New Zealand is a beautiful country with plenty of outdoor activities to do. Having said that, there is also a lot of real money gambling action, with over $850m played at the pokies each year. Kiwis love to place a bet, whether it be on the rugby, cricket, league or at the casino tables and lottery. But, did you know that there is plenty of real money pokies action taking place online?
Guess what, there are heaps of players turning to playing online pokies (also known as online slots for the unaccustomed newbies). Many Kiwi’s are looking to play for that real money action, real money bonuses and real money winnings.
Finding a honest and trustworthy online pokie site that accepts New Zealanders is difficult. But we have done all the hard work for you!
If you’re an online pokie lover, or looking to get started, we list all the top honest and trustworthy online pokie sites for you. We also detail those with the top rated and most popular bonuses.
Top NZ Online Casinos
Other online pokie review sites for New Zealanders may say they offer exclusive bonuses and features through their site. This is a load of baloney. No online review site for pokies will have the ability to offer exclusive bonuses or features for you. Bonuses and features will be the same from each online pokie provider, no matter which avenue you take to sign up. If you see a review site , purporting to offer exclusive bonuses and features they are down right lying, and should not be trusted.
In fact, bonuses and features, not only are common by review site, but they are common around the world. The only difference is the currency, and terms and conditions that may need to be appended due to online gaming laws of the region. Bonuses and features include: Welcome or sign up bonuses, free spins and no deposit offers.
Welcome Bonuses – these are real money bonuses for online NZ players. Unlike land based pokies at the casinos or pubs and clubs, online pokie sites offer New Zealander players bonuses. Normally bonuses are paid as a function of the amount deposited. For example, an online casino site may offer a Welcome Bonus that is 100% of the amount deposited, this means you will receive a double the amount of the deposit to play as real money. Often there are terms and conditions that are associated with the Welcome Bonus. They often have a cap on how large the Welcome Bonus can be, and require a minimum amount wagered on the online pokie games before a withdrawal can be made.
Free Spins – this is similar to a Welcome Bonus. Upon deposit at the online casino, you will receive additional Free Spins that allow you the chance to win extra real money jack pots. Free Spins are sometimes specific to a particular online slot game, so you if you are wanting to use the Free Spins on any of the pokie games then check the terms and conditions.
No Deposit Offers – these offers allow New Zealanders the opportunity to sign up and become a member and play at the online slot games without the need to deposit. These offers are now quite rare with not many online pokies for New Zealanders (and other countries for that matter) providing this type of promotion.
Online Pokie Devices
As a New Zealander, you would no doubt be familiar with playing online games via a desktop, laptop, mobile device or mobile phone. Typically, Kiwi’s with either choose to play online pokies using a desktop/latop or mobile phone. The iPad’s and tablets are the least preferred option. It’s unclear why this is the case, but it is possibly due to the prevalence of mobile phones and laptops, while iPads and tablets remain mostly for viewing only.
Pro’s and Con’s of Online Pokie Apps
If you intend to use a desktop or laptop to play online pokies, downloading an app isn’t necessary. Playing via the online slot site will provide a seamless and integrated experience, with all the functionality that any player would want. Online slot sites are typically built and designed for a desktop and laptop, hence there is no need to download an app.
Playing on a mobile phone, on the other hand, normally requires an app. This is not dislike other companies that provide services to you through a mobile phone. Banking, real estate, employment, hiring and many other service providers all offer an app that can be downloaded that integrated with your phone to provide a better experience. Apps that are downloaded fit the mobile phone dimensions and assimilate with the phone features, providing a better online pokie experience.
Some online pokie providers, however, have overcome the need to download an app. And therefore it may not be necessary to download the online pokie app to enjoy all the features. Many online pokie providers have embedded dynamic website coding to fit all different size mobile phone screens and functions.
NZD Deposit and Withdrawal Methods
For New Zealanders, fortunately there are online pokie sites that accept NZD and cater for the player’s balance to be maintained in NZD. These are good sites to play at, since there are no currency conversion needs. There are some sites that don’t accept NZD but still cater for New Zealanders. These sites will require the balance to be converted to USD or EUR. Try and steer clear of sites that require NZD to be converted to USD or EUR as these will deteriorate that bank roll balance.
The most common forms of making a payment and withdrawal for New Zealanders are via e-wallets. E-wallets are digital holding accounts that store real money value. A common e- wallet is Paypal, previously owned by Elon Musk the founder of Tesla. Other e-wallets that can be used for online pokies include:
- Skrill
- Neteller
- Neosurf
The also some sites that accept crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin. These pokie sites are quite limited, but they are available.
Land Based Pokies vs Online Pokies
Many play at the land based pokie machines and are familiar with how they work. But let’s go through the logic and compare the differences with online.
1. Random Number Generators
Land based pokies use pokie machines that have an algorithm based on Random Number Generators (RNG). Random Number Generators are programmed computer logic that replicates true randomness. This may at first be counter-intuitive but through an understanding that randomness through many repeated games will produce an long term pattern, this pattern can in be replicated.
Online pokies use the same RNG logic as land based pokies and behave in exactly the same manner. The only difference is the delivery, one is through a physical machine whilst the other is through a website.
2. Loyalty Rewards or Bonuses
Pokie clubs and pubs often have loyalty reward points. Casino’s as well have VIP cards, whereby if you play frequently players can earn player rewards. These points can be converted to a discount when eating at the restaurants or ordering drinks. Sometimes, there are door prizes, or weekly prizes that players can use these points for.
Online bonuses are much more real and tangible than land based. They come in the form of Welcome Bonuses and Free Spins. For players who would prefer to be rewarded with a higher bank roll, then definitely online is the way to go.
3. Pay Out Ratio
Pay Out Ratio’s have been touted to be higher at online casinos. And this makes sense, since online providers do not have the same overheads as a land based provider. Land based providers have to pay rent, purchase insurance, pay staff, maintain the facilities and have a plethora of other expenses to take care of. And unfortunately, who would have thought this would occur, the advent of the corona virus will eventually impact the ability to play at land based casinos.
Online pokie providers have a website and application to maintain. Their infrastructure is easily scalable and expandable without any further expense. Interactive gaming is such a broad reaching advantage, that land based providers simply cannot compete with.
The competitive advantage is not only seen in the pokies space, but also with fashion, retail, banking and finance, media and many other industries.
New Zealand Pokies History
New Zealand and Australia are intertwined with their pokies history. Colonised by the English, “poker machines” were introduced in New Zealand in 1987 (along with the creation of the national lottery) as the simple reel machines with card faces. Hence nick name the “pokies”. Often these were used for non profit organisations or select pubs and clubs as a means of raising money. Tax imposed on the pokies have been be used to fund the governments community services policies.
One of the largest pokie machine makers in the southern hemisphere is Aristocrat. They produce pokies machines that are not only used in Australia and New Zealand, but right around the world. The SkyCity Casino in Auckland uses approximately 200 pokie machines acquired from Aristocrat.
SkyCity Casino Pokies
SkyCity is the largest casino owner, with several casinos in New Zealand. They own SkyCity Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown. They attract many tourists and locals each year, and offers a great gaming experience. Each venue has over 2,000 table games, which is incredible for a small country. Games range from blackjack, roulette, baccarat, Texas Hold’em Poker, sic bo, pai gow poker and many others. They also have a poker room, with various buy-ins, and is open daily with great tournaments.
SkyCity has over thousands of pokie machines to play at, most of them purchased from Aristocrat Leisure. You will find that they cater for the classic and traditional pokie games such as the reels and progressive jackpots.
Online Slots – Gamble Responsibly
Playing online pokies is a lot of fun and excitement. Lots of New Zealanders are taking up playing pokies online and are loving it. But, remember playing online pokies, just like playing land based, is a form of gambling. If you are playing online pokies and need support, then reach out to the New Zealand Gambling Help Line.
New Zealand Gambling Statistics
New Zealand is a small country in the Oceanic region with an abundance of natural beauty. Often mistaken as the simply the little brother of Australia, they punch above their weight and more then hold their own economically with natural and organic products and tourism. What’s often overlooked, is that New Zealanders also love to gamble, staying true to the cultural closeness of Australia – whom also to love to place a bet. New Zealanders have numerous betting options ranging from horse racing, casino games to sports betting.
In this article we examine, the gambling statistics of New Zealand. We have actuals results for 2018 and older with projections for 2019 and 2020. They show a lot of interesting trends with results that will surprise many.
Overview of NZ Gambling Statistics
NZ Gambling Statistics can be broken down into the following categories:
- Horse racing
- Grey hound racing
- Sports betting
- Casino games
- Gaming machines
- Lottery games
In total, the gross gambling turnover of all categories combined by year is per the table below:
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 15,965 |
| 2016 | 17,140 |
| 2017 | 17,537 |
| 2018 | 17,956 |
| 2019* | 18,282 |
| 2020* | 18,784 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
For a country that is small in geography and in population, wagering approximately $17 billion NZD per year is a huge amount per player. It is projected that gambling turnover will rise in the ensuring years, with some analysts anticipating turnover to reach $19 billion in 2024. This rise is not reflected in all forms of gambling. Sports betting, as an example that is showing an increase, whilst this is being offset by a fading greyhound scene. Lottery gambling continues to rise in popularity, and forms a large portion of the gambling pie. Horse racing, similar to Australia, is also very popular and remains strongly embedded in the kiwi culture.
The distribution channels in New Zealand are broadly captured in four categories. They include:
- Interactive (online)
- Agency
- Phone
- Land Based Casinos
Agency and Phone betting is mostly used for horse and greyhound, whilst interactive is commonly used for sports betting. Land casino based casino captures the remaining forms of distribution, but also includes pubs, clubs and hotels.
Horse Racing – $1.5 billion wagered per year remaining steady
New Zealanders love their horse betting. They have horse racing AND horse breeding in their blood, competing and winning horse race events around the world. New Zealand, being a wetter country than Australia, result in their horses faring better on a wet track. In 2018, a staggering $1.5 billion of gross turnover was wagered on all forms of horse betting. To put this in context, New Zealand has a population of only just under 5 million. Assuming not everyone places a bet on horse racing, this approximately equates to $1,000 wagered by a horse bettor.
The total amount wagered in 2018, can be split further between On Course Horse Bets of $45 million and Off Course Horse Bets of $1,537 million. Though going to the horse tracks is entertaining, it can be interpreted that there are serious professional horse bettors in New Zealand due to Off Course bets exceeding On Course by a huge margin.
To support further the popularity of horse racing in New Zealand, in 2016 there were over 2,790 thoroughbred races held, while there were 2,595 harness races. We are seeing horse racing being multiple times every day, with more than 10 meets per a day at times. This is a lot of racing!
The future of horse racing in New Zealand is expected to remain strong and steady. We project gambling turning for the year 2020 to remain at $1.5 billion.
Please note, at the time of writing, the first New Zealander to fall ill to the corona virus has been reported. It is unknown how this will impact the gambling turnover for horse betting.
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 1,530 |
| 2016 | 1,589 |
| 2017 | 1,550 |
| 2018 | 1,582 |
| 2019* | 1,523 |
| 2020* | 1,554 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
Greyhound Racing – $100 million wagered per year and declining
Greyhound racing is by no means as popular as horse racing, but is slowly trending down in popularity. The gambling turnover for 2018 was $110 million and can be split between $2.5 million and $107 million (On Course and Off Course respectively). Surprisingly there are more greyhound meets than horses. In 2018, 5,573 greyhound races were held which is almost twice as many thoroughbred meets.
At GambleDex, we are projecting a fall of approximately $2 to $3 million in reduction of gambling turnover on greyhounds per year. The industry is struggling to compete with various other forms of innovative gambling, as seen in the interactive gambling space such as daily fantasy sports. Without a burst of investments or a change in entertainment with the doggies, Greyhound racing will struggle to survive.
For 2020, gambling turn over is expected to drop to $100 million.
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 138 |
| 2016 | 126 |
| 2017 | 115 |
| 2018 | 110 |
| 2019* | 103 |
| 2020* | 100 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
Sports Betting – $600 million wagered per year and growing
Sports betting has risen greatly in popularity in recent years. Interactive gaming (also known as online, internet gaming, mobile gaming) which began slowly when first introduced has begun to grow exponentially. New Zealanders are a sports loving nation, which correlates with the fantastic outdoor activities, and it’s starting to show in wagering through sports betting.
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 405 |
| 2016 | 555 |
| 2017 | 579 |
| 2018 | 609 |
| 2019* | 633 |
| 2020* | 672 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
In 2015 sports gambling turnover was just over $400 million for the year. Projected for 2020, is a turnover of $672 million which represents an increase of 68%. This is a remarkable increase and is reflective of the maturing sports betting market. With the advancement of technology, placing a sports betting is becoming easier, more convenient, and the options and variety of bets is exploding. It wasn’t many years ago that esports and fantasy sports were simply visions or only for the hard core fans, but now they are very much part of the mainstream.
| Sport | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Basketball | 81 | 133 | 139 | 140 |
| Soccer | 69 | 78 | 81 | 97 |
| Tennis | 45 | 78 | 70 | 91 |
| Others | 53 | 67 | 70 | 91 |
| Rugby Union | 57 | 89 | 87 | 79 |
| Rugby League | 49 | 61 | 70 | 67 |
| Cricket | 53 | 50 | 64 | 43 |
| Total | 405 | 555 | 579 | 609 |
Basketball is the most popular sport to place a bet on. In 2018, $140 million was wagered, far exceeding soccer and tennis, which ranks 2nd and 3rd respectively. What is surprising, is that Rugby Union and League aren’t as popular as what many would believe. In addition Union is clearly trending downwards, which coincides with the lack of attendance at the Rugby Union matches.
Rugby Union is a dying sport along with the Greyhounds. Fans are finding the game difficult to follow, a lack of competition by the Aussies who have been appallingly poor in recent years, referees making decisions are controversial. And possibly the drama of Israel Falau (though stemming from Australia) is turning off fans.
Casino Gaming – $4.4 billion trending upwards
Casino gaming is played at 6 casinos in New Zealand. Three of the casinos are owned by SkyCity Entertainment Group. The popularity of casinos remains strong and is trending upwards. In 2018, gambling turning was $4.4 billion and is projected to rise to $4.5 billion in 2020.
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 4,050 |
| 2016 | 4,503 |
| 2017 | 4,396 |
| 2018 | 4,442 |
| 2019* | 4,558 |
| 2020* | 4,597 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
Gaming Machines – $10 billion and rising
Gaming machines which includes slot machines (also known as pokie machines) are by far the most popular form of gambling in New Zealand. In 2018, $10.0 billion was wagered on gambling machines and is projected to grow to $10.7 billion in 2020.
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 8,949 |
| 2016 | 9,393 |
| 2017 | 9,690 |
| 2018 | 9,967 |
| 2019* | 10,291 |
| 2020* | 10,686 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
NZ Lottery – $1.2 billion trending down slightly
The NZ lottery began in 1987 and offers a wide variety of lotto games for Kiwis. They have recently begun to offer online purchasing which has seen a great uptake from locals.
| Year | NZD (m) |
| 2015 | 894 |
| 2016 | 974 |
| 2017 | 1,207 |
| 2018 | 1,246 |
| 2019* | 1,175 |
| 2020* | 1,176 |
* Please note years 2019 and 2020 are estimates, as it has yet to be formally be reported on.
Conclusion – NZ Gambling remains strong
The pokies is by far the most popular of all forms of gambling. With gambling turnover of $10 billion, it more than exceeds casino gaming which comes second at $4.4 billion. Sports betting is clearly rising in popularity, with basketball leading the way. NBA and NBL are certainly making headways into the tradition games of cricket, rugby union and rugby league.
FAQ
Most definitely, you will find an array of online pokie sites that accept New Zealanders.
For sure! There are plenty of online casinos that accept NZD. There is no need to convert your currency to USD or EUR in order to play.
You will need to be at least 18 years old to play at online casinos.
The best NZ online casinos are those who are honest and trustworthy. We rank these the highest for casinos to play at.
Yes, the big global names for sports betting accept New Zealand sport bets.
New Zealanders wagered just over $18 billion NZD in 2019.