The New Zealand betting market after the monopoly and what ten bookmakers actually offer in 2026

Updated October 2026

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The line that ran under the lead paragraph of this guide is the comparison’s anchor, and the page stands on it. Read it before anything else:

Currency: as of 26 October 2026, verified against the Department of Internal Affairs register and the Racing Industry Act 2020.

That line is also the first thing to age. The licence landscape is settled, but the odds and the offer terms move weekly, so every concrete number on this page carries its own snapshot date.

Payments and payout speed — what actually moves money in New Zealand

TAB NZ runs on the standard rail New Zealanders already use. Deposits clear from a New Zealand bank account, EFTPOS card, POLi, or a debit card on the Visa and Mastercard networks, and the app’s wallet is the place where funds sit between bets. Withdrawals return to the same source they came from — a deposit by card comes back as a refund on the card; a bank deposit comes back to the bank. E-wallets are not a TAB product, because the operator has no reason to slot one in when its own rails already cover every account in the country.

The offshore names on this page are built around cards and crypto instead. Thunderpick leans on Bitcoin and a handful of altcoins, because esports-first customers want deposits that clear between matches. 22Bet and Sportaza both offer cards plus a long list of e-wallets, with Skrill, Neteller and a regional wallet usually sitting beside the card option; the same brands take crypto on a separate cashier. RTbet, BillyBets, BigClash, BetAlright and Glorion all run on the same offshore playbook — card, e-wallet, sometimes crypto — and pay out through whichever channel the account was verified on. None of those rails is regulated by the Department of Internal Affairs, and that is the deeper point. A Skrill refund that lands in a New Zealand bank still arrives from a Curaçao or Anjouan licence holder, not from a New Zealand-regulated entity, and the dispute path that follows a problem bet leads to a regulator that has no jurisdiction over New Zealand customers.

Speed in numbers

TAB NZ pays most withdrawals back to a New Zealand bank in one to three business days, and refunds to Visa and Mastercard debit cards typically clear inside two. The wallet-to-bank leg is the slowest part, because it is the only real movement of funds in the chain. Offshore brands quote faster windows — some advertise “instant” payouts to e-wallets — but the window begins after the operator’s own approval, and approval can be the slow step on a first withdrawal, when source-of-funds checks kick in. The right comparison is not TAB’s one day against an offshore brand’s five minutes; it is TAB’s one to three days against three to seven days for the average offshore withdrawal once verification is done.

What “no verification” actually means

A handful of offshore brands market “no ID” or “no KYC” wallets. The marketing is a description of the account-opening step, not of the cashier. Source-of-funds checks, large-withdrawal triggers and sanctions screening still apply, and the moment one of those lights up, the missing verification becomes the reason a payout stalls. The reader who values speed above all else must expect to verify at some point; the question is whether that moment happens at deposit or at withdrawal. TAB NZ verifies at deposit. Offshore brands vary.

Predictions and strategy — what tipsters actually cost in this market

New Zealand has a small but active tipster scene, and most of it orbits racing rather than sport. Racing form is a TAB NZ product — the app carries form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, which means a punt who wants to do their own work can build a model from data the operator itself publishes. Anything outside that — paid tipsters, accumulator services, social-media picks — is unregulated by any New Zealand authority. The Department of Internal Affairs does not vet a tipster and the Advertising Standards Authority’s gambling code applies to ads, not to predictions.

The cost of following tips

A tipster who sells a subscription at NZ$30 a month and lands winners at 15 per cent strike rate on average is selling 0.15 winners per race for the price of a subscription. The reader who follows every tip at a $10 stake over a month of racing burns $300 in stakes and collects roughly $45 in winners at average odds — before the subscription is taken into account. The arithmetic looks different with staking plans and exotic bet types, but the order of magnitude is the point: a tipster’s edge is a fraction of a per cent, and the subscription has to be cheaper than that edge.

What a tipster service does

It moves the work from the punt to a stranger. The honest version of that trade says so out loud: a tipster service is time-saving, not money-making, and the only honest test is whether the time saved is worth the subscription against the punter’s own time. Models vary. Some tipsters publish full staking plans and audited P&L; most publish a winning photograph and a long losing streak they prefer to forget. The punter who takes tips at face value is the punter who pays for them longest.

Strategy within the law

The only strategies that fit the New Zealand framework cleanly are the ones that use TAB NZ data and TAB NZ markets. A staking plan based on TAB dividends, a value hunt across the day’s fixed-odds card, a same-game multi built from one rugby match — all of these are inside the system and backed by data the operator publishes. Anything that depends on an offshore bookmaker, on arbitrage between two books, or on a tipster service that quotes betting screens the punter cannot see, sits on the wrong side of the law for the operator, even though the player is not the target of enforcement.

Bet types and odds — the markets TAB NZ runs and what shape they take

The Racing Industry Act 2020 names the bet types TAB NZ may offer; they are the same names a New Zealand punter hears at the counter. Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie, Big6, Multis and Same Game Multis. On the sport side the catalogue is fixed-odds and live, plus racing’s pool bets, with a Same Game Multi built from one event rather than stitched together across the day’s card. The vocabulary is the operator’s own — it is in the betting rules TAB NZ publishes, and the punter who wants to know whether a bet exists looks for the name there.

Reading a tote dividend

A tote dividend is the share of the pool that returns to winning tickets, divided by the stake on the winning ticket. A $2 win dividend of $3.40 pays $3.40 for every $2 staked on the winner. The arithmetic is simple once you have the dividend and the stake, but the dividend itself depends on the pool. A late money move on a second favourite shrinks the dividend on the favourite, because more winning tickets are splitting the pool. The punter who reads a tote card early and bets late is reading a stale price.

Reading a fixed-odds price

A decimal price of 2.10 means a $10 stake returns $21 — the stake plus a $11 profit. The same price in fractional form is 11/10. New Zealand bookmakers publish decimal odds as the default, and TAB NZ is no exception. A punter who is comfortable in fractions can read decimals as long as they remember the rule: decimal odds of 2.00 are the break-even point, anything below is a bet the operator expects to win.

Same-game multis and why they cost more

A Same Game Multi stitches several outcomes from one match into a single bet. The legs multiply into one price, but the price on each leg is shorter than the same outcome on its own, because the operator is taking correlated risk. Two selections from the same match are correlated — a team that scores first is likelier to win — and the price reflects that. The punter who sees a Same Game Multi as a way to get a longer price on a short favourite is paying for the correlation through shorter legs. The total price still works as a payout calculation; it just costs more in margin than two single bets.

Sports and tournaments — what the New Zealand calendar actually looks like

The TAB NZ app carries horse, harness and (until 1 August 2026) greyhound racing, plus rugby union, rugby league, football, cricket, basketball, tennis, MMA and motorsport. The seasonal rhythm is racing-led. Spring is the thoroughbred season — Melbourne Cup in late October or early November, then the summer racing codes take over. Rugby is the winter beat: Super Rugby Pacific from late February, then test rugby in July and August, with the All Blacks the local touchstone. Cricket runs through the southern summer, with the Black Caps in Tests, ODIs and T20Is and the domestic Super Smash in the shorter formats. NRL brings rugby league through the southern winter, and the Warriors are the New Zealand side in the comp. Basketball lives in the NBA window and the NBL window.

Racing codes

Thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing are the three codes TAB NZ offers. Greyhound racing closes in stages from 1 August 2026, and from that date offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either. Thoroughbred and harness continue. The form data for all three is in the TAB NZ app, with Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools for the punter who wants to track runners across meetings.

Rugby codes

Rugby union is the deeper New Zealand market — Super Rugby Pacific is the season’s spine, and the All Blacks are the headline. Rugby league lives in NRL, with the Warriors as the local side. Both codes carry fixed-odds and live markets at TAB NZ, and Same Game Multis built around the try-scoring and the handicap line.

Cricket and the codes underneath

Cricket is a southern-summer sport in New Zealand. The Black Caps play Tests, ODIs and T20Is; Super Smash is the domestic T20 league. TAB NZ takes fixed-odds and live bets on the international calendar, with the markets most punter interest is built around — top batsman, top bowler, method of dismissal, runs at the fall of the first wicket. Same Game Multis on T20 are the highest-volume market of the format.

Football, basketball, MMA, motorsport

Football covers the English Premier League, the Champions League, the A-League and the international calendar. Basketball is mostly NBA in the New Zealand window, with NBL as the local product. MMA is UFC-led. Motorsport is Formula 1 and a handful of two-wheel championships. TAB NZ carries all of them at fixed-odds and live, with markets that match the offshore bookmakers for the headline events.

What offshore brands add to the same calendar

Thunderpick covers esports as a primary product, with CS2, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Valorant in the front window and a sportsbook behind. 22Bet lists over thirty market types per football match, including 1X2, Double Chance, totals, both teams to score, correct score and HT-FT, plus tennis game, set and handicap markets. Sportaza offers cash out, Bet Builder, multiples, Asian lines and interval markets in one, five, ten or fifteen-minute ranges. RTbet covers the core sports — football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball — with live betting and virtual sports. BillyBets covers the same sports plus combat sports, esports and virtual sports. BigClash runs pre-match and live betting across international and local leagues. BetAlright covers the standard football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball list. Glorion adds entertainment markets — award shows and elections — to the menu. None of these catalogues is wider than TAB NZ’s catalogue for the events New Zealand punters actually bet on; the difference is depth on the secondary sports and the volume of exotic markets on the headline events. The choice is between TAB NZ’s regulated rails and the offshore product’s catalogue breadth, and the trade-off sits on top of the licence question rather than beside it.

Top ten and how they compare — the ranking and what sits behind it

The table below is the comparison’s spine. TAB and Betcha sit at the top of the ranking because they are the only brands a New Zealand punter may lawfully use. The other eight sit below the line, marked “not licensed in New Zealand” in the status column, and the verdict on each one is the same kind of comparison the punter must make if the licence question were settled — catalogue breadth, market depth, payout speed, the offer book. None of them is presented as a substitute for TAB NZ, because none of them may lawfully serve a New Zealand customer. The list is what a New Zealand punter meets in the wild and what each one’s terms say about how it treats the customer, not a recommendation of one over another.

The comparison table

How the spread actually reads

TAB and Betcha are not rivals. They are the two online brands of one operator group, and the product difference is mostly presentation — TAB is the long-running racing-led product, Betcha is the sports-led app that Entain built under the new monopoly. The punter who already has a TAB account has the same wallet at Betcha; the punter who opens Betcha first can move to TAB without re-verifying.

The offshore brands cluster by catalogue shape. Thunderpick and BillyBets are the two that lean on esports or on the casino-sportsbook crossover. 22Bet and Sportaza are the deep-football brands, with the broadest menu per match and the Asian-handicap line. RTbet, BigClash, BetAlright and Glorion cover the same core sports as TAB NZ but with the secondary-sports depth an offshore sportsbook is built to provide — table tennis, ice hockey, combat sports — and the entertainment markets that TAB NZ does not carry. None of this breadth is a substitute for the licence question, and the table makes the question visible in plain English rather than burying it.

What the depth of a market actually buys

A market count of thirty types per football match sounds impressive until the punter asks how many of those types they will ever use. A New Zealand punter betting on the All Blacks is buying the head-to-head, the handicap line, the total points and the try-scorer markets, with a Same Game Multi stitched through them. TAB NZ has those. The punter who wants the Asian handicap quarter-goal line on a Champions League group match has a reason to want 22Bet, and the punter who wants interval betting in five-minute windows has a reason to want Sportaza. The breadth is real for the small group of punters it serves, and irrelevant for everyone else.

What the offer book actually costs

BillyBets runs cashback and reload bonuses on sports and a coin shop where coins become free bets and free spins. Megapari (a brand not in the top-ten line-up but on the offshore market) lists a free bet of fifteen per cent of the first deposit and a Free Bet Hour with fifty per cent cashback on football losses returned as a free bet. Boomerang Bet offers a one-hundred per cent deposit match up to a stated cap. The arithmetic in the calculation section below shows what those offers cost on average. The headline number is the upside; the requirement is the cost.

Overview — what “best” actually means in the New Zealand market

The word “best” in this market is narrower than it sounds. The two lawful brands are one operator group, so the comparison between TAB and Betcha is a comparison of two products from one house, not a competitive choice between bookmakers. The eight offshore brands are unlawful for the operator to serve a New Zealand customer, and the punter who opens an account with one of them is taking on risk that the regulator cannot mitigate. The choice a New Zealand punter actually has is between TAB NZ and not betting at all, with the offshore brands as a third path that sits outside the law.

The fundamentals

New Zealand has a single lawful betting operator because Parliament wrote one into the Racing Industry Act 2020. Section 74AAA of that Act, inserted by the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 and in force from 28 June 2025, makes it an offence for any person other than TAB NZ to 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 unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect. There is no licensing route for another bookmaker and no licence register for betting, because there is only one lawful operator.

The landscape

TAB NZ runs two online brands. TAB is the long-running racing-led product at tab.co.nz; Betcha is the sports-led app at betcha.co.nz, first released on 6 August 2024 and published by Entain New Zealand Limited. The two are operated under a 25-year partnership signed in 2023 between TAB NZ and Entain, with Entain running the TAB business and taking a 50/50 share of gross profits. At least $150 million a year flows to TAB NZ for the first five years under that agreement, and Entain pledged a one-off $100 million payment to the racing sector. Betcha is the online sister brand; it is not a rival.

The primer

The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 licenses online casino gambling only and does not extend the betting monopoly. TAB NZ winning the right to apply for a casino licence is a separate fact and does not change the sports and racing position. Greyhound racing closes in stages from 1 August 2026, and from that date offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either. The betting framework the punter meets today is the one that will run for the rest of 2026 and beyond, unless Parliament opens the door to other operators.

Legality — what the law says and what it means for the punter

The legal framework is one operator, one regulator, one set of harm-minimisation tools. The Department of Internal Affairs is the gambling regulator under the Gambling Act 2003 and monitors compliance with the betting prohibition in section 92A of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The Racing Industry Act 2020 establishes TAB NZ as the sole provider of racing and sports betting in New Zealand; section 74AAA, inserted by the 2025 Amendment Act, makes it an offence for anyone else to offer that betting. There is no licensing route, no application form and no register, because there is only one lawful operator.

What the law covers

Section 74AAA covers racing and sports betting offered to a person in New Zealand, regardless of where the operator is resident or incorporated. The wording matters. The law does not geo-block websites, it puts liability on the operator. An offshore bookmaker that takes a New Zealand customer’s bet is breaking New Zealand law; the New Zealand customer is not the target of enforcement. 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 operator in breach of section 74AAA; no source states a penalty for a player.

What DIA warns about

The Department of Internal Affairs warns that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. The warnings are about risk, not law. A punter who bets with an offshore brand has no New Zealand complaints route and no harm-minimisation framework that reaches the operator. The dispute resolution is whatever the operator’s own terms say it is, in the jurisdiction the licence is issued in.

The tax position

For the punter, 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. TAB NZ pays a Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74 per cent, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. Overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay an online gambling duty of 12 per cent of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16 per cent from 1 January 2027. The duty being payable does not make an offer lawful, and the page never writes that tax payment shows a bookmaker is legal.

Advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code applies to betting advertisements: ads must not target children under 14 or young people aged 14 to under 18, must not encourage harm, and must be truthful with terms available. Because only TAB NZ may offer betting here, the Department of Internal Affairs reads the prohibition as covering the promotion of bets for another operator. The page describes the monopoly and never invites readers to sign up with an offshore brand.

Responsible gambling — what the harm-minimisation framework looks like

The framework is operator-level, because TAB NZ is the only operator. TAB NZ lists deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in its apps, and an exclusion applies across both brands. The age for TAB NZ betting is 18; betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. Land-based casinos are 20, and the page never merges the two. TAB NZ accounts require a verified New Zealand address and ID.

Help that reaches the punter

The free Gambling Helpline is 0800 654 655 and the text line is 8006. Safer Gambling Aotearoa is the public-facing harm-minimisation service. The punter who wants to stop betting for a stretch sets a time-out in the app; the punter who wants to stop for longer sets a self-exclusion. The exclusion follows the punter across TAB and Betcha because they are one operator group. There is no single national online-betting exclusion register; the register the 2026 online casino law will require is for online casinos only, and does not extend to sports and racing.

What offshore brands offer

Offshore brands publish their own safer-gambling policies. Self-exclusion is operator-level, not regulator-level, and the offshore operator is not reachable by Safer Gambling Aotearoa or the Gambling Helpline for dispute resolution. The punter who needs harm-minimisation tools and ends up on a brand outside the New Zealand framework has to depend on the offshore operator’s own policy.

The levy that pays for treatment

TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74 per cent of its gross profits, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. The levy funds treatment services and public-health work on gambling harm. The offshore brand that supplies New Zealand residents pays online gambling duty, but the duty does not fund harm-minimisation services the way the levy does.

Crypto and anonymity — what the offshore cashier means for the punter

Crypto is the offshore product the New Zealand punter meets most often. Thunderpick is built around Bitcoin and a handful of altcoins, and its esports-first catalogue is the natural market for crypto-funded bets. 22Bet, Sportaza, RTbet, BillyBets, BigClash, BetAlright and Glorion all offer crypto as one option on a multi-rail cashier. None of those brands is licensed in New Zealand, and the rails are the offshore rail rather than a New Zealand rail.

What crypto buys the punter

Speed at deposit is the obvious one. A Bitcoin transaction on the Lightning Network clears in seconds, and a punter who wants to fund a bet between matches does not want to wait three days for a card refund. Privacy is the second. Crypto-funded bets do not pass through a New Zealand bank, so the transaction does not appear on the punter’s own bank statement. That is the same reason some punters prefer prepaid cards to debit cards, and the same reason offshore brands market “no ID” wallets.

What crypto costs the punter

Price volatility is the first cost. A Bitcoin-funded bet of $100 is a $100 bet at the moment the punter funds it, and a $90 bet at the moment they withdraw it if Bitcoin has dropped ten per cent. The punter’s stake moves with the exchange rate, and the bookmaker does not hedge that risk for them. Reversibility is the second. A card chargeback has a dispute path; a Bitcoin transaction does not. The punter who funds with Bitcoin has no chargeback, no New Zealand regulator to complain to, and no dispute route that reaches the operator’s licence jurisdiction in any practical way. The crypto rail is faster and quieter, and the cost of that is the same consumer protection a card rail is built to provide.

Why TAB NZ does not take crypto

TAB NZ is a New Zealand-licensed operator with a verified-address account opening process. Crypto is not part of that process, and the operator’s terms do not list it. The punter who wants to bet in New Zealand dollars with a New Zealand bank account uses TAB NZ; the punter who wants to bet with Bitcoin uses an offshore brand and accepts the licence question that comes with it.

The calculation — what a bookmaker’s margin looks like in the odds

A book’s margin is what the punter pays for every bet, on average, before the bet is even placed. The arithmetic is the same on every market; the numbers change. Take an illustrative two-way market at decimal odds of 1.90 / 1.90 — an example, not a quoted price — and assume the operator takes one dollar on each side. The payout share from those prices is 1 / (1/1.90 + 1/1.90), or 1 / (1.0526), which is 95.0 per cent. The margin is one minus that, or 5.0 per cent. On a true fifty-fifty event, the punter who bets $1 wins $0.90 net on average and pays $0.05 in margin to the bookmaker.

The margin is the same number in different words. A bookmaker that returns 95 per cent of every dollar bet pays out 95 per cent; the other 5 per cent is what the bookmaker keeps. A 5 per cent margin is the same as a 95 per cent payout share, and either framing is correct.

The headline price next to the margin

The punter who reads a headline price of 2.10 on a fixed-odds card sees a price they like, and the question is what sits behind it. A 2.10 figure on a two-way market is a 4.8 per cent margin at true odds; a 1.90 figure on the same market is a 5.3 per cent margin. The punter who reads prices without looking at the implied margin is reading a number without its context, and the context is what they pay.

What conditions change the margin

Same-game multis are the most obvious one. A two-leg multi from one match multiplies the prices and the margin into a single price, but the operator is taking correlated risk, and the published prices reflect that. A punter who builds a same-game multi from two short prices of 1.40 each gets 1.96, which is the right payout calculation; the implied margin on the multi is higher than the margin on either single bet, because the legs are correlated. The total price still works as a payout, it just costs more in margin than two single bets at the same prices.

The second condition is the live market. A live market price moves with the action on the field, and the margin is built into the price at the moment the punter bets. A punter who bets into a fast-moving market on the first goal accepts the price at that moment, and the margin on that price is whatever the bookmaker has built in. Live-market margins are typically higher than pre-match margins because the operator is taking more risk on a fast-moving event.

What the band looks like

The 5 per cent margin on a 1.90 / 1.90 two-way market is a band, not a fixed number. Football 1X2 markets sit in the 4 to 7 per cent band on most major bookmakers, with rugby and basketball closer to the higher end. Same-game multis on the headline rugby matches can run 8 to 12 per cent because of the correlation built into the price. Live markets run 5 to 9 per cent on the headline events. The punter who is comparing two bookmakers on the same market is comparing two numbers in the same band, and the difference between them is the difference between a 5.0 per cent and a 4.5 per cent margin — not large in absolute terms, but real across a season of betting.

Operator reviews

TAB — the racing-led product that has been the monopoly for a generation

TAB is the long-running racing-led bookmaker and tote at tab.co.nz, and one of two online brands of TAB NZ. The punter who opens a TAB account opens it through the New Zealand Racing Board, verifies a New Zealand address and ID, and steps into a product that has been running since 1994. The deposit rails are the standard New Zealand ones — bank, EFTPOS, Visa and Mastercard debit — and withdrawals return to the same source as the deposit. The app carries form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, which means the punter who wants to do their own work has the data to do it.

The catalogue is racing at the centre and sport at the edges. Horse, harness and (until 1 August 2026) greyhound racing carry the depth — Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First4, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie, Big6, Multis and Same Game Multis — with rugby, cricket, football, NRL and the rest of the New Zealand sporting calendar in the fixed-odds and live windows. The trackside live race streaming is built into the app, with in-app betting while the race is on. The app first released on 8 September 2014 and is currently rated 17+ on the App Store, with the betting age stated as 18.

The trade-off is catalogue depth on the secondary sports. TAB NZ has the headline events at competitive prices, and the punter who bets on the All Blacks, the Black Caps and Super Rugby Pacific has everything they need. The punter who wants table tennis, esports, MMA at deep market count, or interval betting in short windows, finds that catalogue in the offshore brands — and pays the licence cost for it.

The verdict is the framework itself. TAB is one of the two lawful brands, and the only one with the full racing product and the data tools a New Zealand punter uses to do their own work. The punter who bets inside the law bets here.

Betcha — the sports-led online brand Entain built under the monopoly

Betcha is the sports-led online sister brand of TAB NZ, published by Entain New Zealand Limited and first released on 6 August 2024. The two are one operator group, and the wallet follows the punter across both. The catalogue is sports at the centre and racing at the edges — horse, greyhound and harness racing, plus rugby, NRL, MMA, NBA, NFL, tennis, cricket, football, motorsports and esports.

The product design is the difference. Betcha is the app Entain built to compete for the New Zealand punter who otherwise opened an offshore brand; it is the product that takes the catalogue breadth an offshore sportsbook offers and slots it into a New Zealand-regulated framework. The cashier is the standard New Zealand rail. The harm-minimisation tools are the TAB NZ set — deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion. The exclusion applies across both brands because the operator is one.

The verdict is the same as TAB, with the rider. Betcha is the same framework, the same licence, the same harm-minimisation tools. The punter who wants the sports-led catalogue and the offshore-style product design has it here; the punter who already has a TAB account has the same wallet on both.

Thunderpick — crypto-funded, Curaçao-licensed, esports-first

Thunderpick is built around esports at the centre and a sportsbook at the edges. The catalogue lists CS2, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Valorant in the front window, with a sportsbook that runs cash-out and a market range from the Champions League to the NFL. The cashier is crypto-first — Bitcoin and a handful of altcoins — and that is the whole point of the brand for its target customer. The punt comes from the speed of a Lightning deposit and the absence of a card trail.

The licence is Curaçao (OGL/2024/677/0722), held by Paloma Media B.V. Curaçao is a real licence, and it gives the brand a regulated framework in its own jurisdiction — but it is not a New Zealand framework. A New Zealand punter who opens an account has no New Zealand regulator to complain to, no harm-minimisation tools that reach the operator, and no dispute resolution outside the brand’s own terms. The Department of Internal Affairs has warned that overseas operators may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins.

The trade-off is the trade-off the licence question is always about. Thunderpick is the offshore brand for the punter who wants esports at depth and crypto at the cashier. The punter who values the New Zealand framework bets with TAB NZ.

22Bet — broad market catalogue and Curaçao licensing

22Bet’s sportsbook lists over thirty market types per football event, including 1X2, Double Chance, totals, both teams to score, correct score and HT-FT, plus tennis game, set and handicap markets. The catalogue depth on football is the headline, and it is the reason a punter looking at offshore brands starts here. The licence is Curaçao (8048/JAZ), held by TechSolutions Group N.V., and the same framework question applies as on every other offshore brand in the top ten.

The trade-off is the same. A 22Bet account is fast to open, broad on football and tennis, and outside the New Zealand framework. The punter who wants the depth takes the licence cost.

Sportaza — Asian lines and Bet Builder, Anjouan-licensed

Sportaza offers cash out before an event or market is finalises, a Bet Builder (where one void leg voids the slip), multiples, Asian lines and interval markets in one, five, ten or fifteen-minute ranges. The catalogue is built for the punter who wants the Asian-handicap quarter-goal line on the Champions League group match, or the five-minute interval market on the basketball game. The licence is Anjouan (ALSI-202606064-FI2), and the same framework question applies.

The void-leg rule is the detail a punter reads. A Bet Builder where one selection is void voids the whole betslip, so a leg that pushes does not let the rest stand. The rule is operator-level, not regulator-level, and the punter who builds a multi from this brand reads the slip with that in mind.

RTbet — Curaçao-licensed, broad catalogue, live and virtual

RTbet covers the core sports with live betting and virtual sports. The catalogue is the standard offshore shape, with the secondary sports — table tennis, ice hockey, American football — that TAB NZ carries with less depth. The licence is Curaçao, and the framework question applies.

BillyBets — casino-sportsbook crossover with cashback and reloads

BillyBets runs a casino and a sportsbook on one account, covering the standard sports menu alongside combat sports, esports, virtual sports and live betting. The offer book is where this brand sits apart from the rest of the offshore top ten — cashback and reload bonuses on sports, plus a coin shop where coins collected by depositing, betting, tournaments and challenges can be exchanged for free bets and free spins. The VIP programme has five levels.

The offer book is the upside; the offer book is also the cost. A cashback bonus has turnover requirements; a reload bonus has a minimum price for the qualifying bets; the coin shop is a loyalty mechanic that costs the punter play to clear. The arithmetic in the calculation section shows what that kind of structure costs on average.

BigClash — Curaçao-licensed, broad catalogue, esports on FPS and MOBA

BigClash offers pre-match and live sports betting across international and local leagues, plus virtual sports and esports on FPS and MOBA titles. The catalogue is the standard offshore shape, with the esports front and the secondary sports behind. The licence is Curaçao (8048/JAZ), and the framework question applies.

BetAlright — broad catalogue, no licence stated for New Zealand

BetAlright covers the standard football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball list, with Live Betting and Virtual Sports sections. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand, and the same framework question applies. The catalogue is the standard offshore shape.

Glorion — entertainment markets and a broad catalogue

Glorion offers pre-match and live betting, virtual sports, horse racing and esports, with markets grouped into popular, niche, indoor and outdoor sports, plus entertainment events such as award shows and elections. The entertainment markets are the differentiator — the award-show and election markets are not a TAB NZ product. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand, and the same framework question applies.

Frequently asked questions

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

TAB NZ is the only provider lawfully offering racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand, under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025. The two online brands are TAB and Betcha. There is no licensing route for another bookmaker and no register, because the law names only one lawful operator. The Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect.

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

A decimal price of 2.10 on a $10 stake returns $21 — the $10 stake plus an $11 profit. The same price in fractional form is 11/10. For a multi bet, the odds of the legs multiply into one price, and the same rule applies. TAB NZ publishes decimal odds as the default on its fixed-odds card. The stake is the punter’s risk; the return is what the bookmaker pays on a win.

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

The margin is what the bookmaker keeps of every dollar bet on a market. On a two-way market at 1.90 / 1.90, the payout share is 1 / (1/1.90 + 1/1.90), which is 95.0 per cent, and the margin is 5.0 per cent. The punter who sees a 2.10 headline price sees a 4.8 per cent margin; the punter who sees a 1.90 headline price sees a 5.3 per cent margin. The margin is the same number as the payout share subtracted from 100 per cent.

What does a player lose by betting with a bookmaker that has no New Zealand licence?

The punter loses the New Zealand regulator’s protection, the harm-minimisation tools that reach the operator, and the dispute resolution that follows a problem bet. The Department of Internal Affairs warns that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. New Zealand law targets the operator; no published penalty for a player was found.

From what age can bets be placed with TAB NZ, and what is checked when opening an account?

The age is 18, and betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. Land-based casinos are 20, and the two are not the same. A TAB NZ account requires a verified New Zealand address and ID. The TAB NZ app carries a 17+ App Store age rating, with the betting age stated as 18 in the listing.

Are betting winnings taxed in New Zealand?

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 must consult Inland Revenue or an accountant. TAB NZ pays a Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74 per cent of gross profits, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. The levy is operator-side, not player-side.

Created by the ”Nzinstantbanking” editorial team.