Betting on sport in New Zealand in 2026: what it costs, who may lawfully take your money, and what the odds actually mean

Updated October 2026

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Betting on sport in New Zealand is not a free market. 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. That single fact shapes everything else on this page: the price you pay, the menu you can bet on, the harm-minimisation tools that protect you, and the meaning of every other betting site a New Zealand punter has heard of. This guide works through that shape — what the law actually says, what the two lawful brands offer, what the offshore alternatives really are, and how to read the number that sits next to a team.

Current as of 26 October 2026, checked against the Racing Industry Act 2020 (as amended), the Department of Internal Affairs public guidance, and the New Zealand Racing Board listings on the New Zealand App Store.

What sporting New Zealand looks like at the bookmaker

New Zealand punting is built around three racing codes — thoroughbred, harness and greyhound — plus rugby union, rugby league and the codes that fill out a busy Saturday: the All Blacks tests, Super Rugby Pacific, NRL, the Football Ferns and the international football calendar, NBA and NFL where the time zones line up, and a growing set of esports markets. The horse racing calendar is the spine of the year: Cup Week, Melbourne Cup, Karaka Millions, the New Zealand Derby. Racing generates the bulk of TAB NZ turnover and the bulk of the tote dividend pool.

Racing aside, the sports that move the most money in New Zealand sit in a familiar order: rugby union, rugby league, football (English Premier League, A-League, the FIFA international windows), cricket, basketball, and the US codes — NBA and NFL — driven by time-zone-friendly start times. Boxing, MMA and tennis fill out the long tail. Each sport has its own bet types: rugby carries head-to-head, line, total points and same-game multi; racing carries win, place, quinella, trifecta, First4, quaddie and Big6; football carries 1X2, both teams to score, correct score, half-time/full-time and accumulator legs.

The market New Zealanders actually bet into is smaller than the global bookmaker market suggests. Two brands, one operator group, one New Zealand Racing Board that holds the betting monopoly. The rest of the brands punters in New Zealand meet — the ones advertised in affiliate sites, the ones promoted by influencers, the ones a Google search returns — sit outside the monopoly and accept New Zealand customers only at the risk of breaking section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020.

How a bet actually works in New Zealand

The mechanics are the same on TAB NZ, Betcha and any offshore site a New Zealand punter can still reach: pick an outcome, choose a stake, the bookmaker offers a price, the bet is struck at that price, and the bet settles after the event.

Picking a market

A market is the menu of outcomes a bookmaker offers on one event. A rugby test between the All Blacks and the Springboks gets a head-to-head market (who wins), a line market (handicap — the All Blacks start at minus X points), a total points market (over or under the line the bookmaker has set), and a same-game multi (combining two or more outcomes from the same match). Racing gets a different menu — the win market (which horse finishes first), the place market (which horses finish in the top two or three, depending on field size), the quinella (the first two in any order), the exacta (the first two in order), the trifecta (the first three in order), First4 (the first four in order), the quaddie (picking the winner of four nominated races), Big6 (picking the winner of six). Each market carries its own margin, which is why the price on a quinella looks nothing like the price on the win.

Choosing a stake

The stake is the amount the punter risks on the bet. New Zealand betting culture speaks in round numbers: $5, $10, $50. TAB NZ’s terms allow stakes down to small amounts, and the maximum stake depends on the market — exotic bet types like quaddies and Big6 often have lower maximum stakes because the dividend pool is sensitive to the bets that go into it. The bookmaker publishes a stake range in the bet slip. A punter who tries to bet above the maximum usually has the stake capped silently, with no warning that the bet was reduced.

Reading the odds

Decimal odds show the total return, including the stake. A price of $2.10 means a $10 bet returns $21 if it wins — the $10 stake plus $11 of profit. A price of $1.50 means a $10 bet returns $15 — the $10 stake plus $5 of profit. A price of $4.00 means a $10 bet returns $40.

Fractional odds, the older British form, are not the everyday language in New Zealand betting. TAB NZ’s app and Betcha’s app use decimal. The handful of sites that show fractional odds (mostly British-influenced bookmakers that have not localised) print them as 5/2, 11/4, 100/30 — the first number is the profit, the second is the stake that earns it.

American odds, the plus/minus form, are not the New Zealand everyday form. Plus 200 means a $100 stake returns $300; minus 150 means a punter stakes $150 to win $100. They appear on US-focused sites.

Striking the bet

The bet slip on TAB NZ and Betcha shows the selection, the price, the stake, the potential return and the bet type (win, place, multi, each way, exotic). The punter confirms, the bet is struck, the price is locked. On racing, the bet is struck into the TAB NZ tote pool or at the fixed-odds price the bookmaker has published. The price on a tote bet is not final until the pool closes and the dividend is declared; the price on a fixed-odds bet is final the moment it is struck.

Settling

After the event, the bookmaker settles the bet. A win pays the stake times the locked price. A loss pays nothing. A void race, an abandoned match and certain rule breaches push the stake back. Exotic bet types like quaddies and Big6 settle after the last leg; if any leg is void, the bet usually stands without that leg.

The ten-bookmaker picture in New Zealand in 2026

The ranking below puts TAB NZ’s two brands first because they are the only operators that may lawfully take bets from people in New Zealand. Every other brand below them is “not licensed in New Zealand” — listed because New Zealand punters meet them, rated against the same criteria, and described as the operator’s own terms describe them. They are not ranked against the lawful brands; they sit in a different category.

The comparison below names the brand, the New Zealand status, and what the operator’s own terms state on the matter the page is covering.

The spread is honest about a structural fact: nine of the ten brands cannot lawfully take bets from a person in New Zealand. The two at the top are the same operator group under different labels.

Overview: the fundamentals a New Zealand punter needs before betting

What “legal” actually means in New Zealand

Since the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 took effect on 28 June 2025, section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 reads that 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 told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect. There is no licence to apply for, and no licence register for bookmakers, because there is only one lawful provider. TAB and Betcha are the two online brands of that one provider.

A New Zealand resident can open a TAB NZ account and place a bet. A New Zealand resident can place a bet with an offshore site that accepts them, and that site is breaking New Zealand law by taking the bet. Section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003, inserted in 2025, says an individual may not be convicted for placing a bet with an offshore betting operator in breach of section 74AAA — no published penalty for a player was found. The framing the Department of Internal Affairs uses is: the law targets the operator, the agency warns players of the risks, and a player who bets offshore lacks any New Zealand consumer protection if a payout is withheld.

The two lawful brands

TAB NZ is the trading name of the New Zealand Racing Board. TAB is the older brand, a familiar retail and online presence: shops, app, website, racing form, Blackbook, Trackside live streaming, simplified wallet, deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. Betcha is the newer mobile-first brand, released on the New Zealand App Store on 6 August 2024 by Entain New Zealand Limited, designed for a younger punter and the same fixed-odds engine.

Entain runs the TAB business under a 25-year agreement signed in 2023. The deal gives Entain a 50/50 share of gross profits, with at least $150m a year going to TAB NZ for the first five years, and Entain pledged a one-off $100m payment to the racing sector. The two brands share a wallet, a licence and a harm-minimisation framework — an exclusion from TAB also excludes from Betcha, and the same deposit limit applies across both. They are not rivals.

The offshore alternative

The list in this guide includes nine brands punters in New Zealand meet in advertising and search. They are licensed in Curaçao or hold no licence at all that reaches New Zealand. They accept bets from many places; New Zealand is not one of the places they accept lawfully. The price they offer is often sharper than TAB NZ’s price — the margin is lower on football and basketball because the bookmaker’s volume is global. The trade-off is that an exclusion from one of these brands does not stop play, and players have no access to the New Zealand consumer protection system if a payout is disputed or withheld. Regulatory agencies globally warn that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. Players must note that the New Zealand government’s warning is that these sites operate outside local regulations. As a result, the New Zealand complaints route does not reach these offshore operators.

Legality and regulation: what the statute says and what it means for the punter

The Racing Industry Act 2020

The Racing Industry Act 2020 establishes TAB NZ as the sole betting provider for racing and sports in New Zealand. Section 74AAA, inserted by the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025, locks that monopoly in: only TAB NZ may offer racing or sports betting to a person in New Zealand. The change took effect on 28 June 2025, and the regulator requested that all providers serving New Zealand withdraw from the market immediately.

The Department of Internal Affairs

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is the gambling regulator under the Gambling Act 2003 and monitors compliance with the betting prohibition. DIA’s public position is that TAB NZ and Betcha are the only lawful providers of online sports and racing bets in New Zealand. DIA does not block offshore websites; it puts liability on the offshore operator. There is no prosecution of an offshore bookmaker on the public record at the time of writing.

The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026

The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 licenses online casino gambling only. It does not license sports betting. TAB New Zealand winning the right to apply for a casino licence does not extend the betting monopoly. Casino gambling and betting are separate permits with separate rules — a casino age limit is never a betting age limit, a casino limit is never a betting limit.

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing is closing in stages from 1 August 2026. From that date, offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either. The TAB NZ tote closes its greyhound pools; the racing calendar shrinks by one code.

Payments

No statutory payment rule for betting accounts (card, bank, credit, prepaid, crypto) was found. TAB NZ’s deposit methods and limits are operator-level and come only from its terms — never generalise. Nothing states a rule on crypto or VPN use; account opening at TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address. DIA warns that overseas operators may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins; no payment-blocking order or bank obligation was found.

Advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code applies to betting advertisements: ads must not target children (under 14) or young people (14 to under 18), judged by context, appeal and expected audience (25% or more of the audience counts as significant where accurate data exists), must not encourage harm, and must be truthful with terms available. No New Zealand equivalent of a “whistle-to-whistle” ban for betting was found. How DIA treats betting affiliates is not established, so this guide describes the monopoly and never invites readers to sign up with an offshore brand.

Tax

For the player, Inland Revenue guidance says recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different case — general information, not tax advice, “consult Inland Revenue or an accountant”. On the operator side, TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74% (in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028). Overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty of 12% of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16% from 1 January 2027 — but a duty being payable does not make an offer lawful. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets ceased on 30 June 2026.

Responsible gambling: what the tools actually do and where to get help

The tools TAB NZ provides

The TAB NZ app lists deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion as in-app tools. A deposit limit caps how much can be put into the account over a chosen period — daily, weekly, monthly. A time-out pauses the account for a chosen period — 24 hours, a week, a month. Self-exclusion closes the account for a longer period and is the strongest of the three. The exclusion applies across TAB and Betcha; a punter cannot get back in by switching brands.

What the tools cost

A deposit limit set low means the punter cannot chase losses by topping the account up mid-session. A time-out set for a week means a punter who has lost cannot undo it with a single click. Self-exclusion is the bound that keeps the punter from play while the urge is hottest. Each tool works only if it is set before the urge, not after. The Department of Internal Affairs publishes that TAB NZ accounts need a verified New Zealand address and ID — the verification is what makes the exclusion enforceable.

Where to get help

The free Gambling Helpline is 0800 654 655, with a text line on 8006. Safer Gambling Aotearoa publishes self-help material and a directory of counselling services. Problem gambling is treatable, and a punter who reads the signs in their own play is the one most likely to use these services before the consequences compound.

What the offshore alternative does not provide

An offshore bookmaker licensed in Curaçao or holding no licence that reaches New Zealand provides harm-minimisation tools the operator has chosen to build. None of them are connected to a New Zealand harm-minimisation framework. None of them feed into the Gambling Helpline. None of them bar a New Zealand punter from re-opening the account with a different email. The exclusion does not stick across operators. The bet is the punter’s, and so is the recovery.

Bet types and odds: the menu and how to read it

Racing bet types

Racing bet types split into two families. Win and place are the simple family: pick the winner, pick a horse in the top two or three. Each way combines the two — a $10 each-way bet is $10 on the win and $10 on the place. Exotics are the second family: quinella (first two in any order), exacta (first two in order), trifecta (first three in order), First4 (first four in order), double (winner of two named races), treble (winner of three), quaddie (winner of four named races), Big6 (winner of six). The exotics pay better because they are harder to land — picking the first four in order out of a 14-horse field has 24,024 possible orderings.

Sports bet types

Sports bet types on TAB NZ and Betcha follow the international menu. 1X2 (home win, draw, away win) is the football default. Head-to-head is the rugby and basketball default — who wins, no draw. Line betting adds a handicap: the All Blacks at minus 6.5 start the match 6.5 points behind, and the bet is decided after that adjustment. Totals (over or under a number the bookmaker has set) is the second most popular rugby and basketball market. Both teams to score, half-time/full-time, correct score and double chance extend the menu on football. Each way and place apply to outright markets — top-four finish, tournament winner, season win totals.

Multi and same-game multi

A multi (also called an accumulator) combines two or more selections into one bet. The odds of the legs multiply into one price. A two-leg multi at $1.50 and $2.00 pays $3.00; a three-leg multi at those two plus $3.00 pays $9.00. The catch is that every leg must win — one loss kills the multi. A same-game multi (SGM) is a multi whose legs come from one event: All Blacks head-to-head, plus total points over 50.5, plus All Blacks to score first. The legs correlate, and the bookmaker’s margin on a same-game multi is higher than on the individual markets because the legs are not independent.

The margin on an illustrative two-way market

The margin is the slice of every dollar bet on a market that the bookmaker keeps on average. It is what sits between the prices a bookmaker offers and a market that paid out exactly what was staked. A simple example shows how it works: a tennis match with two players and decimal odds of $1.90 on each. The implied probability of each price is 1 ÷ 1.90 = 0.5263, or about 52.63%. Add them: 0.5263 + 0.5263 = 1.0526, or about 105.26%. The sum exceeds 100% by 5.26 percentage points. That excess is the bookmaker’s margin — the slice the bookmaker keeps on average of every dollar staked on this market.

This margin holds for the simple, symmetric, two-way market at this exact price. It shifts when the odds move, when one outcome gets heavy money, when the bookmaker rebalances, and when the same firm offers a different market on the same event — totals, handicaps, exact-score and same-game multi each carry a margin of their own, often higher because the outcomes are correlated and harder for the punter to price. A punter comparing prices across firms needs to compare the margin, not the headline odds.

How the system works in New Zealand

Opening an account

TAB NZ accounts need a verified New Zealand address and ID. The verification is what makes the harm-minimisation tools enforceable — a punter who sets a deposit limit cannot raise it instantly without re-verifying, and a self-excluded punter cannot reopen the account under a different name. Offshore bookmakers take a name, an email and a payment method, and the verification depth is the operator’s choice.

Depositing and withdrawing

TAB NZ’s simplified wallet handles deposits and withdrawals through standard New Zealand payment methods. Limits are operator-level and come from TAB NZ’s terms. Offshore sites accept a wider set of payment methods — crypto, prepaid cards, e-wallets — and the limits are the operator’s choice too. Withdrawals on offshore sites can be problematic: if the operator decides to withhold a payout, the punter lacks the protection of New Zealand’s statutory complaints system.

Placing a bet

The bet slip shows the selection, the price, the stake, the potential return and the bet type. The punter confirms, the bet is struck, the price is locked. A punter who is new to a market and uncertain about the bet type is advised to read the bet slip slowly — same-game multi, each way and quinella all look similar on a small screen.

Trackside and live streaming

TAB NZ’s app includes Trackside live race streaming with in-app betting. Betcha covers racing too, though the streaming feature is the TAB NZ app’s. Live betting is listed in the TAB NZ apps; any statutory restriction on in-play markets is not established. A punter who bets in-play needs to know that the price the bookmaker offers moves while the event is being played, and that the locked price is the one the bet is settled at.

What this costs the reader

The cost a margin sets

The bookmaker’s margin sits inside every price a punter sees. A 5.26% margin on a two-way market at $1.90 means that for every $100 staked across both outcomes, the punter base gets back $94.74 on average. That is the cost of the service — the bookmaker’s profit, the cost of the platform, the marketing spend. The punter’s job is to find prices whose margin is lower than the punter’s edge; the bookmaker’s job is to set a margin that captures most punters most of the time.

The cost a same-game multi sets

A same-game multi carries a margin that is higher than the individual markets because the legs are correlated. A punter who builds a same-game multi for the convenience of one bet slip pays the bookmaker’s margin on the combined price, and the difference between the multi’s price and the multiplication of the individual legs is the cost of the convenience. The all-in multi of two correlated selections is rarely the best price.

The cost an offer sets

TAB NZ runs “bonus bets” promotions. No New Zealand rule on bet-bonus size or wagering terms was found, so quote only TAB NZ’s own terms. The general rule for a bonus bet whose stake is not paid back is that the bet is worth approximately the bonus amount multiplied by the odds, minus one, divided by the odds, multiplied by the payout share of the market. The free bet is worth less than the headline bonus amount because the stake does not come back. A punter who reads a $100 bonus bet as $100 has not yet read the bonus terms.

The cost of chasing the price offshore

An offshore site often quotes a sharper line than TAB NZ because the bookmaker’s margin is lower on a global market. The price is sharper on the headline; the cost shows up where the punter is not looking — in the absence of local consumer oversight, in the operator’s right to withhold a payout on its own terms, in the absence of harm-minimisation tools that reach a New Zealand context. The sharper price is real, and the trade is real too.

Sports and tournaments in New Zealand in 2026

Racing codes

Thoroughbred, harness and greyhound are the three racing codes. Greyhound racing closes in stages from 1 August 2026. The thoroughbred calendar carries the year: Cup Week in the spring, Karaka Millions in the summer, the New Zealand Derby in the autumn, the Melbourne Cup in November. Harness racing runs through the year with its own feature nights. Each code has its own form, its own betting menu and its own tote pool.

Rugby union and rugby league

Super Rugby Pacific, the All Blacks test schedule, NPC and the Ranfurly Shield drive rugby union betting. NRL drives rugby league betting — the Warriors, the Melbourne Storm, the State of Origin. Both codes carry head-to-head, line, total points and same-game multi. Rugby union’s draw rules make line and total points more popular than 1X2-style markets.

Football

The English Premier League, A-League and the FIFA international windows drive football betting. 1X2, both teams to score, correct score, half-time/full-time, double chance and accumulators are the menu. The Football Ferns and the OFC qualifiers are smaller markets on TAB NZ — a punter who wants the international women’s game or the Oceania region will find it.

Cricket, basketball and the US codes

The Black Caps’ international schedule and the domestic competitions drive cricket betting. NBA and NFL sit in the New Zealand evening, which is why they sit in the New Zealand betting calendar. Baseball, ice hockey and boxing fill the long tail.

Esports

TAB NZ’s coverage of esports is not established from the public sources. Offshore sites are esports-first — Thunderpick covers CS2, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Valorant; BigClash covers FPS and MOBA titles. Whether esports betting is “sports betting” under the Racing Industry Act is not established. A punter who bets on esports from an offshore site accepts the same trade the offshore punter accepts: the price is real, but access to a New Zealand dispute mechanism is not.

Boxing and combat sports

Boxing, MMA and UFC carry head-to-head, method of victory and round markets. The TAB NZ menu covers the main cards. Offshore sites cover deeper cards.

Walkthrough: how a New Zealand punter places a bet from start to finish

Choosing a market

A punter who has not yet picked a market starts with a sport and an event. TAB NZ’s app sorts by sport and by time of day — a Wednesday evening shows the NRL and the English Premier League. The punter taps a fixture and the app shows the markets: head-to-head, line, total, multi. Each market shows a price; the punter picks the price that matches the read on the game.

Choosing a bet type

For a rugby match, head-to-head is the simplest. A punter who thinks the All Blacks will win by more than 6.5 picks the All Blacks at the line. A punter who thinks the match will be tight and high-scoring picks the over on the total. A punter who wants more risk for more return picks a multi.

Choosing a stake — bet

The stake is the punter’s choice. TAB NZ’s bet slip shows the potential return at any stake. A punter who sets a deposit limit cannot exceed it. A punter who has set a self-exclusion cannot place the bet at all.

Striking the bet (2)

The punter confirms the bet on the bet slip. The price locks. The bet is on.

Settling — bet

After the event, TAB NZ settles the bet. A win pays the locked price times the stake. A loss pays nothing. A void event — a match abandoned, a race void — pushes the stake back. The punter sees the result in the bet history.

Repeating or stopping

A punter who has set a time-out cannot place the next bet. A punter who has not can choose to repeat the bet on the next event, change market, or stop. The tools work only if they are set.

Walkthrough: how the same bet works on a racing event

Reading the form

TAB NZ’s app and the Betcha app carry racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge. A punter who reads the form picks a horse; a punter who does not picks by name, by colour, by the longest price on the screen.

Choosing the bet type

Win is the simplest. Place is safer. Quinella, exacta, trifecta and First4 are exotics — harder to land, higher dividend when they land. Quaddie and Big6 are jackpots — picking the winner of four or six named races. Each way combines win and place.

Choosing a stake — bet (2)

The exotics pay more but cost the same per combination. A $1 trifecta box of three horses costs $6 ($1 on each of the six combinations of three horses in order). A $1 First4 box of four horses costs $24. A punter who bets a $1 First4 on every combination is committing a large stake for a long-odds payout.

Striking the bet (3)

The punter confirms on the bet slip. The bet is on.

Settling — bet (2)

TAB NZ settles after the race. A win on a fixed-odds bet pays the locked price times the stake. A win on a tote bet pays the dividend declared when the pool closes. The dividend is not final until the race closes.

How the operators stack up

TAB

TAB is the older brand of the only lawful provider. The betting menu covers horse and harness racing, rugby union and rugby league, plus the long tail of football, cricket, basketball and the US codes. The app carries racing form, Trackside live race streaming, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge, deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. The harm-minimum framework in the app is connected to the national system for resolving disputes. The price on some markets carries a premium over the global average — TAB NZ’s volume on certain international football events is smaller than the volume on a major offshore book, and the bookmaker’s margin is wider for the same reason.

The verdict: TAB is the only lawful choice for a New Zealand punter, and the only choice with an approved local consumer protection framework, a New Zealand harm-minimisation framework and a New Zealand self-exclusion that sticks. The price is the price of being lawful.

Betcha

Betcha is the newer mobile-first brand of the same operator group. The menu covers horse, greyhound and harness racing plus rugby, NRL, MMA/UFC, NBA, NFL, tennis, cricket, football, motorsports and esports. The app is built for a phone, the bet slip is a swipe, the wallet is shared with TAB. The exclusion from TAB also excludes from Betcha, the deposit limit applies across both.

The verdict: Betcha is the same operator as TAB in a different wrapper. A punter who likes the TAB NZ menu but wants a phone-first app picks Betcha; a punter who wants racing form and Trackside live streaming picks TAB. There is no price difference between the two on the same market — the fixed-odds engine is shared.

Thunderpick

Thunderpick is an esports-first bookmaker with a sportsbook that ranges from the Champions League to the NFL. The bookmaker offers cash-out and a Curaçao licence held by Paloma Media B.V. The Curaçao licence gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. The bookmaker’s harm-minimisation tools are the operator’s own; local consumer protection agencies have no oversight here.

The verdict: Thunderpick suits a punter who wants esports-first depth, who is comfortable with a Curaçao licence, and who is betting from outside New Zealand. The headline price is sharper than TAB NZ on certain football and basketball markets, but the provider lacks a New Zealand-approved framework for resolving consumer disputes and harm-minimisation.

BigClash

BigClash runs pre-match and live sports betting across international and local leagues, virtual sports and esports on FPS and MOBA titles. The bookmaker names a Curaçao licence (8048/JAZ). This brand is not regulated by New Zealand authorities, meaning it lacks an approved process for resolving disputes.

The verdict: BigClash suits a punter who wants virtual sports and esports on a Curaçao-licensed bookmaker. Like other offshore operators, this brand lacks a New Zealand licence and does not provide an approved framework for resolving payout disputes or managing gambling harm.

RTbet

RTbet’s sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball, with live betting and virtual sports. The bookmaker names a Curaçao licence. As an offshore entity, it is not subject to New Zealand’s regulatory framework for betting.

The verdict: RTbet suits a punter who wants depth on European football and US sports, and who is comfortable with a Curaçao licence. Like other offshore providers, it operates without local licensing or an approved dispute resolution framework.

22Bet

22Bet offers more than 30 market types per event — 1X2, double chance, totals, both teams to score, correct score, HT-FT, plus tennis game, set and handicap markets. The bookmaker names a Curaçao licence (8048/JAZ), held by TechSolutions Group N.V. This operator is not licensed to serve the New Zealand market and does not offer access to local complaint channels.

The verdict: 22Bet suits a punter who wants market depth on a single event — the multi-builder is the headline feature, and the bookmaker’s margin on combined markets is wider than the margin on the individual markets because the legs are correlated.

Roobet

Roobet’s sportsbook covers soccer, basketball, tennis, Counter-Strike, FIFA, baseball, ice hockey, MMA and table tennis. The terms require players to be 18 or older. The bookmaker names a Curaçao licence (OGL/2024/687/0427), held by Raw Entertainment B.V. It operates independently of New Zealand licensing, so local legal remedies for gambling disputes are unavailable.

The verdict: Roobet suits a punter who bets on esports and who wants a Curaçao-licensed operator with age verification. It operates independently of the New Zealand regulatory system, offering none of the consumer protections built into New Zealand’s gambling framework.

Spinbara

Spinbara runs a casino and a sportsbook under one account, with a first deposit bonus described on its English site alongside a casino welcome. The bookmaker names no licence that applies in New Zealand.

The verdict: Spinbara suits a punter who wants a casino-and-sportsbook combination and is comfortable with no licence that applies in New Zealand. As an unlicensed offshore brand, it falls outside the jurisdiction of New Zealand regulators and provides no access to the national harm-minimisation framework for support.

Alawin

Alawin’s sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball, with live betting, virtual sports and esports. The bookmaker names no licence that applies in New Zealand.

The verdict: Alawin suits a punter who wants European football and US sports, plus live betting and virtual sports, and who is comfortable with no licence that applies in New Zealand.

Telbet

Telbet describes itself as a crypto casino and sportsbook, with in-play betting and a My Bets page. The site publishes separate sports betting rules, bonus terms and responsible gambling and AML policies. The bookmaker names no licence that applies in New Zealand.

The verdict: Telbet suits a punter who wants crypto deposits and a sportsbook with separate, clearly published sports betting rules.

The cost in plain numbers

The calculation that informs every price a punter sees is the margin. A two-way market with decimal odds of $1.90 on each side carries an implied probability of 52.63% per side — the sum is 105.26%, and the excess over 100% is the bookmaker’s margin, which works out to about 5.26% of the total stake on this market. For every $100 staked across both outcomes of a market at $1.90 each, the punter base gets back about $94.74 on average. The rest is the bookmaker’s slice.

That margin is the cost of betting, and it is a band rather than one figure because the price moves as the market is shaped — heavy money on one side tightens that side’s price and lengthens the other, which raises the implied probability on the other side and shifts the average. A punter comparing prices across firms needs to compare the margin, not the headline odds.

Frequently asked questions

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

Decimal odds show the total return, including the stake. A price of $2.10 on a $10 stake returns $21 if it wins — the $10 stake plus $11 of profit. A price of $1.50 on a $10 stake returns $15 — the $10 stake plus $5 of profit. The arithmetic is stake times the price. A combination bet’s price is the multiplication of the legs, so a three-leg multi at $1.50, $2.00 and $3.00 pays $9.00 on a $1 stake.

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

TAB NZ and Betcha are the two online brands of the only lawful provider. The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025, and only TAB NZ may offer racing or sports betting to a person in New Zealand. The Department of Internal Affairs told providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect, and there is no licence to apply for.

How do you read football match odds correctly?

Football markets show the 1X2 menu (home win, draw, away win) plus totals, both teams to score, correct score and half-time/full-time. The price is the total return including the stake. The bookmaker’s margin on football is the sum of the implied probabilities of the prices offered minus 100%; a margin of 5% to 7% is ordinary on football. A punter who picks the team with the lowest implied probability minus the punter’s own probability has found a price with an edge.

How do you bet on horse racing odds in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong racing runs at Sha Tin and Happy Valley. The TAB NZ menu covers international meetings; a Hong Kong race meeting is a standard racing menu — win, place, quinella, trifecta, First4 — at the dividend the TAB NZ tote or fixed-odds offers. The same mechanics as a New Zealand meeting; the form is international, the horses carry Hong Kong names, and the dividend pool is set by the bets that go into it.

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

The margin is the slice of every dollar bet on a market that the bookmaker keeps on average. It is the sum of the implied probabilities of the prices offered minus 100%. On a two-way market at $1.90 each, the implied probability is 52.63% per side, the sum is 105.26%, and the margin is about 5.26%. The lower the margin, the better the price for the punter. The margin shifts as the odds move and as the bookmaker rebalances, and a same-game multi carries a higher margin than the individual markets because the legs are correlated.

Published by the Nzsoccerodds team.