Online Casino NZ – Top Online Casinos List by OCG
Just like our neighbours, a lot of New Zealanders love the risk and the rush of gambling. We just love to change the risk for reward and that’s why many of our folks enjoy gambling in various online real money casinos — the land-based ones are hard to come by in NZ.
Finding a good online casino in New Zealand may be a tough process as well. You will have to browse the net to not only find decent online casino websites but those that accept people from New Zealand. If you’re doing it all by yourself, it’s going to be a very long process.
This is why here at OnlineCasinoGuide.co.nz we employ casino industry experts who gather the best online casinos and create detailed reviews about them. You can read the reviews on this website and find the top casinos that are completely legal and safe.
If you just want to find a trusted casino website to gamble, feel free to consult the list you see on this page. If you want to learn more about how we rate casinos, read this article to the end.
Last Updated 05.02.2021
Best Online Casinos to Play in February 2021
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1. How We Choose and Test Online Casinos
The purpose of OnlineCasinoGuide is to provide gamblers from New Zealand with a list of the best casinos that they can choose from. It gives you a convenient way of finding a great casino and winning in it.
However, it would be counterproductive to list all casinos NZ where you can play. Inevitably, some of the casinos will end up being the bad seeds. If you’re been gambling online for some time now, you are probably painfully aware of the existence of rogue casinos.
Here at OnlineCasinoGuide, we make sure that you do not run into any of these while browsing our curated list. Here is how our experts review all casinos that make it to that list.
Licensing
The situation with online gambling in New Zealand is fairly complicated. Since the 2003 Gambling Act, they’re in the grey area and you definitely cannot register an online casino in New Zealand. How, then, are you supposed to trust licensing?
The thing is that even though you can’t play at a legally registered casino in NZ, you still can benefit a lot from playing at a casino registered elsewhere. If a casino you’re about to gamble at is not registered anywhere, it may signal that it’s a rogue For all intends and purposes, it’s just a website, with no legal ramifications that make it pay up when you’ve won some money.
If a casino is registered somewhere, be it Malta, Curacao, Gibraltar, or UK, it’s controlled by a local regulator. Even though it doesn’t automatically mean it’s safe, it does provide a level of trust. After all, some regulators like the Maltese Gambling Authority and the UKGC are quite strict in upholding the rules and won’t let rogue casinos slip past their attention.
Personal Data Protection
One of the many ways a rogue casino may hurt your experience is by creating a possibility for a data breach. Even if a casino has all the best intentions, if it’s not properly protected digitally, a database that contains your personal information may get leaked.
It doesn’t take much, one database stored without a password or with a poor hashing procedure, and all that data that is stored due to the KYC protocols is out. This includes your name, email, address, and possibly more.
This happened a lot of times and with companies that should have known better like Virgin Media, so you shouldn’t think online casinos are safe. They can be safe, however, if prior to gambling, you make sure they’re following safety protocols. This is precisely what OnlineCasinoGuide experts do for you.
Payment Security and Safety
Apart from keeping your data safe, you need to keep your payment and banking information at online casinos for real money safe as well. Before proceeding with the review of the casino, our experts run security tests to make sure payments are safe on the website.
eCOGRA
Our job becomes much easier if a website has an eCOGRA certificate or any other type of certification from a reputable company. What eCOGRA does is it tests online casinos on various metrics to ensure it’s safe and fair. Only the best casinos New Zealand that uphold the industry standards of fairness and player protection can acquire a certificate from this independent analyst.
If our experts see a certificate on the website and can prove it’s true, it’s a sign that the casino is worthy of being mentioned on our list.
Terms and Conditions
Very few gamblers actually read T&C at the casino, but these are crucial for understanding whether the casino you’re playing at is a rogue or not. Just like with any document you sign, by registering and making a deposit at a casino, you automatically give consent for the casino T&C. If those rules state, for instance, that the casino reserves the right to decline withdrawal claims without as much as an explanation, you can’t really complain when you lose the winnings.
But we understand that it’s too much to require all gamblers to read the Terms and Conditions, as these typically are extremely long. This is why our experts read them for you. If the T&C is hidden away so that the users don’t find them or are overly complicated to allow for loopholes, our experts note this and investigate further.
We only recommend a casino if the Terms and Conditions prove to be fair.
Bonuses and Promotions
Bonuses are not the main thing a gambler wants from their casino, but it’s often a thing that guides one to choose a casino. After all, how can you remain neutral when a casino is promising a $3,000 bonus on the first deposit?
While we understand that gamblers will be tempted by such promises, we can’t let you go without good advice and analysis of the bonus system at the casino you’re about to choose.
Our experts are experienced in the world of online casinos and they monitor the bonus system of each online casino in New Zealand with a keen eye. They will report on all the rules of the system that you may miss when you give it a look.
This includes the information on the withdrawal requirements that are often withheld in the adverts as well as some basic calculations of what you can expect to receive as a bonus. The thing is, most casinos calculate a bonus based on a match-up percentage. The sum you see in the advertising is only the highest sum you can receive, not what you often end up with.
Read reviews of the top online casino sites in NZ, and you’ll learn this and much more!
Gaming Software
It’s what we all come here for! The gaming software and the pokies is what primarily attracts people to a particular casino. If it can offer the best and latest casino games, it often doesn’t matter if the bonus is particularly good.
This is why reporting on the availability of games is often the cornerstone of OnlineCasinoGuide reviews. Our experts register at the casino website and play some slots to make sure that they function well on all sorts of devices from desktop to smartphones.
We also let you know what game developers are present on the platform in case this is something you’re curious about. Expect to see a list of the best pokies you can play on the platform on each casino review to make sure you know your options.
Customer Support
Most gamblers don’t hear a lot about the support at a casino unless they actually need to be using it. It’s when you have a problem at a casino that you start paying attention to the casino support, If the support is not the best one you’ve encountered, this may mean you’re not getting that withdrawal in time.
At that moment, all you want to do is to go back in time to check reviews of the casino support before you made that deposit. Don’t worry, experts here at OnlineCasinoGuide take care of that sort of thing when compiling the list of top online casino sites. They always check how fast the support reacts to customer questions and how helpful they are.
Our experts’ opinion is shown in the reviews.
Website Usability
While this is not the most important of features, website usability can be a major issue for new players. If it takes you ages to find the right pokie, it’s a minor problem. If you can’t locate Terms and Conditions, this may signal that a casino doesn’t want to show its cards.
Whatever it is, our experts will assess how good is the navigation on the website.
To begin with, the casino uses a top-notch encryption technology, so all of your payments are 100% secure. You can buy casino credits using a wide variety of options.
- Wide gamut of gambling;
- Variety of bonuses;
- Customer care;
- Design of the website;
Deposit Methods
Having a lot of deposit methods on the platform is not the only thing that makes a casino a good choice. However, if it does have plenty of options to top up with, it’s a great feature. It’s also very important to learn what deposit methods are available on the platform for gamblers who only use one method.
Our experts not only report on all the methods for deposit and withdrawal at a casino but also categorize casinos by the deposit method. You can filter the general list of top casinos in New Zealand by your preferred deposit method and choose only between casinos that accept, say, Bitcoin, or Neosurf.
Operator Reputation
Last but not least, our experts make sure they know everything there is to know about the casino’s reputation online. If all the things we’ve discovered about the casino tell it’s good but hundreds of people online say it’s a rogue, we’ll need to reconsider our findings.
If there are a couple of complaints that the casino has addressed, we don’t consider it a problem. However, if there are dozens of people complaining and the casino doesn’t answer their claims, we can’t recommend this casino.
2. Types of Online Casino Explained
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NZ$F1600
370+ games
95.96% payout
If you’re a newcomer to the world of online casinos, you may not know that there is more than one type of online casinos out there. Knowing the differences between them and understanding which is better for you is key to making the most out of your choice of casino.
VIP casinos
Not every gambler will appreciate this type of casino, but for a high roller, it’s a thing that takes their gambling to another level. VIP casinos are those establishments that have a special program for the most appreciated players, the high-rollers.
Now, the exact content of the VIP program may differ greatly, but the main thing is the same. You have a program for the most appreciated players and you can use it to your advantage if you gamble big.
In most casinos, a VIP program has two main scopes. It either gives the VIP player access to a whole array of bonuses that are not accessible to a regular gambler or gives them better service. The service may include a dedicated support person to cater to your needs or improved withdrawal limits.
Minimum deposit casinos
If you can’t appreciate the VIP bonuses that the high-rollers get but instead want to gamble small, minimizing your losses, VIP casinos are not the right choice. Your perfect choice would be to get an account in one of the minimum deposit online casinos in NZ.
The name suggests the substance in this case. Minimum deposit casinos are those casinos that have a smaller minimum deposit than the regular casinos. In your average New Zealand casino, the minimum deposit is around $20. You can’t make a deposit smaller than that, it will be rejected by the system.
If you want to gamble with even smaller sums, you need to look for $5 minimum deposit casinos or even $1 minimum deposit casinos. The latter are often Bitcoin casinos.
Live Casinos
Big payouts are not the only thing that tempts people to gamble at online casinos. There’s another aspect of gambling online, the social aspect. In some casinos, gamblers can play together via a video chat and share a conversation with like-minded people who enjoy gambling as well.
These casinos are known as live casinos, the casinos that have plenty of live casino games. Since not all New Zealand online casinos have live games on their platforms, our experts create a curated list of all casinos that do. In those live casinos, you can not only win big but do so while enjoying a good chat with other gamblers and the dealer who takes your bets in real-time.
Mobile Casinos
What’s the reason to gamble at an online casino if you can’t take the online experience anywhere. If you can only play at the casino from your laptop, you could as well go to a regular land-based casino to gamble.
This is why so many people in New Zealand and all over the world gravitate towards the idea of a mobile casino. At a mobile casino, you can easily gamble from your smartphone and on the go.
There are two main ways you can gamble at a mobile casino. You can either download an app or play in the instant play mode. If you go with the app, you should download an apk file from the casino website since neither App Store nor Google Play allows real money gambling apps on their platforms. This is why it’s important to be sure of how trusted a casino is. You can read reviews here at OnlineCasinoGuide to learn more about that.
Even if you’re a big fan of apps, gambling via instant play mode may prove faster and more efficient. Instant play mode means you play on the website in the browser instead of downloading an app. It used to be much slower than in an app before, but now most games are optimized to perform well in the browser, whether on a laptop or on a smartphone.
Fast Payouts
A common problem of online casinos is that if it’s a small one, they may not be able to give you payouts the day you request them. It may take a day or two for the transaction to go through. This may not be a huge issue for most gamblers. However, if you’re keen on getting your money as fast as possible, you may want to look for fast payout casinos in New Zealand.
These casinos pride themselves in being able to pay their clients on the same day or in a day. If you’re the type of gambler who needs that kind of service, look up the list of fast payout NZ casinos here on OnlineCasinoGuide and choose the best one.
Best Payouts
Most of the previous types of online casinos are interesting for some categories of gamblers. If you’re a low-roller, you probably don’t want to get into a VIP casino, and you may not need a fast payout casino if you don’t particularly care about this sort of thing.
However, this type of casino is interesting to almost any New Zealander who loves a good gamble. The best payout casinos in New Zealand are the casinos that give you the most bang for your buck.
Our experts rate online casinos according to various variables like available deposit methods, withdrawal requirements, and bonus system. In the end, they arrive at a conclusion that may indicate this casino has an incredible payout potential. You may find these casinos in the best payout casinos list here on the website.
3. Most Popular Casino Games in New Zealand
NZ$1600 Free Bonus
If you’re a fan of online casinos, there’s one thing that attracts you to a casino more than other factors. It’s the games this casino may provide. Here are all the casino games that are popular with New Zealanders. You can find those at online casinos presented on the list on this page.
Pokies
Pokies, poker machines, also known in the rest of the world as slot machines, are by far the most popular kind of online casino games. Any casino that wants to ahve the title of best online casino in 2020 should have those. They offer a simple yet exciting experience to the player, which prompts their wild popularity.
Unlike in many other casino games like roulette, blackjack, and baccarat, slot games do not require any particular knowledge or skill to enjoy. Everybody can start up a game, read the rules and the symbols of that game, and start spinning the slot.
Another major thing that contributes to the popularity of online pokies is the fact that they have an enormous diversity. There are only that many variations of the roulette. The basics of the game stay the same throughout every variation of it.
With pokies, it’s so much different. Being a digital game, it allows plenty of creativity in its creation. This creativity extends from creating visually appealing games to introducing new bonus features and game modes.
In short, this is the most versatile casino game and one that you can encounter in any online casino. If you want to find casinos with pokies from a specific developer, you can filter the list of casinos at OnlineCasinoGuide by the developer.
Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the games that retain their popularity even though they are not as versatile as pokies. The thing is, blackjack games are a staple of casino gambling. It has been around in various forms since the very first land-based casinos and has changed very little since then.
The basics of the game are quite simple. You play this game against the dealer. Both of you receive cards face down, one of the dealer’s cards is face-up so you can judge your chances. Ask the dealer to hit you with more cards until you think you have more points than him but less than 21 — otherwise, you’ll lose.
Despite the simple rules, it takes time to perfect the strategic approach to blackjack. The strategy includes everything from knowing when to stop hitting to counting cards to know the probabilities of certain cards coming up next.
Roulette
Roulette is up there with blackjack when it comes to classic casino games that are here to stay. Roulette was invented back in the times when the first land-based casinos were appearing and became a staple of gambling ever since.
There are three major variants of the game, but the premise of the game is the same in all of them. There’s a roulette wheel with 36 or 37 numbered slots. These slots are represented on the tableau. The players can make bets on these numbers, placing their chips on one or more numbers, or colored parts of the wheel. When all the bets are placed, the croupier spins the wheel and shoots a white ball into it. When it settles in one of the slots, the wins are counted.
The major difference between European and American variants of the game is the house edge. In European roulette, there’s one zero, while the American variant has two zeros. This may not look like much, but when you bet on red or black, having two zeros increases your chances of not winning anything no matter what your bet is.
The French roulette is a sub-variant of European roulette. It has one zero as well, the only difference is that you can make called bets automatically. Called bets or sector bets are bets placed not on the numbers as they appear on the tableau, but on numbers as they appear on the wheel — they’re mixed there. You can still make those bets in most European roulettes, but you’d have to place these bets manually.
The best way to experience roulette is to play the live version. Look up casinos that have live casino games on the platforms and enjoy!
Baccarat
Another staple of land-based casino gambling is baccarat. This game makes room for up to 8 players who bet on three possible outcomes of the game. The Banker who is also the dealer deals cards to themselves and to a Player hand. The gamblers can bet on either of the two winning or on a tie.
Whatever you choose, you can enjoy this game and win significant sums of money while doing it.
Bingo
Everybody knows what Bingo is. This lottery-type game is popular throughout the world and is quite simple to play. You get a sheet of paper with numbers and check out the numbers as they appear from the pool. If you hit Bingo, you win and can pocket a decent sum of money.
In online casinos, you can enjoy both types of fun from this game. If you like the thrill of gambling, you can play a solo variant of the game and see the results generated randomly faster, making you able to play another game. If you want to enjoy the company of other bingo players, you can play the live casino version.
Lotto
While there is only one official lottery game in each country, there is nothing stopping private companies from producing their own lottery-type games. Lotto is one of those games you can find at NZ online casinos.
It can be even more exciting than your regular lotto game since you have the option of skipping through the waiting period and seeing the results right away.
Keno
Keno is another lottery-type game that is often played in land-based casinos. In online casinos in New Zealand, you can enjoy this game in solo mode or in the live casino version. While playing on your own, you can play it faster and get more games done in a relatively short time.
If you choose the live casino version, you’ll have to sit through a longer game, but you may enjoy it even more. A dealer will take your bets in real time and while she is announcing the winning numbers, you have the opportunity to enjoy a lighthearted chat with the other gamblers.
Scratchies
Scratchies is not your typical casino game. You can’t find scratchies in a land-based casino, but you can find it at any gas station. It’s a simple lottery-type game that requires you to scratch the protective coating off a card and see whether you win.
It’s even more comfortable to do online. With a regular scratchie, you’ll have to ring up the company that produces them to get a win. In online casinos, scratchie wins are instant!
4. Top Casino Software in New Zealand
Are you an avid fan of online gambling? The odds are, you can name a couple of casino software developers that you absolutely love. Whether you get excited when the Microgaming logo lights up on the screen or you follow NetEnt social media for new releases, we understand you. This is why here at OnlineCasinoGuide, you can filter the list of casinos by the software developer and see only those casinos that have your favourite games.
Microgaming
Microgaming is one of the titans of the online gambling industry. It has been in the game since 1994 and made its way from creating the first online casinos to becoming one of the leaders of the industry. Microgaming doesn’t win gambling awards, it sponsors these events, that’s how big of a company it is.
However, this corporate spirit doesn’t prevent it from producing some of the best games in the industry. Its collection of games includes such hits as Immortal Romance, Retro Galaxy, Attack on Retro, Sisters of Oz as well as many others.
NetEnt
Whether you know NetEnt as the creator of one of the most popular pokies, Gonzo’s Quest, or the developer of the first VR slot, you’ve probably heard of them. This Swedish company has been in the top three gambling developers for over 20 years by now and has produced some amazing games over those years.
From mass media inspired Narcos and Street Fighter to classic pokies like Dazzle Me and Divine Fortune, NetEnt has lots of amazing games to offer. It also produces some of the best live casinos on the market.
Yggdrasil
While you won’t be able to play live casino games from Yggdrasil, you will enjoy the pokies this company has to offer. It is a rather new company when compared to other players on the gambling market. This doesn’t mean it’s worse off than the giants of the industry. In fact, being so new makes it possible for Yggdrasil to experiment.
Experiment it does, which results in a collection of amazing pokies that easily outmatch any new release of Microgaming and NetEnt. These include the Age of Asgard, 9K Yeti, Lilith, and Nicola Tesla’s Incredible Machine, as well as over 50 others.
Playtech
Playtech may not have pokies that are quite as extraordinary as the ones made by Yggdrasil or NetEnt, but it offers something even more intriguing than that. Playtech is an all-around developer. Not only does it create good pokies that become all-time favorites of New Zealand crowds like the Age of Gods, but it also creates live casino games, live betting games, and plenty of other gambling solutions.
Evolution Gaming
Evolution Gaming is a company that is well known to any gambler who can’t live without live games. The amount of live casino games produced by this company is not anywhere near what others do.
Evolution Gaming creates everything from live roulette and blackjack cabinets to Mega Ball and live Monopoly games. If you see this name at a New Zealand online casino, you know that it’s going to be a great live casino experience.
5. Best Payment Methods For New Zealand Casinos
Do you have a payment method you generally stick to? If you do, you can filter the list of casinos by payment method. This way, you can see only the casinos that accept your preferred method and choose from the best Bitcoin casinos or PayPal casinos.
Don’t have a favourite? Here’s the list of the most popular deposit and withdrawal methods at NZ casinos.
PayPal
PayPal is a universally accepted payment system. However, it’s mostly accepted by non-controversial vendors, and online casinos are not one of those. However, if a casino does accept PayPal payments, it’s very convenient for the gambler. We search for those casinos in New Zealand and provide you with a comprehensive list.
Neosurf
If you don’t want to deal with online payment systems that much, but still need to pay for online casinos, Neosurf is a great choice. It’s a prepaid debit card that you can buy off a gas station or another vendor in NZ, and use it to pay for topping up casino accounts.
You can operate it as you would with a regular card, the only limitation is you can’t use it for withdrawals. It’s only available for topping up casinos.
Paysafecard
Paysafecard casinos is a very similar payment method to Neosurf. In fact, you probably can find Paysafecard vouchers at the very same vendors that sell Neosurf. You make the payments by scratching off the protective layer on the back of the voucher and using the 16-digit code as you would with any credit card.
Alas, Paysafecard shares the same problems as Neosurf since it is not suitable for withdrawals from casinos.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin may be hard to start using if you know nothing about crypto, but it is one of the most secure payment systems. If you don’t mind the long onboarding, gambling with Bitcoin can be a great alternative for regular payment methods.
One of its biggest advantages is being completely anonymous provided you keep to the right protocols. The drawbacks? Not every NZ online casino accepts BTC. This is why we have gathered a list of all the casinos where you can gamble for Bitcoins.
Skrill
If you want a way to conduct payments that do not require extensive research like Bitcoin but is more comfortable to use than prepaid cards, an e-wallet like Skrill would be a great choice. It’s a payment system that works pretty much like PayPal — you enter the sum you want to transfer, your email address associated with the service, the password, and that’s it. The funds are on their way to your casino of choice.
The only drawback is that you have to pay small fees every time you top up the Skrill account or withdraw money to your bank account. But that’s a small price to pay for a convenient payment method that is accepted at multiple casinos.
Neteller
Neteller is an e-wallet that is a very close competitor to Skrill. It operates on the same principle — you top up the account and can use it for payments online. It doesn’t advertise itself as a gambling solution like Skrill does but you can use it for gambling without any problems.
You will have to pay small fees for topping up and withdrawing from the e-wallet account.
POLi
Don’t want to pay the fees to the e-wallet companies but want to have a reliable and comfortable payment method? With POLi, all you need to do to make a casino deposit is attach your bank account to POLi. There are no fees to pay and money transfers take significantly less time than a regular wire transfer.
You can be completely sure about this system’s safety as it’s run by the Australian Post, a government-run company. This ensures its integrity and security. The only drawback there is to using POLi is that it’s only available at NZ and Australian casinos. But that’s not a drawback New Zealanders feel badly about.
Credit Cards
Want none of these complicated payment methods? You don’t have to use them at casinos since most of them accept credit cards. If you have a Visa or a Mastercard — and most of New Zealanders do — and you don’t mind having a bank statement filled with gambling transactions, absolute majority of casinos will take them.
The only credit cards that you may have a problem with are American Express and Maestro, as these are not particularly popular in NZ. Other than that, there is no downside to paying with a credit card.
Wire Transfer
If you are not satisfied with any payment methods mentioned above, you’ll have to stick to the most basic way of topping up a casino account, bank transfer. Almost all casinos take bank transfers for both deposits and withdrawals.
However, wire transfer takes much longer to come through than an e-wallet payment and has much higher fees than most other payment methods. It is a great idea to use bank transfer if you’re sending huge amounts of money to the casino or making big withdrawals. Other than that, it’s not exactly economical.
Casinos that accept NZD
The most important thing to look for when you’re choosing the best NZ casino to gamble at is what currencies does it take. If it doesn’t have NZD on the platform, you’ll have to pay conversion fees twice. First when you make a deposit and then when you make a withdrawal.
If you want to save your money, look for casinos that accept New Zealand dollars. Here at OnlineCasinoGuide, you can find a comprehensive list of those casinos and choose the one that suits you best.
6. What Happened with Online Gambling New Zealand Laws
Online gambling in New Zealand appears to be in what you’d call a grey area. Here is all you need to know about it.
Legal status and history of land-based casinos
The main document that regulates gambling in the country is the Gambling Act of 2003. Even though it was amended later in 2005 and 2015, the main provisions remain the same. Land-based casinos are legal in many forms throughout the country, from slot machines in bars to huge casinos like Queenstown and Hamilton.
Legal status and history of online casinos
With online gambling, it’s a bit more complicated. The Gambling Act of 2003 states that “remote interactive gambling” is prohibited in New Zealand. The Gambling Amendment Act of 2015 doesn’t improve the situation either.
However, New Zealanders are legally allowed to gamble at online casinos registered elsewhere. This loophole created a range of online casinos that are registered in different countries like Malta and Curacao but accept New Zealanders. They are not allowed to advertise to people from NZ, so we gather a list of them here so that you can choose the best one without breaking any laws.
