entain partnership runs both, the same payout share and the same betting rules apply to both, and the safer-gambling tools are shared across both.
The differences are in product and brand positioning. TAB carries the full betting programme — racing codes, sports, the betting rules named in section 7, the live streaming, the Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools. Betcha sits closer to a streamlined sports and racing app, with the same New Zealand harm-minimisation framework behind it. A punter who wants the full programme and the Trackside streaming picks TAB; a bettor who wants a cleaner interface on the same markets picks Betcha. The decision is about the product, not the operator.
Offshore Brands and What They Cost a New Zealand Punter
The offshore brands named in the table above are not licensed in New Zealand and do not have a New Zealand complaints route. The Department of Internal Affairs warns that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. A Curaçao or Anjouan licence does not extend to New Zealand, and a Tobique or Comoros licence does not extend to New Zealand, and a Costa Rica incorporation does not extend to New Zealand. The brands are listed because a New Zealand punter can install them, and a comparison that does not name them misleads the punter about what the punter is choosing.
The costs of choosing an offshore brand are not on the welcome screen. They are in the absence of a New Zealand regulator when a withdrawal is delayed, in the absence of a New Zealand complaints route when a bonus is disputed, in the absence of a New Zealand self-exclusion framework when a punter decides to stop, and in the absence of any obligation on the operator to follow New Zealand safer-gambling practice. The brands are foreign companies; their terms are foreign contracts; their dispute resolution is in their home jurisdiction.
The Two Truths That Don’t Sit Comfortably Together
The first truth is that section 74AAA reserves sports and racing betting in New Zealand to TAB NZ, and that the Department of Internal Affairs told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw. The second truth is that an individual punter cannot be convicted under section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003 for placing a bet with an offshore operator in breach of section 74AAA, and no source states a penalty for the player.
The honest framing is that TAB NZ and Betcha are the only lawful option, with New Zealand harm-minimisation tools, regulator oversight and a complaints framework, and that offshore brands are unlawful for the operator to serve New Zealand, with no New Zealand complaints route, the regulator’s stated risks, and limits on protection that may apply elsewhere. Neither option is “the safe choice” by default; the safe choice is the punter’s, and the punter makes it with the costs on the table.
Verdict on the Ten Brands
TAB is the lawful provider for racing and sports betting in New Zealand. The TAB NZ app carries the full programme, the safer-gambling tools, the helpline, and the New Zealand regulator behind it. A New Zealand punter who wants the only lawful option installs TAB; the cost is the published margin on every bet, and the protection is the New Zealand framework. For a punter whose betting is recreational and New Zealand-only, TAB is the right choice; for a punter whose betting is heavier and whose bankroll is large, TAB is still the right choice — the alternative brands do not, in law, sell what the punter wants to buy.
Betcha is the second lawful brand and the cleaner-faced version of the same operator group. A New Zealand punter who wants the same protection as TAB and a lighter product picks Betcha. The verdict is the same in law and in cost; the difference is in interface.
BillyBets is not licensed in New Zealand, names no New Zealand-recognised one, and shows Euro in its currency filter while listing New Zealand in its country selector. The mismatch between country and currency is a small thing in isolation and a tell in the wider picture. A New Zealand punter who installs BillyBets has chosen an offshore brand with no New Zealand regulator behind it.
Alawin names no licence that applies in New Zealand and accepts customers aged 18 or over only. The age rule alone does not make an offer lawful in New Zealand; section 74AAA does that. The verdict is that Alawin is one of several offshore brands a New Zealand punter can install and is advised not to depend on for any of the protections a New Zealand regulator provides. Its place in the table is for completeness, not for recommendation.
RTbet is a Curaçao-licensed sportsbook with a multi-sport programme including live betting and virtual sports. A Curaçao licence gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. A punter who values the Curaçao licence for what it does in Curaçao has bought a Curaçao product; a punter who wants a New Zealand product has bought the wrong one.
FunBet is a Curaçao-licensed bookmaker with a multi-sport programme and a 24/7 service. The same legal position applies. A punter who wants the FunBet product on a New Zealand bet has bought the same mismatch BillyBets offers.
22Bet is run by TechSolutions Group N.V., a Curaçao company that also operates 20Bet, Bizzo and National Casino. The Curaçao licence 8048/JAZ does not extend to New Zealand. A punter who values the breadth of the TechSolutions Group’s portfolio has bought a portfolio; a punter who wants a New Zealand-regulated bet has bought the wrong product.
Rooster Bet is operated by Novatrix SRL in Costa Rica under a Tobique Gaming Commission e-gaming licence. Neither the incorporation nor the licence extends to New Zealand. A punter who values Rooster Bet’s product for what it is in its home jurisdiction has bought a Rooster Bet product; a New Zealand punter has bought the wrong product.
Golden Panda offers a sports section with sportsbook, esports and virtual sports, plus a casino. The licence column in the table is short on Golden Panda for a reason — the brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand, and the product mix points at a casino-led operator rather than a sports-betting specialist. A New Zealand punter who wants a sports-betting product with New Zealand protection has bought the wrong product.
Winz names Anjouan and Tobique licences in its footer, neither of which extends to New Zealand. The product is a casino-and-sportsbook mix. The legal position is the same as the other offshore brands in the table.
The pattern across the eight offshore brands is the same: a Curaçao, Anjouan, Tobique, Costa Rica or Comoros licence, no New Zealand-recognised regulator behind it, and the Department of Internal Affairs’s stated risks on the consumer side. None of those brands is unlawful for the player to use, but none of them offers what TAB NZ offers, and a punter who picks one over TAB has chosen the offshore product over the New Zealand one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which bookmaker may lawfully take sports and racing bets in New Zealand?
TAB NZ, operating through its two online brands, TAB and Betcha, is the only provider allowed to offer racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The change took effect on 28 June 2025, and the Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect. There is no licence register for betting, because there is only one lawful operator.
How is the return on a bet worked out from the stake and the odds?
A winning bet returns the stake multiplied by the decimal odds. A NZ$10 bet at odds of 2.10 returns NZ$21, with NZ$11 of net profit. A combination bet multiplies the odds of each leg together, so three legs at 1.80, 2.00 and 2.50 produce combined odds of 9.00 and a NZ$10 stake returns NZ$90 on a winning combination. The stake is part of the return, not a cost on top of it.
What is the bookmaker’s margin and how can it be seen in the odds?
The margin is the slice the bookmaker keeps on every dollar bet on a market, win or lose. A two-outcome market priced at 1.91 on each side has a payout share of about 95.2% and a margin of about 4.8%. The same market priced at 1.85 has a payout share of about 92.6% and a margin of about 7.4%. The difference is the difference between the bookmaker’s offer and the punter’s expected return, and it is invisible on the screen until the punter reads the prices on both sides.
What does a player lose by betting with a bookmaker that has no New Zealand licence?
The player loses the New Zealand regulator behind the bet, the New Zealand complaints route when something goes wrong, the cross-brand self-exclusion framework TAB NZ offers, and the New Zealand harm-minimisation tools named in the operator’s app. The Department of Internal Affairs warns that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. The costs are not on the welcome screen; they are in the absence of the framework a New Zealand punter might otherwise have behind every bet.
From what age can bets be placed with TAB NZ, and what is checked when opening an account?
The age for TAB NZ betting is 18, and betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. Account opening at TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address and ID. The TAB NZ app carries a 17+ App Store age rating, while the operator’s own terms state customers must be 18 or over to bet; the App Store rating is the store’s minimum, not the operator’s rule.
Are betting winnings taxed in New Zealand?
Inland Revenue treats recreational gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different case, and Inland Revenue or an accountant is the right next step. TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74%, and overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty of 12% of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16% from 1 January 2027; a duty being paid does not make an offer lawful in New Zealand.
Prepared by the Kiwifreebets editorial staff.
