Online betting in New Zealand 2026: what stands, what does not, and who each path suits

Updated October 2026

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Since an amendment to the Racing Industry Act 2020 took effect on 28 June 2025, TAB NZ and its online sister brand Betcha are the only operators allowed to take online sports and racing bets in New Zealand, and the Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect. The market a punter meets on a search page is wider than that, with offshore brands taking bets from New Zealand addresses anyway, but the lawful answer to “where can I bet online in New Zealand?” has one word: TAB NZ, through either TAB or Betcha. The two are not rivals — they sit under one operator and one licence, run under a long-term partnership with Entain. This page walks through what that means in practice: which bonuses really cost what, how the apps behave on a phone, what live betting looks like, which sports and tournaments actually carry depth, which new bookmakers have appeared and where they sit legally, how a bet is placed and settled, and what the ten-name shortlist looks like once the licence is what it is.

Current as of 26 October 2026, checked against the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs register, the TAB NZ and Betcha published terms, and the Racing Industry Act 2020 as amended by the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025.

Bonuses and free bets: what an “incentive” really costs the punter

Bonus bets in New Zealand come from one place, because only one place is allowed to offer them. TAB NZ runs Bonus Cash promotions, including 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. That sounds tidy until the wagering rule is read: Bonus Cash is split across multiple bets, and the bonus amount must be turned over against quoted odds before any winnings become withdrawable cash. The exact turnover multiplier, the minimum price per leg and the deadline sit inside TAB NZ’s published terms. The page describes what an offer is; the conditions that turn it into cash are the part a punter reads before claiming.

Offshore brands describe their own offers in their own terms. Sportaza publishes a sports welcome package in its bonus terms. SpinBetter lists a Sports Welcome Bonus, and Golden Panda’s bonus rules (refreshed on 31 August 2026) say bonus funds cannot be used while the player has an open casino or sports bet — a restriction that effectively forces the bonus to settle before the punter places a real-money wager. FunBet shows a sportsbook offer but the rollover and minimum odds for the New Zealand-facing site are not confirmed. RoyalistPlay’s bonus page carries a Tobique Gaming Commission licence number in its footer, which is not a New Zealand authority and does not give the bonus a New Zealand complaints route.

A punter who reads “free bet” and pictures a free win is reading the wrong word. The stake is rarely paid back with the winnings on a free bet — a $10 free bet at odds of 3.00 returns $20, not $30 — and the same logic applies to Bonus Cash whose stake is not returned. The turnover required to clear a deposit bonus is the figure that decides whether the offer is worth anything: the larger the bonus, the larger the turnover, and the market margin inside every leg of that turnover is the cost the punter pays to claim the cash. A 100% deposit match on $200 produces turnover at five times the bonus on a typical bookmaker — $1,000 of bets at a market that keeps roughly five cents in the dollar, which is $50 of expected cost against a $200 bonus. Numbers of that shape are the ones to watch for; the headline percentage is not.

The Mega Multi bonus is the one promotion TAB NZ names directly. A list of rules that always belongs on a “bonus bets” page:

• Wagering multiple — the number of times the bonus amount must be bet before withdrawal.
• Minimum price per leg — bets below this clearance threshold often do not count toward turnover.
• Expiry — most bonuses carry a deadline of days, not weeks.
• Eligible markets — some bonuses exclude certain sports, in-play markets or same-game multis.
• Stake return — free bet and bonus cash winnings rarely include the original stake.

A punter who treats these five lines as the actual offer, and the headline as the marketing, keeps the arithmetic on their side.

Mobile and apps: the touchscreen end of the market

Two apps carry the lawful New Zealand offer. TAB publishes “TAB – Racing & Sports Betting” through the New Zealand App Store under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board, with the app first released on 8 September 2014 and a current 17+ App Store age rating alongside an 18+ betting age notice. Betcha’s app is published by Entain New Zealand Limited, first released on 6 August 2024. The age rating on the App Store listing is the platform’s, not the betting age; the betting age is the one stated in the Racing Industry Act 2020 and TAB’s own terms, which is 18.

What each app carries:

• Horse and harness racing, rugby union, rugby league and other sports, pre-match and live.
• Same Game Multis, one-tap Popular Multis, and a Place Extra option that lets punters back runners to finish up to 10th in selected races.
• Trackside live race streaming with in-app betting, racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools.
• A simplified wallet for deposits and withdrawals.
• Safer-gambling tools: deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, with an exclusion that applies across TAB and Betcha.

The two apps share a wallet under TAB NZ and the same safer-gambling settings carry across both. A punter who excludes on TAB is excluded on Betcha, and the limits set on one apply on the other. That is what makes the two brands one operator in practice: not the colour of the icon, but the single account that backs both.

Offshore brands run their own apps and mobile sites. FunBet’s sportsbook opens from a browser on a handset and lists live betting on football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball. BetNinja serves from a browser-fronted site licensed by the Union of the Comoros. Thunderpick runs a crypto-focused interface from a Curaçao licence. Baji carries an Anjouan licence number and an Android-facing site. None of these reach a New Zealand punter under the Racing Industry Act 2020, because only TAB NZ and Betcha may offer sports and racing bets to a person in New Zealand. The mobile app a punter can install and use lawfully in New Zealand is one of two: TAB or Betcha.

A practical note on app choice: punters who race more than they play other sports tend to find the TAB app fits because of the racing form, Blackbook and Trackside tools. Punters who place multis on rugby and basketball find Betcha’s multi builder easier to handle. Both settle into the same wallet; both apply the same exclusions.

Live betting and cash out: the unfolding match and the closing slip

Live betting in New Zealand runs through TAB NZ and Betcha. Both apps list in-play markets alongside their pre-match cards, with Same Game Multis available in the match for selected sports. Cash-out is a feature the apps advertise: a punter settles a bet before the final outcome, at a price the bookmaker quotes in the moment. The quoted cash-out price is the bookmaker’s live price for the bet’s current position, and the bookmaker keeps a margin inside that price the same way it keeps one in the pre-match card. A punter who cashes out at a smaller number than the backer’s true probability of the current position pays for the certainty with that margin.

The cash-out feature is also the place the marketing word “lock in profit” gets used. Lock-in is a one-way door: once a cash-out is accepted, the bet is closed at the quoted price, and the live value of the bet is whatever the cash-out screen said. The punter cannot wait a second longer for a better number. The bookmaker sets the cash-out price, and the price it sets reflects the bookmaker’s view of the live probability and its margin on top. A punter who chooses to hold the bet to the whistle has no obligation to cash out; a punter who wants the certainty pays the spread.

Live betting depth on TAB NZ and Betcha is the deepest available to a New Zealand punter, because the racing form and the Trackside live race stream turn racing in-play into a different product: a punter watching a race can back a runner mid-race, lay off a previous bet, or build a Same Race Multi as the field runs. The punter who bets other sports live has fewer tools: in-play markets on rugby, basketball and football exist, but the streaming that turns a live bet into a watched event is mostly the racing product.

The cash-out and live-betting points worth carrying forward:

• The cash-out price is the bookmaker’s quoted price, with its margin inside it.
• A bet held to settlement pays the original odds, not the cash-out price.
• Same Race Multis and Same Game Multis are live products, not just pre-match.
• Racing form and Trackside live streaming are TAB NZ’s distinctive live-betting tools.

Bet types and odds: from stake to return

The mechanics of a bet are the same whether the punter is on TAB, Betcha or an offshore site. The shape of the bet and the price on offer are what change. TAB NZ publishes a betting rules page that lists Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie, Big6, and Multis including Same Game Multis. Offshore sites carry a similar menu with sport-specific names.

The maths of a single bet: a stake of $10 at decimal odds of 3.00 returns $30 ($10 × 3.00), of which the net profit is $20 ($10 × (3.00 − 1)). A combination bet multiplies the odds of each leg into one price: three legs at 2.00, 3.00 and 1.50 produce a combined price of 9.00, and a $10 stake returns $90 if all three legs win. The longer the multi, the higher the combined price, and the smaller the chance every leg lands.

The maths of the bookmaker’s margin: in a two-outcome market (win or lose) the bookmaker publishes prices whose implied probabilities add up to more than 100%. A market priced at 1.91 / 1.91 implies a probability of 52.4% on each side, summing to 104.8%, with the extra 4.8 percentage points being the margin the bookmaker keeps of every dollar bet on that market. A market at 1.85 / 1.95 implies 54.1% and 51.3%, summing to 105.4%, a margin of 5.4%. The lower the margin, the better the long-run return to the punter, because more of every dollar bet returns to winning punters rather than to the bookmaker. The price the bookmaker publishes is the market the punter bets into, and the margin is the cost that sits inside it.

The odds a punter sees are decimal odds in the New Zealand market. $2.10 means a $10 stake returns $21, net $11. The fractional odds written on UK and Irish books are not the form used in New Zealand: a 5/1 fractional price is a 6.00 decimal price. The page does not print fractional odds; the form used here is decimal.

Sports and tournaments: where the depth actually is

The lawful New Zealand bookmaker carries racing codes — thoroughbred, harness (trots) and greyhound, with greyhound racing closing from 1 August 2026 — and a sports card across rugby union, rugby league, football, basketball, cricket, tennis, American football, baseball and others. The racing card is the deepest: TAB NZ’s racing product covers New Zealand, Australian, and selected international meetings, with form, Blackbook and Trackside live race streaming sitting alongside the bet card. The sports card carries All Blacks tests, Super Rugby Pacific, NRL, international football and basketball, and major tournaments including the Melbourne Cup — the race that draws one of the largest single-day betting pools in Australasia and the subject of the most natural question a New Zealand punter asks before Cup Day.

Offshore sites listed in the comparison below extend the menu with markets a TAB punter cannot reach through the lawful bookmaker. FunBet lists live betting on football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball. Baji carries cricket and football depth across South Asian and European football. Roobet publishes a sportsbook with esports alongside traditional sport. Thunderpick is a crypto esports bookmaker with a sportsbook extension. Each of these brands lists a deeper sports card than the two TAB NZ brands, and each of them is unlawful for the operator to offer to a person in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The depth is real; the licence to take bets from New Zealand is not.

A tournament-by-tournament note:

• Melbourne Cup — TAB NZ runs full fixed-odds and pool markets; offshore books run them too, but taking a bet from a New Zealand address on those books is the operator-side offence.
• All Blacks tests, Super Rugby Pacific, NRL — TAB NZ carries the markets with live in-play.
• Black Caps internationals — TAB NZ covers home and away series.
• NBA, NFL, EPL, Champions League — TAB NZ carries the headline matches; offshore books extend to lower-tier matches and player props.
• Esports — whether esports betting is “sports betting” under the Racing Industry Act is not established; offshore crypto books carry the deepest esports card.

The market a TAB NZ punter sees is the legal one. The market a wider comparison sits inside is the world offshore books serve, with the offshore operator carrying the legal exposure for offering that market to a New Zealand address.

New bookmakers: the newcomers and what their licence actually says

A search for “new online betting sites New Zealand” turns up brands that are new to the international market and brands that are new to the punter, and the difference is the part that decides which licence applies. Sportaza, launched as part of the Soft2Bet network of sportsbooks and listed alongside Rabona (which launched on 23 December 2019 as the sixth online sportsbook of the Soft2Bet group), is a recent international launch with an Anjouan licence (ALSI-202606064-FI2) and a separate Tobique citation in its terms. SpinBetter carries an Anjouan licence (ALSI-202607036-FI2) and a Costa Rica operating entity (Sprut Group Limitada, registration 3-102-955890). RoyalistPlay names a Tobique Gaming Commission e-gaming licence (No. 0000002), held by Novatrix SRL. BetNinja lists a Union of the Comoros licence. Baji carries an Anjouan licence (ALSI-202410030-FI1, registration 15839). Thunderpick runs on a Curaçao licence (OGL/2024/677/0722) held by Paloma Media B.V. Roobet runs on a Curaçao licence (OGL/2024/687/0427) held by Raw Entertainment B.V.

None of these licences is a New Zealand licence. None of them gives the holder the right to take sports or racing bets from a person in New Zealand; only TAB NZ holds that right under the Racing Industry Act 2020. The Department of Internal Affairs told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect when the section came into force on 28 June 2025, and the page does not invite a reader to sign up with any of these brands. The brands are listed because New Zealand punters meet them; the licence each one holds is the licence that applies, which is not a New Zealand one.

A newcomer check that always holds: the licence footer must name a regulator with a public licence check (a Curaçao Gaming Authority register, a Tobique Gaming Commission listing), and the operating company must name a registered address and registration number. Where the footer names a regulator but the regulator’s register does not list the licence, the licence is not enforceable, and the punter who relies on it for a payout has the problem the regulator cannot solve.

How online betting works in New Zealand: the sequence

A punter who has never placed an online bet in New Zealand works through the same sequence regardless of brand. The lawful path runs through TAB NZ; the offshore path runs through the brand’s own signup. Either way the steps are these.

1. Account opening. TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address and ID, and the age is 18. Offshore books require an email, a password and a date of birth, with identity verification triggered at withdrawal rather than at deposit.
2. Deposit. TAB NZ accepts card and bank transfer in NZ dollars through its simplified wallet. Offshore books accept card, e-wallet, bank transfer and, for crypto-focused books, Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins.
3. Choosing a market. TAB NZ’s racing card sits at the front; the sports card sits behind it. Offshore books lead with sports, with racing as a secondary tab.
4. Placing the bet. The bet slip carries the stake, the odds and the return; a multi slip carries the legs, the combined price and the combined return.
5. Settlement. TAB NZ settles Win, Place, Each Way and exotic bets against the official result; offshore books settle against the same official result with the operator’s own house rules on voids and pushes.
6. Withdrawal. TAB NZ pays back into the same wallet; offshore books pay back to the original deposit method or, for crypto deposits, in the deposited coin.

The two paths diverge at every step from step 1. The TAB NZ path is the lawful one. The offshore path is the path a punter walks when the bookmaker serves them anyway.

The ten-name comparison: who sits where

A New Zealand punter comparing brands sees a list dominated by offshore names, with TAB NZ at the head. The list below is what the comparison looks like in 2026, with each brand’s status in New Zealand stated in plain terms.

TAB and Betcha are one operator group under TAB NZ. The brands above them are not licensed in New Zealand and offer no New Zealand complaints route. The table is descriptive, not a recommendation.

A punter who reads this list looking for “which is best?” reads the wrong column. The brand that takes a New Zealand bet lawfully is TAB or Betcha. The brand that takes a New Zealand bet unlawfully is every other name on the list, and the punter who bets with one of them has no New Zealand complaints route if the payout stalls, no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework, and an offshore regulator whose consumer-protection record is not built for New Zealand accounts.

Overview of the market: what the legal map looks like

The legal map of online betting in New Zealand is shorter than the marketing map. The Racing Industry Act 2020 establishes TAB NZ as the sole betting provider for racing and sports in New Zealand; the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA, in force from 28 June 2025, which says 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 Department of Internal Affairs monitors compliance under section 92A of the Act and told unlicensed providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect when the section came into force. There is no licence register for bookmakers in New Zealand, because there is no licence to apply for — the only lawful provider is TAB NZ, and the only brands under it are TAB and Betcha.

TAB NZ runs the business under a 25-year partnership with Entain signed in 2023. Entain runs the operations; TAB NZ and Entain share gross profits 50/50, 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 partnership is the reason Betcha launched in 2024 as a TAB NZ brand alongside TAB, and the reason the two apps share a wallet and a safer-gambling framework. The two are not competing bookmakers; they are two products of one operator.

The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 licenses online casino gambling in New Zealand, not sports betting. TAB NZ winning the right to apply for a casino licence does not extend the betting monopoly, and a casino licence under the new Act does not give the holder a betting licence. Greyhound racing closes in stages from 1 August 2026, and from that date offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either — the closure of the racing code extends the section 74AAA prohibition to the greyhound product. The legal frame is one of monopoly on the racing and sports side, and a separate regulated market opening on the casino side, with the two never merged.

A note on what is and is not established: whether esports betting is “sports betting” under the Racing Industry Act is not established; whether the offshore operators serving New Zealand addresses face prosecution under section 74AAA is not established because no prosecution has been published; whether betting affiliates promoting offshore books to New Zealand customers face liability is not established. The page describes what is established and notes what is not, because a punter who relies on an assumption about a not-established point carries the risk themselves.

Legality and regulation: what the law actually says

The law that applies to online betting in New Zealand is the Racing Industry Act 2020 as amended by the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025, with the Gambling Act 2003 sitting alongside it on the broader gambling framework. The Department of Internal Affairs is the regulator under the Gambling Act 2003 and monitors compliance with the betting prohibition. The Racing Industry Act 2020 establishes TAB NZ as the sole provider; the 2025 amendment closed the loophole that allowed offshore books to serve New Zealand addresses, on the operator side, while leaving the player side under the 2025 change to section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003, which says an individual may not be convicted for placing a bet with an offshore betting operator in breach of section 74AAA. The page does not say betting offshore is illegal for the player; it does not say it is legal. The honest framing is that the operator is the target, that DIA warns players of the risks of dealing with an offshore bookmaker, and that no published penalty for a player was found.

The penalty for an operator breaching section 74AAA is not stated in the section, and no prosecution of an offshore bookmaker has been found. The operator’s exposure is real, even where the published penalty is not visible. New Zealand does not block bookmaker sites at the network level — there is no ISP-level geo-blocking — so the offshore access is the offshore site’s choice to keep serving New Zealand addresses after DIA told it to withdraw. The fact that the site is reachable from New Zealand is not the same as the site being lawful for the operator to take bets from a New Zealand address; the page describes both facts because both are true.

The age for betting with TAB NZ is 18; betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. Land-based casinos in New Zealand are 20, and the page does not merge the two. A punter who bets on TAB or Betcha is over 18 by law; a punter who bets on an offshore book is asked to confirm the age in the site’s own age-verification step, with the offshore site’s enforcement of the age being a question of the site’s own terms rather than New Zealand law.

The player-protection framework runs through TAB NZ’s safer-gambling tools (deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion) and through the free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) and Safer Gambling Aotearoa. The Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74% (in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028) is paid by TAB NZ; the levy funds harm-minimisation services and is set by the racing and gambling legislation. Offshore brands carry no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework; a punter who self-excludes on TAB is excluded across TAB and Betcha, and the exclusion does not reach the offshore brand on its own.

The tax position 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 page notes Inland Revenue’s guidance as general information rather than tax advice. The tax position for the operator: TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy; offshore operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty (12% of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16% from 1 January 2027), but the payment of duty does not make an offer lawful — the page does not write that tax payment shows a bookmaker is legal, because the duty is a tax on profits and the licence to take bets from New Zealand is a separate question.

Responsible gambling: the safeguard frame

A punter’s safeguards in New Zealand run through TAB NZ and through the national gambling-harm services. TAB NZ’s apps carry deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, and an exclusion applies across TAB and Betcha. A punter who sets a $50 weekly deposit limit on TAB sees the same limit on Betcha; a punter who self-excludes on one is excluded on both. The settings live in the safer-gambling section of the account, and the changes take effect immediately or at the start of the next period, depending on the limit.

The national frame sits alongside the operator frame. The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) and Safer Gambling Aotearoa are the points a punter contacts for help, and the helpline routes to counselling and treatment services funded through the Problem Gambling Levy. The levy is the funding mechanism for harm-minimisation services, and the 0.74% rate (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028) is the rate TAB NZ pays against its gross profits.

There is no single national online-betting exclusion register; the register the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 will require is for online casinos, not for sports and racing betting. A punter who excludes on TAB is excluded across TAB and Betcha, and the exclusion does not extend to offshore brands on the operator’s own initiative. The punter who bets offshore has no New Zealand exclusion register to enter, no New Zealand complaints route if the brand refuses to apply the exclusion, and no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework that reaches the offshore brand’s terms. The honest framing is that the safeguard frame is strong inside TAB NZ, narrower outside it, and absent in the offshore path.

The advertising framework sits with the Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code: betting advertisements 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 advertising was found. The Code is the frame advertisers and affiliates work inside; the punter who sees an ad that breaches the Code has the ASA complaints route, which sits outside the betting-operator frame.

A note on offshore brands and harm minimisation: an offshore book that takes bets from a New Zealand address is not on the New Zealand harm-minimisation register and is not reachable by the Gambling Helpline or Safer Gambling Aotearoa. The punter who asks the offshore brand for a deposit limit or a self-exclusion is asking the brand’s own customer service, on the brand’s own terms, with the brand’s own house rules on whether the limit or exclusion is honoured. The punter who needs the New Zealand framework bets on TAB or Betcha.

Crypto and anonymity: the offshore end of the market

Crypto betting in New Zealand is the offshore end of the market, and the offshore end of the market is unlawful for the operator to serve. Telbet describes itself as a crypto casino and sportsbook. Thunderpick is a Curaçao-licensed crypto esports bookmaker with a sportsbook extension. Roobet is a Curaçao-licensed crypto casino and sportsbook. Baji accepts crypto deposits against an Anjouan licence. None of these brands is licensed in New Zealand, and the Racing Industry Act 2020 section 74AAA applies to each of them in the same way: the operator may not offer sports or racing bets to a person in New Zealand.

The “anonymity” in “crypto and anonymity” is the marketing claim that a crypto deposit does not carry the same identity trail as a card or bank transfer. The claim is half-true. A crypto wallet is pseudonymous rather than anonymous: every transaction is on a public ledger, the wallet has an address, and the chain analytics firms that work with law enforcement trace addresses through mixers and exchanges. A punter who uses a regulated exchange to buy the crypto has the exchange’s KYC tied to the wallet. A punter who uses an unregulated exchange has no New Zealand recourse if the exchange disappears with the deposit.

The practical reading: a crypto deposit is faster and lighter than a card deposit at the moment of funding, and the wallet does not carry the punter’s name on the blockchain. The withdrawal is still licensed. The brand still operates under its own licence, which is not a New Zealand licence. The payout is still the brand’s, with the brand’s house rules on voids, maximum winnings and bonus clawbacks. The New Zealand punter who bets with crypto on an offshore book is on the same legal footing as the New Zealand punter who bets with a card on an offshore book, and the legal footing is the one section 74AAA sets.

The TAB NZ account requires a verified New Zealand address and ID; a punter who wants the New Zealand harm-minimisation framework and the New Zealand complaints route accepts the identity check. The punter who wants the offshore product and the offshore licence accepts that the New Zealand framework does not reach the offshore bookmaker. The page describes both paths and leaves the choice where the law leaves it.

Operator reviews: each name on its own terms

The reviews below describe each brand in plain terms, with the New Zealand status in the open and the operator’s own terms in the body. A verdict on each brand sits at the end of its review, and the verdict is on what the brand is, not on whether to sign up.

TAB

TAB is the retail and online face of TAB NZ, the sole lawful racing and sports bookmaker in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The online brand sits at tab.co.nz and the app is published under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board in the New Zealand App Store, first released on 8 September 2014. TAB NZ runs the racing card with form, Blackbook, Jockey Challenge and Trackside live race streaming, the sports card with rugby, football, basketball, cricket and others, and the multi builder with Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis and one-tap Popular Multis. The Place Extra option lets punters back runners to finish up to 10th in selected races, which is a wider place market than the standard Place payout. The safer-gambling tools (deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion) are built into the app, and an exclusion applies across TAB and Betcha.

The 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, is the headline promotion. The wagering multiple, the minimum price per leg, the eligible markets and the expiry sit inside TAB NZ’s published terms. A punter who reads those four lines before claiming reads the actual offer.

The verdict: TAB is the only lawful online bookmaker for a punter in New Zealand who wants the New Zealand harm-minimisation framework, the New Zealand complaints route, and the racing product the rest of the market does not match. The offshore brands carry more sports depth; TAB carries the licence and the racing card.

Betcha

Betcha is the second of the two TAB NZ online brands, run under the same TAB New Zealand operator and the same section 74AAA licence. The app is published by Entain New Zealand Limited in the New Zealand App Store, first released on 6 August 2024, and the app shares the TAB NZ wallet and the TAB NZ safer-gambling settings. A punter who signs up on Betcha and signs up on TAB has two accounts under one operator, with the same identity check, the same deposit method and the same exclusion.

The Betcha product leans into the multi builder: Same Game Multis on rugby and basketball, Popular Multis in one tap, and a streamlined bet slip for the punter who places four-leg and five-leg multis more often than a Win bet. The racing card is the same TAB NZ racing card with the same form and Trackside tools. The Place Extra option and the Mega Multi bonus carry across from TAB NZ.

The verdict: Betcha suits the punter who bets multis more often than Win or Place and wants the same lawful New Zealand standing under section 74AAA. The punter who bets racing form more often than multis finds TAB’s app a better fit because of the Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools. Both sit under one operator and one wallet.

Glorion

Glorion operates as an offshore casino and sportsbook, with support available by live chat and email and an 18+ age requirement in its terms. The brand is not licensed in New Zealand, and section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 prohibits the operator from serving New Zealand addresses. The sports card and the casino card sit under one account, and the brand runs no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework.

The verdict: Glorion sits in the offshore cluster with no standing in New Zealand, and the page describes it for completeness rather than as a destination for a New Zealand punter. A New Zealand punter who lands on Glorion has no New Zealand complaints route if a payout stalls.

RoyalistPlay

RoyalistPlay is owned and operated by Novatrix SRL, a Costa Rica company with registration number 3-102-893958, and states that it holds e-gaming licence No. 0000002 from the Tobique Gaming Commission. The Tobique licence gives no right to take bets from a person in New Zealand, and the brand is not licensed in New Zealand. The bonus terms, the sports card and the casino card carry the brand’s own house rules, with no New Zealand complaints route reaching them.

The verdict: RoyalistPlay is an offshore brand with an Anjouan-adjacent Tobique licence that does not extend to New Zealand. RoyalistPlay is a foreign platform with no New Zealand licence and no standing here.

Sportaza

Sportaza’s footer cites an Anjouan licence (ALSI-202606064-FI2), while the terms cite a separate Tobique licence (No. 0000067). The two citations are not the same regulator and the brand is not licensed in New Zealand. The sports card and the casino card sit under one account, and the welcome offer runs under the brand’s own wagering terms.

The verdict: Sportaza’s dual licence citation is a thing a punter checks on the brand’s own terms page, and the answer is that neither licence applies in New Zealand. The brand sits in the offshore cluster with no New Zealand standing.

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 on its Russian-language site. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand and the section 74AAA prohibition applies to the operator serving New Zealand addresses. The crypto deposit and the crypto withdrawal sit on the brand’s own wallet, with the brand’s own licence in the footer and the brand’s own consumer-protection record.

The verdict: Telbet is a crypto-focused offshore bookmaker with no standing in New Zealand. The crypto deposit is faster than a card deposit, and the brand’s own house rules apply to the payout. The brand’s terms apply house rules on every payout, and New Zealand punters have no local complaints route.

Alawin

Alawin accepts customers aged 18 or over only, and the brand’s terms carry the age requirement on the customer-facing document. The brand is not licensed in New Zealand and the section 74AAA prohibition applies. The sports card and the casino card sit under one account, with the brand’s own bonus terms.

The verdict: Alawin is an offshore brand with an 18+ age policy that does not extend to New Zealand. Alawin’s consumer-protection record is built for international accounts, not for a New Zealand user.

FunBet

FunBet’s sportsbook offers odds on football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball, with live betting and a bookmaker described as open 24/7. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand and the section 74AAA prohibition applies. The sports card carries live betting on the major codes, with the brand’s own in-play tools.

The verdict: FunBet is an offshore brand with a deeper sports menu than TAB NZ on the lower-tier matches and player props. The depth is real; the licence to take bets from New Zealand is not.

BetNinja

BetNinja states that it is licensed to conduct online gaming operations by the Union of the Comoros. The Comoros licence gives no right to take bets from a person in New Zealand, and the brand is not licensed in New Zealand. The casino and sportsbook sit under one account, with the brand’s own bonus terms and the brand’s own payout rules.

The verdict: BetNinja is an offshore brand with a Comoros licence that does not apply in New Zealand. The brand operates independently of New Zealand harm-minimisation standards.

22Bet

22Bet’s address 22bet redirects to 22bet4u.com, and the site shows copyright for 2017 to 2026 and a 21+ age notice. The brand names a Curaçao licence (8048/JAZ) held by TechSolutions Group N.V., which gives no right to take bets from a person in New Zealand. The sports card carries a deep menu across football, basketball, tennis and others, with the brand’s own in-play tools and the brand’s own bonus terms.

The verdict: 22Bet is an offshore brand with a Curaçao licence that does not apply in New Zealand. The depth of the sports menu is the brand’s main asset, and the New Zealand punter who reaches 22Bet from a search page is on the brand’s own consumer-protection record.

Working out a bet: the maths the punter publishes

The maths of a single bet is the same on every brand and every market. A stake of $10 at decimal odds of 3.00 returns $30, which is the stake times the odds. The net profit on that bet is $20, which is the stake times the odds minus one. A combination bet multiplies the odds of each leg into one price: three legs at odds of 2.00, 3.00 and 1.50 produce a combined price of 9.00, and a $10 stake returns $90 if all three legs win.

The maths of the bookmaker’s margin: in a two-outcome market (win or lose) the bookmaker publishes prices whose implied probabilities add up to more than 100%. A market priced at 1.91 / 1.91 implies a probability of 52.4% on each side, summing to 104.8%, with the extra 4.8 percentage points being the margin the bookmaker keeps of 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%. The lower the margin, the better the long-run return to the punter.

A free bet whose stake is not paid back is worth the free-bet amount times the odds minus one, divided by the odds, multiplied by the payout share of the market. A $10 free bet at odds of 3.00 in a market with a 95% payout share is worth $10 × (3.00 − 1) ÷ 3.00 × 0.95, which is $6.33 of expected value. The free bet is not a $30 win; the free bet is an average return of $6.33 over many such bets at the stated price. A punter who treats the free bet as a $30 win overpays the marketing word “free” by a factor of nearly five.

The expected cost of clearing a deposit bonus is the required turnover times the margin of the market the bonus is cleared on. A $200 deposit bonus with a five-times wagering multiple ($1,000 of turnover) on a market with a 5% margin costs $50 on average to clear, against a $200 headline bonus. The bonus is worth the bonus minus the expected cost; the headline is the marketing.

The calculated look at the numbers

The calculations below take the maths above and apply it to specific scenarios a New Zealand punter faces.

A punter who places a $10 single bet at TAB NZ on a head-to-head market priced at 1.91 / 1.91 sees a margin of 4.8% on the market. The market keeps 4.8 cents of every dollar bet on this two-way line. The punter who bets the $10 on the favourite at 1.91 has a 52.4% chance of returning $19.10, and a 47.6% chance of losing the $10. The expected return is $10.01, which is the stake back plus 1 cent of expected profit on this single bet — the long-run return to the punter at this price, before any bonus the bookmaker runs.

A punter who places a $10 three-leg multi at odds of 2.00, 3.00 and 1.50 sees a combined price of 9.00 and a $90 return if all three legs win. The probability of all three legs landing is the product of the implied probabilities of each leg, which is 0.50 × 0.33 × 0.67 = 0.111, or 11.1%. The expected return on the multi at true probabilities is $10 × 9.00 × 0.111 = $10.00, with the actual return slightly below $10.00 because the bookmaker’s margin on each leg eats into the payout. The multi looks generous because the price is high; the price is high because the chance is low.

A punter who claims a $200 deposit bonus with a five-times wagering multiple on a market with a 5% margin faces $1,000 of required turnover and an expected cost of $50. The bonus is worth $200 minus $50, which is $150 in expected value, with the variance across the clearing bets large enough that the punter may end ahead or behind the $150 figure by a multiple of the expected cost. The bonus is not free; the bonus is a discount on the expected cost of $1,000 of betting, and the discount is the wagering multiple times the bonus minus the margin.

A punter who takes a $10 free bet at odds of 3.00 in a market with a 95% payout share has a free-bet value of $6.33. The free bet does not pay $30 on a win; the free bet pays $20 on a win (because the stake is not returned), and the expected value over many such bets is $6.33. A punter who reads “free bet” as “free $30 win” reads the wrong word.

The honest framing: a free bet is a discount on the cost of placing a bet. A deposit bonus is a discount on the cost of turning over a multiple of the bonus. The discount is real; the headline is not the discount.

A punter’s working checklist

The list below is the working checklist a New Zealand punter carries into the market. It is not a recommendation; it is the things the page has covered.

• The lawful bookmaker in New Zealand is TAB NZ, operating as TAB and Betcha.
• Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 prohibits other operators from serving New Zealand addresses.
• The age for TAB NZ betting is 18; land-based casinos are 20, and the two are not the same.
• TAB NZ’s safer-gambling tools (deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion) apply across TAB and Betcha.
• The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) and Safer Gambling Aotearoa are the national harm-minimisation points.
• The Problem Gambling Levy is 0.74% (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028), paid by TAB NZ.
• Offshore online gambling duty is 12% of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16% from 1 January 2027; the duty is not a licence to take bets from New Zealand.
• Greyhound racing closes from 1 August 2026, and offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races from that date.
• The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 licenses online casino gambling, not sports betting; the betting monopoly is unaffected.
• Recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable in New Zealand; the IRD guidance is general information, not tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

How can I bet on the Melbourne Cup online?

The lawful path is TAB NZ through TAB or Betcha. Both carry fixed-odds and pool markets on the Melbourne Cup, with the racing form and Trackside live streaming sitting alongside the bet card. The race draws one of the largest single-day betting pools in Australasia and the cards open well before Cup Day. Offshore books list the race too, but taking a bet from a New Zealand address on those books is the operator-side offence under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020.

How do I bet horses online?

A punter who bets horses online in New Zealand opens an account with TAB NZ, completes the verified New Zealand address and ID check, deposits through the simplified wallet, and chooses a race from the racing card. The bet types are Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6, with Multis and Same Race Multis on top. Trackside live streaming runs alongside the bet card on the TAB and Betcha apps.

How do I bet Lotto online?

Lotto is not part of TAB NZ’s sports and racing betting product. Lotto NZ runs the national lottery under a separate framework, and the page does not describe a betting path for Lotto through TAB or Betcha. A punter who wants Lotto tickets goes to Lotto NZ’s own channels, which sit outside the betting-operator frame this page covers.

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, in force from 28 June 2025, prohibits any other person from offering sports or racing betting to a person in New Zealand, regardless of where that person is resident or incorporated. The Department of Internal Affairs told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect when the section came into force. There is no licence register for bookmakers in New Zealand, because there is only one lawful provider.

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

A stake of $10 at decimal odds of 3.00 returns $30, which is the stake times the odds. The net profit is $20, which is the stake times the odds minus one. A combination bet multiplies the odds of each leg into one price: three legs at 2.00, 3.00 and 1.50 produce a combined price of 9.00, and a $10 stake returns $90 if all three legs win. Decimal odds are the form used in New Zealand; a 5/1 fractional price is a 6.00 decimal price.

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

The margin is the percentage of every dollar bet on a market that the bookmaker keeps on average, and it sits inside the prices the bookmaker publishes. In a two-outcome market priced at 1.91 / 1.91 the implied probabilities are 52.4% on each side, summing to 104.8%, with the extra 4.8 percentage points being the margin. A market at 1.85 / 1.95 sums to 105.4%, a margin of 5.4%. The lower the margin, the larger the long-run return to the punter. The margin is the cost that sits inside every price, and the punter who reads the price reads the margin.

Published by the Nzsolebookie team.