Online betting in New Zealand 2026: who may take your bet, and what the rest will cost you

Updated October 2026

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New Zealand punters who search for online betting in 2026 meet the same wall within a few clicks. The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA into the Racing Industry Act 2020, and that section took effect on 28 June 2025. From that date, TAB New Zealand is the sole lawful provider of racing or sports wagering for residents. The two online brands of TAB NZ are TAB and Betcha. Everything else a New Zealander opens an account with is doing so outside the law. The reason offshore brands still court Kiwi players, and the reason Kiwi players still meet them, is that nobody geo-blocks the websites. The Department of Internal Affairs told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect. Many did not. The cost of that choice falls on the punter, in ways that are spelled out further down.

This page is current as of 30 October 2026 and was checked against the Department of Internal Affairs register and the TAB New Zealand terms. The figures below are the figures research published for that snapshot; an offer or a payout policy can change without notice, and a reader who is about to stake real money verifies the operator’s own terms before clicking.

Crypto, Bitcoin and the “anonymous” sportsbook

The marketing around crypto bookmakers leans hard on two words: “anonymous” and “instant”. Neither survives a close read of how an offshore crypto sportsbook actually handles a New Zealand player.

A crypto sportsbook takes deposits and pays withdrawals in Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and a handful of other coins. The blockchain ledger is public, the on-chain address is permanent, and the wallet that sent the deposit is linked to that address from the moment the funds arrive. What the operator offers is not anonymity but pseudonymity: a wallet address instead of a name. The name will surface the moment a dispute reaches a chain-analysis firm, a payment-processor counterparty, or an exchange that runs know-your-transaction checks. Offshore brands exploit this gap. New Zealand players do not have it, because no operator of this kind is licensed in New Zealand to take bets from them in the first place.

Several of the brands further down this page sit in that category. Telbet describes itself as a crypto casino and sportsbook. Roobet runs under a Curaçao licence. Thunderpick is licensed in Curaçao as well. BAJI runs under an Anjouan licence. The pattern repeats across the offshore list — Anjouan, Curaçao, Tobique, Comoros — because those are the jurisdictions where a sportsbook can buy a licence cheaply, present that licence as “regulated”, and still serve countries the licence has no jurisdiction in. None of these licences authorises the holder to accept wagers from New Zealand-based residents.

The financial cost of going offshore through crypto is not the network fee, which is small on most modern coins, but the absence of the protections a Kiwi punter takes for granted at TAB NZ. TAB NZ accounts come with deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, all listed inside the TAB NZ app. The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) is the harm-minimisation backstop. None of those tools reach a Curaçao or Anjouan licence holder, and the operator’s own terms usually contain an arbitration clause that funnels disputes into a jurisdiction the player cannot practically access. The crypto wrapper does not change that. It changes who holds the money while the dispute runs.

For the punter who has decided to bet anyway: a crypto deposit is not reversible once it has one confirmation on the chain, and the operator’s “instant withdrawal” claim refers to the time between the request and the broadcast of the transaction, not to the time between the request and the funds being spendable at the player’s bank. Two different clocks, often confused in marketing.

Bonuses, free bets and the words on the offer page

A bonus at an offshore bookmaker is a marketing line that costs the punter something specific. Reading the page carefully is what turns a “200% welcome offer” into the turnover number it actually represents.

A deposit bonus is paid as bonus funds, not withdrawable cash. The bonus has a wagering requirement — a multiple the bonus (and sometimes the deposit too) must be turned over before any withdrawal is allowed. A5x wagering requirement on a matched bonus of $200 means $1,000 of qualifying bets before any cash is taken out. At the typical margin of an offshore sportsbook (often 6% to 8% on major football markets), the expected loss on that $1,000 of turnover sits between $60 and $80. The bonus funds cannot be used to cover that loss; they go to be turned over. A punter clearing the bonus on the first weekend is statistically paying the operator to take their deposit.

Free bets work on a different mechanic. The stake is usually not returned with a winning free bet. A free bet of $20 at odds of 3.00 returns $40, not $60. The expected value of that free bet, at a payout share of 95% on the underlying market, is roughly $20 × (3.00 − 1) ÷ 3.00 × 0.95, which works out to about $12.67 of value on average. That is the offer’s worth in expected terms; the headline number is the gross return if the bet wins, the expected number is what the offer is worth across many uses. They are not the same.

TAB NZ runs a different bonus mechanic. New TAB NZ customers can receive Bonus Cash that can be split across multiple bets, and the app lists a Mega Multi bonus of up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. The terms governing that Bonus Cash sit in the TAB NZ app; the only cost to the punter is reading them.

Bonus traps that recur across offshore terms:

• A minimum odds clause that excludes the markets the punter intends to bet on. A “min odds 1.80” requirement on a sportsbook with deep market coverage reads ordinary; on a sportsbook whose outright markets start at 2.50, it is a soft block on every line.
• A bonus that expires within seven days. A punter who bets on weekends cannot clear a five-turnover bonus in that window without betting on markets they avoid otherwise.
• A maximum stake rule while a bonus is active. The rule prevents the punter from clearing the bonus with a single large bet; it forces many smaller bets, each at the operator’s margin.
• A withdrawal cap on free-bet winnings. A free bet is paid back up to a ceiling, and the punter learns the ceiling only on settlement day.

The arithmetic behind all of these is the same. The marketing line tells the punter what they might win; the small print tells them what they will pay to find out.

Mobile apps, browsers and what the punter actually touches

A punter in 2026 has three ways to place a bet online: the TAB NZ app, the Betcha app, and the mobile browser pointed at any other brand. The first two are the lawful options. The third is the option the offshore marketing tries hardest to make feel the same.

The TAB NZ app is published on the New Zealand App Store under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board, and was first released on 8 September 2014. The app carries a 17+ App Store age rating while the betting age is 18. It covers horse and harness racing, rugby union and rugby league, and a wider set of sports, both pre-match and live, and it carries Trackside live race streaming with in-app betting, racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, and a simplified wallet for deposits and withdrawals. The app’s safer-gambling tools — deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion — sit inside the same wallet area, which puts them a tap or two from the bet slip.

Betcha is published by Entain New Zealand Limited, first released on 6 August 2024. Betcha is a younger product aimed at the same TAB NZ account infrastructure under the section 74AAA monopoly. Same wallet, same age verification, same self-exclusion framework. The two brands look like rivals to a reader who has just met them; they are not. They are two skins over the same lawful operation.

Other brands publish apps that are available in New Zealand app stores through regional settings, through sideloaded APKs, or through mobile browsers pointed at the operator’s responsive website. None of those apps or sites is licensed in New Zealand. A punter who downloads one is using an offshore product on a New Zealand device, and the device’s location services do not change the licence status of the operator on the other end.

The practical difference between a native app and a browser session is sharper than it looks. A native app holds the session token and can re-launch into a live bet slip. A browser session can drop the session on a phone sleep and require a fresh login, which costs time when betting in-play. For a punter who has decided to use an offshore brand, the browser experience is the standard one; for a punter using TAB NZ or Betcha, the app is where the safer-gambling tools live.

Live betting, cash out and the in-play product

TAB NZ lists live betting inside its apps. The markets available in-play are the standard TAB NZ set: racing markets as the race is run, sports markets as the event unfolds. Cash out is part of the standard TAB NZ product on selected markets, with a price the operator sets against the live state of the bet.

The offshore bookmakers named further down the page also run live betting — FunBet’s sportsbook carries it on football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball, with a bookmaker described as open 24/7. The punter looking at an in-play product is comparing two things at once: how wide the market coverage is, and how trustworthy the in-play price is at the moment of decision.

An in-play price is harder to read than a pre-match price. The bookmaker’s margin still sits inside it, and that margin is often higher in-play because the operator has less competition and the punters are more time-pressured. A punter who bets in-play on a market with a 8% margin is paying the same expected cost as a punter who bets pre-match on a market with a 8% margin; the difference is that the in-play punter sees a moving price and the pre-match punter has time to compare. Time pressure is a feature, not a bug, of the in-play product at any operator.

Cash out at offshore bookmakers is the same product by another name. The punter closes the bet at a price the operator sets, and that price incorporates the operator’s margin plus the operator’s view of the game’s state. A punter who routinely takes cash-out offers is paying a premium for not waiting for settlement, and the premium is the difference between the cash-out price and a fair settlement. On most cash-out products that premium is in the high single digits as a percentage of the bet.

The product that does not exist at all in New Zealand is a betting exchange. No lawful New Zealand exchange has been licensed, and spread betting sits outside TAB NZ’s sports-betting definition. A Kiwi punter who wants an exchange-style product is using an offshore one, with all that implies for recourse.

Bet types, odds and the price of a market

TAB NZ takes fixed-odds and tote (pool) bets. The fixed-odds product is what the rest of the world calls a sportsbook. The tote product pools stakes across a race and pays a dividend that depends on the pool, the winning runners and the deductions on the pool; the dividend is announced after the race.

TAB NZ’s published betting rules define the bet types available. Win, Place and Each Way cover the simple racing markets. Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta and First4 cover the exotic racing markets where the punter picks the order of the first two, three or four finishers. Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6 cover the multi-race jackpots where the punter picks winners across a sequence of races. Multis and Same Game Multis cover the multi-leg bets whose legs come from one event — a multi bet on outcomes inside a single football match.

The price of a market is the second number on each match. Decimal odds of $2.10 mean a $10 stake returns $21, a profit of $11. Decimal odds of $5.00 mean a $10 stake returns $50, a profit of $40. The implied probability is the reciprocal of the decimal odds, so $2.10 implies a 47.6% chance, and $5.00 implies a 20% chance. The bookmaker’s margin is what is left when the implied probabilities of all the outcomes in a market add up to more than 100%. A two-outcome market priced at $1.91 / $1.91 implies 52.4% and 52.4%, summing to 104.8%, which means a margin of 4.8% — the bookmaker’s expected take on every dollar bet on that market. A market priced at $1.85 / $1.95 implies 54.1% and 51.3%, summing to 105.4%, a margin of 5.4%. Reading the margin off the odds is how a punter compares markets across operators without believing any of the marketing.

A multi bet multiplies the odds of the legs into one price. A four-leg multi of $1.50, $1.80, $2.00 and $3.00 multiplies to $16.20. A $10 stake returns $162. Each leg has its own margin, and the multi’s combined margin sits higher than any single leg’s. A punter who builds a six-leg multi at average odds of $2.00 per leg is sitting on a multi price of about $64.00, with an implied probability of winning of around 1.6% if each leg were a 50/50 outcome. The expected value of the multi is the stake multiplied by the payout share of the multi, which itself depends on each leg’s margin. The bigger the multi, the bigger the operator’s expected take as a share of the stake.

Sports, tournaments and what is on the betting menu

The sporting menu at TAB NZ is a New Zealand menu. Racing comes first: thoroughbred, harness, and greyhound until 1 August 2026, when greyhound racing closes in stages. Sports follow: rugby union and rugby league at the top of the list, with Super Rugby Pacific, the All Blacks test schedule and the NRL as the headline competitions, plus the Warriors in the NRL context. Cricket is the next priority, with the Black Caps’ international schedule and the major franchise leagues. Football, basketball, tennis, American football, baseball and ice hockey round out the menu.

The Cup that defines the New Zealand racing calendar is the Melbourne Cup, run at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November. Cup Day is a New Zealand public conversation even though the race itself is Australian, and the betting handle on Melbourne Cup day is the largest single-day racing event on the TAB NZ calendar. The Melbourne Cup is also the question most often asked by New Zealand readers new to TAB NZ, and the answer is that the bet works the same way as any other TAB NZ race: pick a runner, pick a bet type, pick a stake, confirm the bet slip.

The offshore brands run a different menu. FunBet’s sportsbook carries football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball, with live betting and a bookmaker described as open 24/7. The list is wider than TAB NZ’s in places (American football and baseball, both minor at TAB NZ) and narrower in others (no New Zealand racing, no Australian racing for New Zealand residents). A punter who wants a deep American football menu has a reason to look at offshore brands; a punter who wants Melbourne Cup multis does not, because no offshore brand offers them lawfully to a New Zealand resident.

Esports is the boundary case. Whether esports betting is "sports betting" under the Racing Industry Act remains untested, and the offshore esports-first brands (Thunderpick among them) lean on that uncertainty to operate. A New Zealand punter betting on esports at an offshore brand is in the same legal grey zone as a punter betting on football at the same brand: the operator is the party the law targets, not the player.

New betting sites and the launch calendar

The new betting site is a marketing category more than a legal one. In New Zealand, no new site has been licensed to take sports or racing bets from people in New Zealand since 28 June 2025, because no further licence can be issued. Sites that have launched since then, or that will launch through 2026, launch into a market that already has its lawful operator.

The pattern of offshore launches is steady. Rabona launched on 23 December 2019 as the sixth online sportsbook of the Soft2Bet group. SpinBetter operates under a Costa Rica corporate structure with an Anjouan licence. RoyalistPlay runs under a Tobique licence. The newest batch of brands carries the same licensing pattern as the oldest batch — Anjouan, Curaçao, Tobique, Comoros — and the marketing language is the same in 2026 as it was in 2019: bigger bonus, deeper markets, faster payouts. The licence is the same. The offer is the same. The legal status of taking a bet from a person in New Zealand is the same.

A punter looking at a “new” offshore brand verifies three questions before opening an account. Which licence is the brand operating under, and does that licence apply in New Zealand? (No licence currently applies.) Which harm-minimisation tools does the brand offer, and through which jurisdiction? (None that reach a New Zealand punter.) Which dispute resolution path is available if the brand refuses a withdrawal? (Whatever the brand’s terms say, which is usually the brand’s home jurisdiction.) The answer to all three is the same as it was for the last offshore brand, and the one before that.

How betting works, from account to payout

Opening a TAB NZ account requires a verified New Zealand address and ID. The age is 18, set by section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The account wallet is funded by deposit methods TAB NZ lists in its own terms; deposits and withdrawals are made inside the TAB NZ app or the Betcha app, with the wallet area handling both directions.

The bet slip is the place where the punter picks the market, the selection, the stake and the bet type. A simple Win bet on a single runner in a single race is the smallest unit. A Same Game Multi on outcomes inside a single rugby match is at the other end of the menu. Confirming the bet locks the stake against the wallet balance; the bet settles after the event, and the return lands back in the wallet at the decimal odds the bet was placed at.

Withdrawals are made back to the deposit method by default. A punt paid into a New Zealand bank account typically settles within the TAB NZ timeframe the terms specify; an offshore brand’s withdrawal time varies by method and by operator, and is the single most common subject of punter complaints at offshore brands. The Marketing line of “instant withdrawal” usually means the time to broadcast the transaction, not the time to spend the funds.

The cost of a bet, at any operator, is the operator’s margin multiplied by the stake, in expected value. A punter who places $100 of bets across a season at an average margin of 5% has paid, in expectation, $210 in margin on $4,200 of total stake. The skill of betting is in finding markets where the operator’s margin is low and the punter’s information edge is positive; the cost of betting is the margin paid on every bet where it is not.

The landscape at a glance

The table below sets the operators against each other on the only three matters a New Zealand punter needs to weigh them on. The first column is the brand as it appears to a player. The second is the brand’s status under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025. The third is what the operator’s own terms state on the matters the rest of this page covers — licensing, age rules, safer-gambling tools, and dispute resolution. Where the operator’s own terms say nothing on a matter, the cell shows a dash (—).

The brands divide cleanly into two rows and a long list. The first two rows are the lawful options, and they are two skins over the same TAB NZ operation. The remaining eight rows are offshore brands a New Zealand punter can open an account with, at the cost of stepping outside the section 74AAA monopoly, the DIA’s stated warnings, and the harm-minimisation framework that runs across TAB NZ and Betcha. None of the eight carries a New Zealand licence, and none of the eight extends TAB NZ’s safer-gambling tools to the punter on the other end.

The punter who wants the legal product, the safer-gambling tools and the dispute framework picks TAB or Betcha. The punter who wants a wider menu, a different bonus structure, or a crypto wallet picks one of the offshore brands and pays for the choice in the ways spelled out above. The decision is the punter’s; the cost is on the page.

The core of the New Zealand market

The online betting market in New Zealand is, by design, a single-operator market for sports and racing. TAB NZ takes fixed-odds and tote bets on thoroughbred, harness and (until 1 August 2026) greyhound racing, on rugby union and rugby league, on cricket, on football, basketball, tennis and a handful of other sports. Betcha runs the same TAB NZ product under a younger brand. Entain runs the TAB business under a 25-year agreement signed in 2023 that gives Entain a 50/50 share of gross profits, with at least $150m a year going to TAB NZ for the first five years, and Entain pledged a one-off $100m payment to the racing sector.

The market’s other rails are the Lotto NZ products, which run under separate legislation and a separate regulator, and the online casino market that the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 will license — that law licenses online casino gambling only and does not extend the betting monopoly. A punter who confuses a Lotto product with a TAB NZ bet is reading the wrong page; a punter who confuses an online casino with an online sportsbook is reading the wrong law.

The point that survives the structure is that “online betting in New Zealand” is not a category with many competing suppliers. It is a category with one lawful supplier and a long list of brands that operate outside the law for the New Zealand end of the transaction. The rest of this page is the detail behind that summary.

Legality, the regulator and what the law says

The Department of Internal Affairs is the gambling regulator under the Gambling Act 2003 and monitors compliance with the betting prohibition in section 92A of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA, which took effect on 28 June 2025: this established TAB NZ as the only lawful betting provider for residents, regardless of the operator’s corporate location. The DIA told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect. There is no licence route for another bookmaker and no licence register for betting, because there is only one lawful operator.

The law does not geo-block offshore websites; it puts liability on the offshore operator. The penalty for breaching section 74AAA is not stated in the section, and no prosecution of an offshore bookmaker was found. New Zealand does not block bookmaker sites. Section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003, inserted in 2025, says 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.

What that means in practice: TAB NZ and Betcha are the only lawful options, with New Zealand harm-minimisation tools, regulator oversight and a complaints framework; offshore brands are unlawful for the operator to serve New Zealand, with no New Zealand complaints route, the DIA’s stated risks, and dispute resolution in whatever jurisdiction the operator’s terms nominate. Neither is the safe choice by default. The choice is the punter’s, and the costs on both sides are on this page.

Player protection is anchored at TAB NZ. The age for TAB NZ betting is 18 (betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020); land-based casinos are 20. TAB NZ accounts need a verified New Zealand address and ID. TAB NZ lists deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in its apps, and an exclusion applies across its brands (TAB and Betcha). There is no single national online-betting exclusion register: the register the online casino law will require is for online casinos only. TAB NZ must keep the risks of problem and underage gambling minimised and pays a Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74%, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. The help lines are the free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) and Safer Gambling Aotearoa.

Tax: for the player, Inland Revenue guidance says recreational gambling winnings are 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 the general advice is to consult Inland Revenue or an accountant. On the operator side, TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy; overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty of 12% of profits since 1 July 2024 and 16% from 1 January 2027. A duty being payable does not make an offer lawful. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets ceased on 30 June 2026.

Advertising is governed by the Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code. Ads must not target children (under 14) or young people (14 to under 18), judged by context, appeal and expected audience (25% or more of the audience counts as significant where accurate data exists), must not encourage harm, and must be truthful with terms available. No New Zealand equivalent of a “whistle-to-whistle” ban for betting was found. Because only TAB NZ may offer betting here, DIA reads the prohibition as covering promoting or taking such bets for another operator; how DIA treats betting affiliates is not established.

Responsible gambling and the help that actually reaches a New Zealand punter

The responsible gambling framework in New Zealand is built around TAB NZ’s tools, the help lines, and the levy that funds harm minimisation. A punter who uses TAB NZ or Betcha can set a deposit limit inside the app, take a time-out, or self-exclude across both brands at once. The exclusion is an operational one; the punter cannot open a new account with the same operator for the duration of the exclusion. The same punter has the Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) and Safer Gambling Aotearoa as the human backstop.

A punter who uses an offshore brand has none of those tools. The operator’s own terms may list a self-exclusion option, but the option is offered by an entity that is not subject to New Zealand law, that is not required to honour the request, and that is not supervised by the DIA. Where the brand runs a Curaçao or Anjouan licence, the operator’s home regulator does not police self-exclusion the way the DIA does. The choice a punter makes at signup — TAB NZ or an offshore brand — is also the choice of which harm-minimisation framework sits behind the bet slip.

For a punter who is already betting offshore and wants to step back, the practical path is to use the offshore operator’s own self-exclusion tool and to contact the Gambling Helpline for the New Zealand framework that does apply, regardless of where the bets are placed. The helpline is a free, confidential service, and the conversation is the same whether the bets were placed lawfully or not.

Reviewed operators

The ten operators below are the ones research routes into this ranking. The first two are the two lawful options in New Zealand; the remaining eight are offshore brands a New Zealand punter meets in search results and on comparison sites. Each review covers what the operator’s own terms state, what research did not find, and a verdict that takes a position rather than balancing both sides.

TAB

TAB is one of the two online brands of TAB NZ, the only provider lawfully offering racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025. The TAB NZ app was first released on the New Zealand App Store on 8 September 2014 under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board. The product covers horse and harness racing, rugby union and rugby league, and a wider set of sports, both pre-match and live. Trackside live race streaming is in the app alongside racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, and a simplified wallet. The safer-gambling tools (deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion) and the Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) sit a tap or two from the bet slip.

New TAB NZ customers can receive Bonus Cash that can be split across multiple bets, and the app lists a Mega Multi bonus of up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. The terms sit in the app; a punter who claims either promotion reads them first. The bet types available are the racing set (Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First4, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie, Big6) and the multi set (Multis, Same Game Multis, one-tap Popular Multis). Place Extra lets punters back runners to finish up to 10th in selected races.

The age for TAB NZ betting is 18, set by section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020; the App Store age rating is 17+, which is a distribution artefact rather than a betting age. Account opening requires a verified New Zealand address and ID. TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74% of profits.

Verdict: TAB is the lawful default for a New Zealand punter in 2026. The product is the deepest racing book in the country, the safer-gambling tools are built into the app, and the dispute framework sits inside the New Zealand regulatory perimeter. A punter who has decided to bet in New Zealand, and who wants the regulator’s reach behind the bet, picks TAB.

Betcha

Betcha is the second online brand of TAB NZ, and the first to launch as a mobile-first product: the app was first released on the New Zealand App Store on 6 August 2024 by Entain New Zealand Limited. Betcha is not a rival to TAB; it is the same TAB NZ operation behind a younger skin. The wallet is the same wallet, the safer-gambling tools are the same tools, the self-exclusion applies across both brands, and the section 74AAA monopoly that covers TAB covers Betcha in the same way.

The product is built for a younger punter who wants a quicker bet slip and a cleaner live product. Same Game Multis and one-tap Popular Multis are emphasised in the product surface. The racing menu sits behind the sports menu, which is a departure from TAB’s traditional ordering, and a punter who is racing-first can find the racing tabs in the navigation.

Verdict: Betcha is the second lawful option, and a useful one for a punter who wants the TAB NZ product in a more mobile-first wrapper. The novelty is the wrapper; the licence, the harm-minimisation tools and the dispute framework are identical to TAB. A punter who already has a TAB NZ account does not need a Betcha account; a punter who does not can sign up at either brand.

Glorion

Glorion is an offshore operator. No licence applies in New Zealand; under section 74AAA, residents may only place bets through TAB NZ. Support is offered by Live Chat or email, and the brand accepts customers aged 18 or over only.

The product surface is a standard offshore sportsbook and casino combination. Players find sports menus inside the site. The safer-gambling tools are whatever the brand lists in its own responsible-gambling page; none of those tools reach a New Zealand punter under New Zealand law.

Verdict: Glorion is one of many offshore brands a New Zealand punter can open an account with. The price of the wider menu and the deeper casino product is the offering, which sits outside New Zealand law for the New Zealand end of the transaction. A punter who has decided to bet offshore picks the offshore brand with the cleanest terms and the most consistent payout record; Glorion is one such brand, no more.

RoyalistPlay

RoyalistPlay is owned and operated by Novatrix SRL, a Costa Rica company with registration number 3-102-893958, and states that it holds an e-gaming licence, No. 0000002, from the Tobique Gaming Commission. The Tobique licence provides no legal standing in New Zealand, and under section 74AAA RoyalistPlay is not licensed in New Zealand. No New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework applies here; disputes follow the path nominated in the terms, which is usually the operator’s home jurisdiction.

The product is a combined casino and sportsbook. Research does not put a hard sports menu in front of the reader; the operator’s own sportsbook page is the place to check rugby, cricket and racing markets. The age rule, where the operator’s terms state one, applies at the operator’s level and is not enforced under New Zealand law.

Verdict: RoyalistPlay is an offshore casino-and-sportsbook combination with a Tobique licence and a Costa Rica corporate base. The novelty of the Tobique licence is the licence, not the regulatory reach. Signing up here means accepting private terms and offshore jurisdictional control.

Sportaza

Sportaza’s footer states that it is licensed and regulated by the Government of the Autonomous Island of Anjouan, Union of Comoros, under licence No. ALSI-202606064-FI2. The brand’s terms, in section 1.4, cite a separate Tobique licence, No. 0000067. Two licences on one operator, neither of them applicable in New Zealand. Under section 74AAA, Sportaza is not licensed in New Zealand.

The site provides a standard offshore gaming portfolio, with a sportsbook covering football, basketball, tennis and a wider set of sports. The operator’s own sportsbook is the place to check markets. The safer-gambling tools are whatever the brand lists in its own responsible-gambling page; none of those tools reach a New Zealand punter under New Zealand law.

Verdict: Sportaza is an offshore sportsbook and casino with Anjouan and Tobique licences. The two-licence structure is a marketing line. Users here bet under the operator’s private terms; the operator’s terms are the only rules that apply.

Telbet

Telbet describes itself as a crypto casino and sportsbook with a welcome offer of 200% up to 1 BTC plus 50 free spins and a 5 USDT free bet. No licence applies here; under section 74AAA, Telbet is unlicensed in New Zealand.

The product surface is built around the crypto wallet. Deposits and withdrawals are settled in Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and the other coins the brand lists. The sportsbook product is a standard offshore one. The crypto wrapper is the operator’s differentiator and the regulatory gap; users of Telbet bet under the operator’s house rules, with the chain on the public ledger and the dispute resolution in whatever the operator’s terms nominate.

Verdict: Telbet is a crypto-first offshore sportsbook and casino with a 200%-plus-1 BTC welcome offer. The bonus headline is what the marketing page sells; the wagering requirement, the minimum odds, the bonus expiry and the cap on free-bet winnings are what the punter pays to discover. The crypto deposit is not reversible once confirmed, and the operator’s “instant withdrawal” claim refers to the time between the request and the broadcast of the transaction, not the time between the request and the funds being spendable at the player’s bank.

Alawin

Alawin is an offshore sportsbook and casino accepting customers aged 18 or over only. No applicable licence exists here; under section 74AAA, Alawin is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand lacks New Zealand complaint or harm-minimisation frameworks.

The site provides a standard offshore gaming portfolio. The age rule, where the operator’s terms state one, applies at the operator’s level and is not enforced under New Zealand law.

Verdict: Alawin is one of many offshore brands a New Zealand punter can open an account with. The terms carry the minimum a punter expects from such brands: an age rule and support. Neither is enforced under New Zealand law. Signing up here is betting entirely under the operator’s private terms.

FunBet

FunBet is an offshore sportsbook offering odds on football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball. Live betting is listed, with a bookmaker described as open 24/7. No licence applies here; under section 74AAA, FunBet is not licensed in New Zealand. It has no New Zealand complaints route.

The product surface is wider than TAB NZ’s in American football and baseball, and narrower in New Zealand and Australian racing. A punter who wants the Melbourne Cup multis that TAB NZ offers does not find them at FunBet. A punter who wants a deep American football menu does. The product is the trade-off; the regulatory gap is the same.

Verdict: FunBet is an offshore sportsbook with a wider menu in American sports than TAB NZ, and no New Zealand racing at all. The wider menu is the operator’s differentiator; the regulatory gap is the operator’s cost.

BetNinja

BetNinja states that it is licensed to conduct online gaming operations by the Union of the Comoros. The Comoros licence provides no legal standing in New Zealand, and under section 74AAA, BetNinja is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand lacks local harm-minimisation frameworks.

The site provides a standard offshore gaming portfolio. Research does not put a hard menu of sports in front of the reader; the operator’s own sportsbook is the place to check markets. The age rule, where the operator’s terms state one, applies at the operator’s level and is not enforced under New Zealand law.

Verdict: BetNinja is an offshore sportsbook and casino with a Comoros licence. The licence’s branding is the marketing line; the regulatory reach is the Comoros.

22Bet

22Bet’s site at 22bet redirects to 22bet4u.com. The version of the site served at 22bet4u.com shows copyright for 2017-2026 and a 21+ age notice. 22Bet operates under a Curaçao licence, 8048/JAZ, via TechSolutions Group N.V. This licence provides no legal standing in New Zealand, and under section 74AAA, 22Bet is not licensed in New Zealand. Local protection is unavailable.

The site provides a standard offshore gaming portfolio. The 21+ age notice is the operator’s terms, not the New Zealand betting age (18). Users here bet under the operator’s house terms; the operator’s age rule and the New Zealand age rule are separate requirements.

Verdict: 22Bet is an offshore sportsbook and casino with a Curaçao licence. The brand’s longevity (the 2017 copyright) is a brand fact, not a regulatory fact.

Frequently asked questions

How do I bet on the Melbourne Cup online?

TAB NZ takes bets on the Melbourne Cup. The race is run at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November, and the betting handle on Cup Day is the largest single-day racing event on the TAB NZ calendar. A punter opens a TAB NZ account, verifies a New Zealand address and ID, picks the Melbourne Cup from the racing menu, picks a bet type (Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First4 or a multi-race exotic), picks a stake and confirms the bet slip. The Melbourne Cup is also available at Betcha, the second TAB NZ brand. No offshore brand may lawfully take the bet from a person in New Zealand.

How do I bet on horses online?

TAB NZ is the lawful route for New Zealand punters. The TAB NZ app covers horse racing, harness racing and greyhound racing until 1 August 2026, when greyhound racing closes in stages. The bet types on a single race are Win, Place and Each Way; the multi-race exotics are Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First4, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6. Same Race Multis and Same Game Multis extend the menu. The punter opens an account, picks the race, picks the bet type, picks the runners, picks the stake and confirms. Betcha runs the same product under the TAB NZ umbrella.

How do I bet on Lotto online?

Lotto NZ products are a separate category from TAB NZ sports and racing bets. They run under separate legislation and a separate regulator. A punter looking to bet on a Lotto draw uses the MyLotto app or the MyLotto website, not the TAB NZ app. The two products share a wallet only in the sense that a New Zealand punter may use both; the betting rules, the bet types and the regulator are different.

Which bookmaker may lawfully take sports and racing bets in New Zealand?

TAB NZ, through its two online brands, TAB and Betcha. Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, inserted by the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 and in force since 28 June 2025, makes TAB NZ the sole provider that may lawfully accept racing or sports wagers from a New Zealand-based punter. Betcha is not a separate operator; it is the second online brand of TAB NZ, run under the same monopoly. No other bookmaker is licensed in New Zealand, and there is no licence route to obtain one.

How is the return on a bet worked out from the stake and the odds?

Return equals stake multiplied by the decimal odds. A $10 stake at odds of $2.10 returns $21, a profit of $11. A $10 stake at odds of $5.00 returns $50, a profit of $40. For a combination bet, the odds of the legs multiply into one price. A four-leg multi of $1.50, $1.80, $2.00 and $3.00 multiplies to $16.20; a $10 stake returns $162, a profit of $152. The odds are the price at the time the bet is confirmed; the bet settles at those odds regardless of any later price movement.

What is the bookmaker’s margin and how can it be seen in the odds?

The margin is the share of every dollar bet that the bookmaker expects to retain across all outcomes of a market. It is calculated as one minus the payout share, where the payout share is one divided by the sum of the reciprocals of all outcomes’ decimal odds. A two-outcome market priced at $1.91 and $1.91 implies 52.4% and 52.4%, summing to 104.8%, a margin of 4.8%. The margin sits inside every price the bookmaker offers and is the expected cost of betting at that operator on that sport.

Published by the Nzbookmakers team.