FIFA betting in New Zealand: where the World Cup can actually be bet on

Updated October 2026

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Current as of 27 October 2026 against the Racing Industry Act 2020 (section 74AAA) and the Department of Internal Affairs’ register of New Zealand’s sole lawful betting operator.

What a bet on a FIFA match actually costs you

The headline price on a bet slip is not what a wager costs. Two things hide inside it: the payout math, which sets what a winning stake returns, and the margin the bookmaker takes on every market, which sets how much of every dollar staked the bookmaker keeps on average. Both are mechanical. Neither changes because the marketing copy turns a word into a slogan.

What returns when a bet wins. Decimal odds quote what one unit of stake pays back in total, including the stake. A winning single bet at decimal odds of 2.10 returns 2.10 times the stake — the stake plus 1.10 times the stake in profit. A combination bet multiplies the odds of every leg into one price, so a three-leg multi at 2.10, 1.95 and 3.40 returns roughly 13.92 times the stake if each leg wins, and nothing if any leg loses.

What the bookmaker keeps. On a three-way football market — home win, draw, away win — decimal odds imply a probability that adds to more than 100%. The gap between that sum and 100% is the margin. Take an illustrative match priced at 2.10 / 3.40 / 3.60: the implied chances are about 47.6%, 29.4% and 27.8% — they total 104.8%. The payout share over all outcomes is roughly 95.4% and the margin sits at about 4.8%, give or take a few tenths depending on how the rounding lands. That figure is the bookmaker’s built-in edge on this market and it is in the price whether or not anyone reads the terms.

What this changes for a bettor. Two markets that look similar carry different margins. A 1X2 priced near a 5% margin is ordinary for a top-tier football matchup; the same match in a totals market, a handicap line or a same-game multi typically carries more — often 6% to 9%, sometimes higher when the market is thin. The cost of betting is the margin, and the margin is paid out of every winning and losing stake alike. Picking teams cannot beat it; only shopping for smaller margins across markets can.

A worked illustration. On the 2.10 / 3.40 / 3.60 example, a one-unit stake on each of the three outcomes costs three units and returns one unit regardless of the result — 1 ÷ (1/2.10 + 1/3.40 + 1/3.60) ≈ 0.954, so winning 2.10 pays back 2.10 while the other two stakes are lost, and the bookmaker’s house share for the market is about 4.6% to 4.8%. That is not a guarantee — it is an average across many bets on identical odds.

Where it bites hardest. Same-game multis and exotic score lines are where margins climb furthest. The pros call this “juice”; the headline price still works the same way mechanically, but the gap between the three implied chances and 100% widens, and the same stake returns slightly less for a given level of confidence. Reading the implied probability of every leg before placing a multi is the only honest check a bettor can run.

What that leaves. A price is a contract. The math is small and repetitive; the cost compounds because every bet carries it. There is no version of this game with no margin — only markets with thinner margins than others.

The selection: how a FIFA match is presented

A football betting market is not one price on one outcome. A bookmaker’s “match” view is a stack of markets, and a World Cup fixture sits at the top of it.

Pre-match odds

Pre-match odds are the headline layer a bettor meets first: 1X2 (home, draw, away), double chance, both teams to score, totals (over/under a goal line), correct score, half-time/full-time, and Asian or European handicaps when the price permits. The match-result market — the 1X2 — tends to carry the lowest margin, often in the 4% to 6% range on a strongly priced-up fixture like a World Cup group game involving tournament favourites. Totals and handicap lines run a touch higher.

In-play and live betting

In-play, or live, betting lets a bettor back or lay selections while a match is underway. Odds update on a delay driven by the data feed and the bookmaker’s own risk engine — short for popular events, longer for fixtures the engine treats as a tail risk. The market list in live mode is usually shorter than the pre-match list: 1X2, next goal, totals and a handful of player props tend to come in; Asian lines, correct score and small exotic lines often show up only pre-match.

Multi bets and same-game multis

A multi, in New Zealand usage, is a combination bet: a slip with more than one leg, all of which must win for the slip to pay. The payout figures given in the section above are the same arithmetic, only the odds of each leg multiply into one price on the slip. A same-game multi (SGM) is a multi whose legs all come from a single match — match result, both teams to score, total goals, first goalscorer, and the like. The bookmaker’s margin stacks across every leg on an SGM, so the same set of outcomes priced singly tends to cost less than the same outcomes bundled on one slip.

Exotics and player props

Beyond the main lines, a bookmaker’s football menu for a tournament fixture usually runs to first goalscorer and “to score at any time”, correct-score brackets, corners, cards and a thread of player-prop markets for a marquee match. Tournament-level markets — outright winner, top goalscorer, group winners, name the finalists — open weeks ahead of a World Cup and stay live through the group stage and into the knockout rounds.

Where to read terms. Every market has a settlement rule attached: how a voided selection is treated, how extra time affects markets in a knockout tie, how a postponed match is handled. The bookmaker’s published rules decide those cases; the wagering screen does not.

Tournaments, fixtures and the World Cup cycle

FIFA’s calendar gives an international fixture window roughly every two months and a flagship tournament at the close of each four-year cycle. The result is a betting calendar with three layers.

International windows and qualifiers

Outside World Cup and continental championship years, FIFA windows bring club-free internationals — World Cup qualifiers in the run-up to the next edition, friendlies between them, and smaller tournaments (Confederations-style events, U-20 and U-17 World Cups, the Arab Cup, and similar). Markets on these fixtures are thinner than on a senior tournament’s group games, and the margin built into the odds is usually wider because the data feed and the betting population are both small.

The FIFA World Cup itself

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition, was played from 11 June to 19 July 2026 across Canada, Mexico and the United States, the first World Cup hosted by three countries and the first to feature 48 teams. The tournament comprised 104 matches and 308 goals across 16 host cities — eleven in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada. Twelve groups of four started the competition; the top two in each group and the eight best third-placed teams advanced to a 32-team knockout round. Spain won the 2026 edition, beating Argentina 1–0 after extra time in the final at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey; it was Spain’s second title. Kylian Mbappé of France took the Golden Boot with 10 goals, his second in succession; Rodri of Spain won the Golden Ball and Unai Simón the Golden Glove.

Why that matters here. A World Cup is the deepest cycle of the FIFA calendar: outright, group winner, name the finalists, qualifying from the group, top goalscorer, and the full match-menu all sit open at the same time across multiple weeks. Markets on a major Group game in such a tournament usually carry a tight margin; markets on a qualifier against a low-ranked opponent usually do not. For New Zealand punters, the cycle sets which fixtures a bookmaker’s feed supports and how widely the menu runs.

Continental and regional cups

FIFA sits at the top, but confederations run their own senior and youth championships in parallel: the UEFA European Championship (played in 2024, next in 2028), the Copa América, the Africa Cup of Nations, the AFC Asian Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the OFC Nations Cup, alongside youth editions that mirror the seniors. These tournaments are second-tier by FIFA betting volume but run closer to the calendar than the World Cup itself.

Bottom line for the calendar. The market is busiest across a four-week window every four years, busy in the windows just before it as qualifying reaches its sharp end, and seasonal in between. A punter planning to follow the FIFA cycle through a non-tournament year has friendlies, qualifiers and a constant drip of player props; a punter planning only for the next tournament will see most of their action concentrated in a month.

The bookmaker shortlist for New Zealand readers

Picking a bookmaker in New Zealand is not a comparison of ten similar offshore brands. The market is a monopoly, and “the shortlist” looks different for a New Zealand punter than for readers in licensed, multi-brand markets.

TAB — the lawful bookmaker in New Zealand

TAB is the retail and online arm of TAB NZ, the only provider lawfully offering racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand since 28 June 2025. The platform is run operationally by Entain under a 25-year partnership 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 a one-off $100m payment to the racing sector. The TAB app, published under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board on the New Zealand App Store, carries a 17+ age rating and lists an 18+ betting age. Markets include horse and harness racing, rugby union and rugby league, and a roster of other sports, pre-match and live; the platform also includes Trackside live race streaming, racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, racing codes and a simplified wallet for deposits and withdrawals.

What it costs. The price you see is the price TAB NZ sets — there is no second local market to compare against. Safer-gambling tools (deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion) are available in the app, and a self-exclusion applies across both TAB brands. Drawback: the platform is the only option, and a punt comparing two domestic sportsbooks to find a tighter margin on a given match does not exist.

Betcha — TAB NZ’s online-sister brand

Betcha is the second of TAB NZ’s two lawful online brands and runs alongside TAB under the same New Zealand licence. The product is positioned for a younger and more mobile-first audience: horse, greyhound and harness racing; rugby, NRL, MMA and UFC, NBA, NFL, tennis, cricket, football, motorsports and esports. The app, published by Entain New Zealand Limited, was first released on 6 August 2024. Players must be 18 or over to bet.

What it costs. Same monopoly price as TAB, with a UI orientation toward betting on the phone rather than working a full betting shop. Drawback: the brand is not a competing bookmaker with its own line on a fixture — both Betcha and TAB sit inside TAB NZ’s pricing.

Rooster.bet — offshore, not licensed in New Zealand

Rooster.bet brands a Tobique Gaming Commission e-gaming licence (No. 0000002) issued to Novatrix SRL. That licence gives the brand no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. The sportsbook menu shows Live, Sports Promotions, Results, Schedule, E-sports and Predictions sections, with odds displayable in six formats. Six odds formats usually mean a bettor can move the slip between decimal, fractional, American, Hong Kong, Indonesian and Malaysian views.

What it costs. The DIA’s stated position is that offshore operators offering racing or sports bets to people in New Zealand are breaking the Racing Industry Act 2020. There is no New Zealand complaints route, no harm-minimisation framework and no public levy going to the Problem Gambling Levy. A New Zealand punter using Rooster.bet is dealing with a brand outside any New Zealand regulator’s reach. The brand’s own line on a World Cup match will look familiar — multi-format odds, e-sports, predictions — but the cost in this context is not a number; it is the absence of recourse if a payout is disputed.

LegendPlay — offshore, not licensed in New Zealand

LegendPlay names an Anjouan Gaming Authority licence and operates a sportsbook with Sports, Live Betting and Virtual Sports sections — football, tennis, basketball and ice hockey sit near the top of the menu. The licence gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand.

What it costs. The same offshore caveat that applies to every brand in this section of the page: no New Zealand regulator, no obligation to honour New Zealand harm-minimisation standards, and no native complaints path if a payout stalls. The menu uses the same football markets a punter might find on any sportsbook, but with no regulator on the bettor’s side.

22Bet — offshore, not licensed in New Zealand

22Bet names a Curaçao licence (8048/JAZ) held by TechSolutions Group N.V., again giving no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. The product list runs wider than most — over 30 market types per event, including 1X2, Double Chance, totals, both teams to score, correct score, HT-FT, and tennis game/set/handicap markets. A bigger market list usually means more same-game options for a marquee match.

What it costs. Depth of market is not a regulatory status. DIA’s published warning is that overseas operators may not return unspent credits, may not pay out large wins, and may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards. Anyone using 22Bet from New Zealand sits outside the New Zealand complaints system.

Alawin — offshore, no licence that applies in New Zealand

Alawin’s sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball, with Live Betting, Virtual Sports and esports alongside. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand.

What it costs. Beyond the standard offshore caveat, the menu leans strongly on American and table-tennis events; a New Zealand punter focused on FIFA and World Cup qualifiers may find the platform’s depth thinner than a major jurisdiction’s local bookmaker.

Glorion — offshore, no licence that applies in New Zealand

Glorion pairs pre-match and live betting with virtual sports, horse racing and esports, with markets grouped into popular, niche, indoor and outdoor sports plus entertainment markets on award shows and elections. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand.

What it costs. A mix of sportsbook and entertainment betting is unusual; whether the lines are tight depends on the platform’s own liquidity and is not something a New Zealand punter can verify through a regulator they trust.

Golden Panda — offshore, no licence that applies in New Zealand

Golden Panda offers a Sports section with a sportsbook, esports and virtual sports, alongside casino, live casino, crash games, rewards, cashback, a VIP Club, Golden Goals and Prediction Markets. The wider product is a hybrid of betting and casino-style products.

What it costs. The Prediction Markets bracket is the standout: betting on outcomes that have a long horizon (a season, a year) is a thin-margin market on the books the platform offers, but the regulatory question is the same — no New Zealand licence, no New Zealand complaints framework.

RoyalistPlay — offshore, not licensed in New Zealand

RoyalistPlay names a Tobique Gaming Commission e-gaming licence (No. 0000002), the same licence held by Novatrix SRL (the holder named in the Rooster.bet profile above). The sportsbook offers live betting, sports promotions, results and a schedule, with football, basketball, tennis, handball, ice hockey, volleyball and table tennis among the top sports, plus e-sports and a Predictions section.

What it costs. Same offshore caveat. The menu matches the usual 1X2/handicap/totals pattern a New Zealand punter expects on a football match; the regulatory question remains.

Roobet — offshore, not licensed in New Zealand

Roobet brands a Curaçao licence (OGL/2024/687/0427) held by Raw Entertainment B.V., again with no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. The sportsbook covers soccer, basketball, tennis, Counter-Strike, FIFA, baseball, ice hockey, MMA and table tennis, and the platform’s terms require players to be 18 or older.

What it costs. The inclusion of FIFA in a sportsbook menu refers to the EA Sports video-game series used as an esports betting market rather than to the real FIFA organisation — a distinction that matters when a reader looks at lines under “FIFA” and assumes it is the governing body. A bettor must verify which one they are playing on. The offshore caveat stands.

The New Zealand market: who actually takes bets here

New Zealand does not have a bookmaker licensing register, and the reason is not that oversight is missing. It is that there is only one lawful provider, so there is nothing to register against anyone else.

The Racing Industry Act 2020 and section 74AAA

The Racing Industry Act 2020 establishes TAB NZ as the racing and sports betting provider for New Zealand. In 2025, the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA: 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 amendment took effect on 28 June 2025, and the Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect.

Why the wording matters. Section 74AAA targets the operator, not the player. Section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003 (inserted in 2025) provides that an individual may not be convicted for placing a bet with an offshore operator in breach of section 74AAA. The law does not block access to offshore websites; it puts liability on the offshore operator. A New Zealand punter is not charged for placing an offshore wager, but the bet itself sits outside the law’s protection.

TAB and Betcha — the two lawful online brands

TAB NZ has two online brands — TAB and Betcha — run under one operational licence, not two competing sportsbooks. They share the same monopoly status, the same pool of pricing and the same harm-minimisation framework. Betcha is not a rival bookmaker to TAB; it is the same operator on a different product surface.

The Entain arrangement

The 25-year Entain partnership signed in 2023 is the operational engine behind both TAB and Betcha. Entain runs the TAB business, shares 50/50 in gross profits, guarantees at least $150m a year to TAB NZ for the first five years, and pledged a one-off $100m payment to the racing sector on signing. This is why TAB NZ is the only lawful provider and simultaneously works with an international operator — Entain is the technology partner, not a competitor.

Greyhound racing is closing

Greyhound racing in New Zealand is closing in stages from 1 August 2026, and from that date offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either. The change is racing-code specific — it does not affect football betting — but it raises the costs of running an international bookmaker into the New Zealand market.

The marketing side: what advertising rules apply

Because only TAB NZ may offer betting, the Department of Internal Affairs reads the prohibition as covering the promotion of such bets for another operator. The Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code also applies: betting advertisements must not target children (under 14) or young people (14 to under 18), judged by context, appeal and the audience threshold (25% or more of an audience where accurate data exists), must not encourage harm, and must be truthful with terms available. There is no New Zealand equivalent of a “whistle-to-whistle” advertising blackout.

Player protection, safer gambling and where to get help

New Zealand’s harm-minimisation framework runs through TAB NZ’s apps, the gambling helpline and Safer Gambling Aotearoa — and it is reachable only through TAB NZ, not through any offshore brand.

TAB NZ’s tools

TAB NZ lists deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in its app; an exclusion applies across both TAB NZ brands, so a self-excluded punter cannot reopen with the other brand. The platform’s terms require customers to be 18 or over to bet, and a TAB NZ account opening requires a verified New Zealand address and ID.

The national help line

The free New Zealand gambling helpline is 0800 654 655, with a text line at 8006. Gambling Helpline is a national, free-to-call service staffed by counsellors and trained advisors. It is the front line of safer gambling in New Zealand, and it is what TAB NZ’s app lists as its own support path.

The levy that funds prevention

TAB NZ pays a Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74%, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. The levy funds prevention, treatment and public-education work on gambling harm, including Safer Gambling Aotearoa. Offshore operators do not pay into it.

The offshore caveat

An offshore operator advertising to New Zealand players does not put money into the levy, does not display the helpline in its cashier, and is not bound by section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020 (under-18 betting offence) or any New Zealand age-verification standard that TAB NZ’s account flow imposes. The Department of Internal Affairs warns that offshore operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. There is no national online-betting exclusion register: the register the 2026 online casino law will require is for online casinos only.

Tax position for the player

For a recreational bettor, Inland Revenue guidance treats gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is explicitly not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different matter, and the framing that follows is general information, not tax advice — Inland Revenue or an accountant ought to be consulted on edge cases.

A betting plan built around cost

A betting plan for the FIFA calendar in New Zealand starts from one constraint: there is only one legal bookmaker. The strategy section below does not promise outcomes; it walks through how a punter spending a small budget across a tournament gets value out of what the platform lists.

What “value” means in a one-bookmaker market

In a market with multiple sportsbooks, “value” means finding a bookmaker whose line on a fixture is looser than the true odds. New Zealand’s market does not support that comparison. Value, in this market, comes from three other places:

1. Market selection. Picking a market where TAB’s margin is thinnest. The 1X2 of a Group-stage World Cup fixture is usually the tightest market on the board; totals and handicaps run wider; SGMs stack margins leg by leg. The point of selecting a market is paying the smallest margin per unit staked.
2. Stake discipline. A betting bank ought to sit at a level the bettor can afford to lose across the full tournament, not just the opening match. The scale that works for a recreational punter is the stake size that lets them survive a bad run of three or four match-days without changing their plan.
3. Market timing. A line released early before a tournament is built on limited data — pre-tournament injuries, late squad changes, and bookmakers pricing off their own models rather than the sharp money that tightens lines in week one. Value in this market is rarely the early price; it is the line a few hours before kick-off.

Tournament structure as a strategy frame

A World Cup’s group stage produces 48 matches in two weeks, the knockout rounds 15 in two more weeks, and the window of opportunity is shorter than the casual calendar suggests. The structure of the tournament is to shape what a betting plan does:

• Group stage. Markets are deep; pricing is dense; margins are tight on top-of-group fixtures and looser on rank-and-file games. A punter planning to play every match of the group stage is overpaying per bet to clear volume.
• Knockout rounds. Number of markets drops; outright and “name the finalists” markets start to settle; SGMs condense. Stakes ought to rise as certainty rises on names — and the punter who has played a long line throughout the group stage carries exposure into the rounds where teams are most likely to lose.
• Final. The bookmaker’s menu runs wide on the marquee match — correct score, both teams to score, half-time/full-time, first scorer. Margins are usually close to the World Cup average, which is itself often the tightest margin of the year.

The risk the plan cannot remove

The bookmaker’s margin is in the price; no betting plan beats it. The plan can choose which markets cost less per unit staked, but the underlying cost — about 5% on a Group-stage 1X2, somewhat more elsewhere — is paid on every bet. A plan that treats the margin as the constraint, and picks markets and stakes around it, is the closest thing to a value strategy in a one-bookmaker market.

What a model cannot tell you

No model can name which team wins a fixture. Models can describe how a price is built and where it sits relative to the implied chance of each outcome; they cannot say whether that chance is right. A reader who acts on a prediction that names a winner is gambling on the prediction, not on the model.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup: the edition worth knowing

A page on FIFA betting in New Zealand cannot move past the World Cup, even with the 2026 edition behind it. Two reasons: it is the cycle’s anchor fixture, and it set the format for the next edition, in 2030.

Format in 2026

Twelve groups of four teams — 48 teams in total — were the starting field. The top two in each group and the eight best third-placed teams advanced to a 32-team knockout round. The format’s main consequence on the betting side: more matches (104), more group-stage fixtures, more chances to read form early, and a knockout structure that lets a top-heavy team survive an uneven group.

Outcome in 2026

Spain beat Argentina 1–0 after extra time in the final at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford. Mbappé’s Golden Boot tally was 10 goals, second in succession for the French forward. Rodri’s Golden Ball and Unai Simón’s Golden Glove rounded out the individual honours.

Significance for New Zealand punters

New Zealand is not in the 2026 World Cup. The OFC had a single slot allocated through the OFC qualifiers, and New Zealand did not progress through to the tournament proper. A New Zealand punter following the cycle is following events the All Whites are not in. The next four-year cycle leads to the 2030 edition, where the format change to 48 teams is settled and the calendar resets.

What the operator terms actually set

What a bookmaker’s terms control is settlement, not pricing. Pricing is the price on the slip; settlement is what happens when a match is postponed, voided, abandoned, settled on a result later overturned, or interpreted in an ambiguous edge case.

Common settlement rules

A standard settlement set defines what happens at extra time (knockout matches: most match-result markets settle at full time including extra time, while “to qualify” markets settle on the team that progresses), what happens to a match postponed by more than 24 hours (selection usually voids and stake returns), what happens if a player does not start in a player-prop market (most markets void), and what happens when a settled result is later overturned by a sport’s governing body (settlement usually stands at the point of the official ruling on the day, with no revision if a later appeal changes the outcome).

Time limits and minimum prices

Time limits and minimum prices are where offers cost the punter most. A “qualifying bet” usually has to be placed at odds of 1.50 or higher to count toward a turnover requirement; a “boosted odds” offer usually excludes certain markets; a free-bet token usually has a seven-day expiry before it lapses. None of this is hidden in the terms, but the terms are where the cost lives.

Capped returns and stake limits

A free bet or a bonus that pays out only to a stated cap — free-bet winnings capped at $100, “boosted odds” capped at one selection per customer — is a second kind of cost, separate from the margin. The cap is real money the platform has decided not to return, and the punter choosing whether to claim the offer needs to know it is there.

Frequently asked questions

How do I bet on a FIFA match?

Pick a market on the bookmaker’s match view — 1X2, totals, both teams to score, correct score, a handicap line, a player prop, or a same-game multi. Add a selection to the bet slip, type in a stake, place the bet. A winning single returns stake × odds, where the odds are quoted in decimal form ($2.10 returns $2.10 per $1 staked, including the stake).

How do I bet on the FIFA World Cup?

Outright markets on the tournament winner, each group’s winner, “name the finalists” and the Golden Boot open weeks before kick-off and stay live through the group stage. Match-by-match markets open once the fixtures are announced, usually around 30 days out, and refresh in-play as games begin. New Zealand’s only lawful bookmaker for the World Cup, like all football matches in this market, is TAB NZ — through the TAB app or its online-sister brand Betcha. Offshore platforms accepting New Zealand punters are operating outside the New Zealand legal framework.

How do I bet on the FIFA final?

The final’s betting menu is usually published a few days ahead of kick-off and is the deepest of the tournament. Markets run from 1X2 and totals through both teams to score, correct score brackets, first goalscorer, half-time/full-time, and a thicket of player props on the headline names in either squad. Pre-match odds tend to have their tightest margin of the tournament; same-game multis on the final run wider.

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

Since 28 June 2025, only TAB NZ — through its two online brands, TAB and Betcha — may lawfully offer sports or racing betting to people in New Zealand, under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020. There is no licence register for bookmakers because there is no licence to be had; the regime is a monopoly rather than a licensed market. Offshore operators accepting New Zealand punters are operating outside the New Zealand legal framework, with no New Zealand complaints route and no protection if a payout is disputed.

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

Decimal odds quote the total return per $1 of stake, including the stake itself. A winning single at decimal odds of 2.10 returns stake × 2.10 — a $10 stake returns $21, of which $10 is the stake returned and $11 is profit. A combination bet multiplies the odds of every leg into one price: a three-leg multi at 2.10, 1.95 and 3.40 returns roughly 13.92 × stake if each leg wins, and nothing if any leg loses.

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

The margin is the gap between 100% and the sum of the implied probabilities of every outcome on a market, where each outcome’s implied probability is 1 ÷ decimal odds. On a three-way match priced at 2.10 / 3.40 / 3.60, those implied chances are 47.6%, 29.4% and 27.8%, summing to 104.8% — the gap, roughly 4.8%, is the bookmaker’s margin on this market. The cheaper the margin, the closer to a fair price the bookmaker is offering; the thicker the margin, the more the bookmaker keeps on average across all bets on this market.

Written by the editors at Nzsoccerodds.