The Secretary must not grant a licence unless the provider has demonstrated this suitability. This guidance provides detailed information on the auction process, principles, and requirements for auction participation. Because the price changes in steps, the final price clearly reflects what the remaining participants are willing to pay. This helps us to ensure the outcome is seen as fair, consistent and robust, and gives confidence that the price has been set through a transparent competitive process. An ascending clock auction is a way of setting a price when there are multiple interested buyers. Following completion of the auction process, we can confirm that 11 entities have been successful at winning the right to apply for the 15 licenses available.
Blogs & Guides
Simply put, from 2026 onwards, online casinos must be properly licensed if they want to legally provide services to people in New Zealand. Any operator without approval under the new rules will be considered unlawful if it offers or promotes online casino gambling to Kiwi users. The legal gambling age in New Zealand is 20 for casinos and 18 for pokie venue, lotteries, and the TAB. All five licensed casinos enforce the 20-year minimum age at entry and require photo identification.
What Are Pokie Venue and How Are They Regulated?
While the Act is in force, the full licensed online casino gambling regime is not expected to be fully operational until 2027. All 16 NZ regions, ranked by licensed casinos and pokie venues. Now that you have a clearer picture of online casinos and gambling laws in New Zealand, you may still have a few questions. To help, we’ve put together answers to some of the most common topics Kiwi players ask about. If you need more detail, feel free to reach out with additional questions. The new legislature represents one of the most significant changes to New Zealand’s gambling framework in decades.
Underage Gambling
CasinoList firmly opposes underage gambling, never promoting it to younger audiences. We focus on providing support for parents, offering tips on prevention and guiding them to specialized therapy organizations for the help their children might need. Do not collect or circulate copies of everyone’s identity documents merely to make the planning note look complete. Record that each traveller will bring their own accepted current document.
Use the dated online legal-status guide for the separate remote framework and the land-based tracker for physical casino records. Start with the physical venue, not a brand, a search-category label or a bonus. It does not count offshore websites, racecourses or every pub that has pokies. We anticipate that we will start to issue licences under the Online Casino Gambling Act from early 2027 onwards. The Online Casino Gambling Act will require these licensed operators to comply with safety standards, ensuring stronger player protections and a safer gambling environment.
What Is the Legal Gambling Age in New Zealand?
Because licensed operators will be required to meet New Zealand standards for consumer protection, fairness, and responsible gambling, including a ban on credit cards. By contrast, unlicensed offshore sites may fall outside those safeguards entirely, leaving players more exposed if something goes wrong. From 2026, New Zealand’s online casino laws are changing significantly following the passage of the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026. Under this framework, only a maximum of 15 licensed and approved operators will be permitted to target Kiwi players.
SkyCity Auckland is the largest, with the most extensive range of tables, pokies and dining. Christchurch Casino — the country’s first, opened in 1994 — is well known for its poker tournaments. You must be at least 20 to enter a physical land-based casino. For a group, separate shared logistics from individual eligibility.
Use the licence tracker and the separate historical record rather than interpreting an advertising placement as evidence. A land-based venue licence identifies a physical place, while online casino gambling has a separate framework. Check the legal entity and the specific authorisation rather than relying on a shared brand name. There are currently no changes for online casino customers in New Zealand. Online casinos that provided services to people in New Zealand before 1 May 2026 are allowed to continue to operate until 1 December 2026. During this time, we will start the licensing process, however providers must not advertise to people in New Zealand.
A Commission decision reference is not automatically either licence number. Sports and racing betting is regulated under the Racing Industry Act 2020 and Gambling Act 2003. The proposed changes to online casino gambling will not change this. The Problem Gambling Foundation (pgf.nz) provides counselling, harm-reduction programmes, and advocacy. The Ministry of Health funds host-responsibility training for venue operators and publishes problem-gambling prevalence research.
See all five active casinos
CasinoList is committed to empowering you with transparent and unbiased bonus information. Our editors spend hours using bonus codes and claiming promotions from online casinos in NZ, using them to their fullest extent, and reading bonus policies. We use our editorial expertise in this industry and write full bonus guides, breaking down every finding for you to understand better. When reviewing live casino games, our CasinoList.co.nz team looks for the size of the collection, the game types available, and the game providers. A casino can earn a 5-star rating from us if it offers Evolution, Pragmatic Play, or Ezugi software, as these popular game providers bring the best streaming quality. For a favourable rating, according to our process, an NZ online casino also needs to have roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and game shows to have a well-rounded collection, and at least 50 titles.
While domestic businesses still cannot operate online casinos from within the country, the 2026 reforms allow a limited number of offshore operators to become locally authorised. This moves the market away from its previous unregulated status and into a formal licensing regime. All licensed operators will be held to the same regulatory standards, meaning people who choose to gamble will be better protected.
The Department of Internal Affairs administers the licensing regime. Each casino runs under a casino operator’s licence and a casino venue licence granted under Part 3 of the Gambling Act 2003 (sections 124–146), renewed at regulated intervals. No new casino licence can be granted without a parliamentary amendment — the cap is legislative, not administrative. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) requires all 15 authorised operators to clearly display a mandatory registration icon on their websites and in any permitted advertising.
- Our independence from the casinos is what keeps our evaluations unbiased.
- Casinos in New Zealand are physical venues under casino operator’s licences issued under Part 3 of the Gambling Act 2003.
- They can record the relevant venues as optional evening activities in cities where accommodation is already arranged.
- From 2026, online casino gambling is subject to a formal licensing system, meaning only 15 approved operators can legally offer these services to Kiwi players.
- Unlicensed offshore operators are prohibited from targeting users in New Zealand, and those bypassing these rules face fines of up to NZ$5 million.
- Other forms of gambling, such as land-based casinos and regulated sports betting, also remain legal when properly licensed.
In New Zealand, gambling is regulated at the national level under the Gambling Act 2003, with oversight shared between the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and the Gambling Commission. The DIA is responsible for licensing, compliance, and enforcement across most gambling activities, while the Gambling Commission deals with casino licensing and certain appeals and disciplinary matters. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 now sits alongside Golisimo online casino review these rules to specifically regulate the digital market. This approach gives effect to the legislative framework through an implementation process that produces effective consumer protection, responsible gambling and regulatory compliance. No new casino licences have been issued in New Zealand since a 2001 moratorium.
Machine and table counts are indicative from published operator statements. Licensed operators will need to comply with regulations designed to ensure system integrity, player protection, and responsible gambling. Every day, New Zealanders use hundreds of overseas gambling websites.
New Zealand has six licensed land-based casinos, so “near me” depends on where you live. Choose your region for the nearest venue, the approximate drive from its main centre, and the entry rules that apply. Open the offer page to read the current bonus and its terms before you deposit. New Zealand casino gambling areas are restricted to people aged 20 and over. A restaurant, hotel or entertainment area in the same precinct can have different access rules, so check the exact place you plan to enter.
- The useful result of a national casino search is not always a casino booking or a longer journey.
- This process also keeps commercial material in its proper place.
- We want to share what we learn about this market with gamblers in New Zealand through content.
- The auction attracted 32 bidders and concluded after 10 rounds, with the final auction price reaching $15 million (NZD) per licence.
- The CasinoList editorial team has covered some of the most common hands you will find when you play blackjack online.
However, the new 2026 framework eliminates this ambiguity by requiring offshore operators to secure one of 15 available local licences to legally serve the market. This ensures that Kiwi players have access to local consumer protections that were previously limited. Casino operator’s licences sit under Part 3 of the Gambling Act 2003 and each is granted to a specific operator and venue; no new casino licence has been issued since 1996.
For example, SkyCity’s current regulatory table lists Queenstown’s venue licence expiry as 6 December 2040. Treating those two records as one would give the wrong active count. From 1 December 2026, providers must cease conducting online casino gambling in New Zealand if they have not applied for a licence.
