Betting promotions in New Zealand, and the price behind the headline

A New Zealand punter looking at a betting promotion today is looking at a market with two lawful doors and a long row of offshore ones. The first door is the only one the law gives a complaints route to, the only one the regulator can reach, and the only one that pays for harm-minimisation in this country. Everything else is the same betting product offered from somewhere else, with somebody else’s rules, and with no New Zealand standing behind it if the bet goes wrong. The page below is about that choice — which paths exist, who each one suits, and what each one actually costs once the marketing copy is set aside and the arithmetic is done.

As of 30 October 2026, against the Department of Internal Affairs framework — there is no register for bookmakers, because the Racing Industry Act 2020 names TAB NZ as the sole lawful provider of sports and racing betting to people in New Zealand.

The incentive landscape, in numbers

Ten brands sit in front of a New Zealand punter comparing welcome offers and bonus conditions. Two of them are TAB NZ brands. The other eight are licensed somewhere else, accept bets from a New Zealand address in practice, and operate with no New Zealand standing. The table below puts them side by side on what their own terms say about promotions and on the licence they actually claim.

The table reads almost the same down the unlicensed eight rows. Every one is “Not licensed in New Zealand” in the second column. Every one gets its promo terms from a foreign regulator’s house rules rather than a New Zealand code. The split that matters is the second column, not the third. A punt placed with TAB NZ or Betcha is a bet the Department of Internal Affairs can hear a complaint about. A punt placed with any of the eight below it sits outside that reach.

The numbers in the third column do not, on their own, settle anything. A 100% bonus up to EUR 100 from Spinbara, or a 100% deposit bonus up to EUR 600 from Thunderpick, looks generous against TAB NZ’s Bonus Cash, which is modest by international standards. The thing those numbers do not say is what they cost in turnover, what currency the bonus is paid in, and what happens when a New Zealand address tries to withdraw. The bonuses, and the conditions behind them, are the subject of the calculation later in the page.

The order is not a ranking. The two TAB NZ brands sit first because they are the only lawful option, and because writing them second implies the offshore brands are a comparable alternative. They are not, on a New Zealand basis. They are alternatives in a market sense — a New Zealand punter meets them and is sometimes drawn in by their numbers — and that is the only sense in which they sit in the same table.

The fundamental shape of the market

The shape is simple at the top and more complicated underneath. The top is one name, TAB New Zealand. The underneath is a partnership with one of the largest gambling groups in the world.

TAB NZ’s partner Entain runs the TAB business under a 25-year agreement signed in 2023 that gives Entain a 50/50 share of gross profits, with at least $150m a year going to TAB NZ for the first five years, and Entain pledged a one-off $100m payment to the racing sector. That partnership is the reason a New Zealand punter has any choice at all between two brands on a single monopoly. TAB is the retail and digital anchor that grew up around the racing codes. Betcha is the online sister brand that came with the Entain deal and runs on a separate app.

A punter who wants to spread their action has nowhere else in New Zealand to spread it. There is no New Zealand betting exchange. There is no spread-betting operation licensed here. There is no second bookmaker the Department of Internal Affairs can reach. New Zealand does not geo-block offshore websites either — the law puts the liability on the offshore operator, not on the player, and the practical consequence for the player is the inability to complain to anyone in this country when something goes wrong.

The retail side still does most of the work. A TAB outlet in a pub or a club, a tote window at the races, a phone account with the older brand — these are the surfaces most New Zealand betting turnover has run through for decades. A punter of long standing knows the difference between Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6, and knows which of them are tote (pool) bets and which are fixed-odds. A newer punter meets those bet types in the app and on the bet slip, not on a tote board, and the comparison to an offshore bookmaker’s market list starts there.

The digital side is newer and is where the promotion battle is. TAB’s app is the older of the two and carries the racing-led product. Betcha’s app is newer and is built for a punter who wants multi builders, social features and the kind of odds-boost tools that newer betting apps tend to ship with. They are not rivals. They are two faces of one operator group, and the comparison between them is a comparison between two product surfaces inside a single monopoly.

The market the punter actually faces, in short, is one operator on two apps and a long row of offshore apps that operate in New Zealand because no one here is currently stopping the websites themselves. The next section explains the law that put the offshore row where it is.

The statute that closed the open door

The change is recent and specific. Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 took effect on 28 June 2025. It says, in plain English, 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 lives or where the operator is incorporated. The Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect.

What the amendment did

Three things. It closed the door that was open in practice to offshore bookmakers advertising into New Zealand. It put the offshore operator, not the player, on the wrong side of the law. And it removed the need for a betting-licence register — because there is no licence to apply for and only one provider who may lawfully offer the product.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is the gambling regulator under the Gambling Act 2003 and monitors compliance with the betting prohibition under section 92A of 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. The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA. The change took effect on 28 June 2025 and DIA told providers serving New Zealand 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 Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 licenses online casino gambling only and does not license sports betting. TAB New Zealand winning the right to apply for a casino licence does not extend the betting monopoly. Greyhound racing is closing in stages from 1 August 2026, and from that date offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either, because the product no longer exists here. The thoroughbred and harness codes continue.

What may be bet on

Racing and sports betting from TAB NZ only. TAB NZ takes fixed-odds and tote (pool) bets; its published betting rules define Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6, plus Multis and Same Game Multis (a multi whose legs come from one event). Live betting is listed in the TAB NZ apps; any statutory restriction on in-play markets is not established. No lawful New Zealand betting exchange exists and spread betting is outside TAB NZ’s sports-betting definition. Bets on politics and novelty markets are not established as part of the New Zealand product.

Whether esports betting is “sports betting” under the Racing Industry Act is not established either — the law is silent on the question, which means an offshore bookmaker’s esports markets are, in practice, treated by DIA as bets that are not to be taken from a person in New Zealand. Virtual (computer-simulated) sport is treated by the 2026 online casino law as casino gambling and sits outside the betting monopoly by definition. The punter looking for virtual sports on a TAB app will not find them; the punter looking for virtuals on an offshore app will find them in a product that, by the New Zealand law’s own classification, is not betting at all.

The age line

The age for a TAB NZ account is 18. Land-based casinos are 20, and the betting and casino ages do not align. Betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The minimum age an offshore brand publishes varies: some publish 18, some publish 21, and the rest did not surface a New Zealand-specific age statement in the materials reviewed. None of those age statements is enforced by anyone in New Zealand.

Advertising and bonus rules

The Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code applies to betting ads: they 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 relevant audience is significant where accurate data exists); they must not encourage harm; and they must be truthful with terms available. No New Zealand equivalent of a “whistle-to-whistle” ban for betting ads was found.

DIA reads the betting prohibition as covering the promotion of bets taken by another operator; how DIA treats betting affiliates is not established, so this page describes the monopoly and never invites readers to sign up with an offshore brand. TAB NZ runs “bonus bets” promotions; no separate New Zealand rule on the size of a bet-bonus or on how it must be turned over was found, so the numbers in TAB NZ’s terms come from TAB NZ only. The offshore brands’ offers are governed by their own terms, in their own jurisdictions, with no New Zealand rule applied.

The tax side

For the punter, Inland Revenue’s published view is that 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, and “consult Inland Revenue or an accountant”. The operator side: TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74% (in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028). Offshore operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty of 12% of profits from 1 July 2024, rising to 16% from 1 January 2027. Paying the duty does not make an offshore offer lawful — the duty is paid by operators who accept that NZ residents bet with them, and accepting that is itself a breach of section 74AAA. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets was discontinued on 30 June 2026.

What it costs to use an offshore bookmaker

DIA 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 does not block the websites themselves. 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 honest framing: TAB NZ and Betcha are the only lawful option, with New Zealand harm-minimisation tools, regulator oversight and a complaints framework; the offshore brands are unlawful for the operator to serve New Zealand, with no New Zealand complaints route and the limits the foreign operator’s own rules allow. Neither is “the safe choice” by default — the choice is a choice between the regulator’s protection on one side and the foreign operator’s own terms on the other.

Tools and limits for safer play

The protection a punter gets from betting with TAB NZ or Betcha is the reason the monopoly has been left in place. That protection is concrete and named. It is also the part of the offer that marketing copy spends the least time on.

Deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion are built into both TAB and Betcha apps. The exclusion applies across both TAB and Betcha — one closure covers both brands, because they are one operator group. TAB NZ provides these tools in its app, lists the free New Zealand Gambling Helpline 0800 654 655 and the text line 8006, and Betcha lists the same helpline inside its app with Safer Betting tools in the safer-betting section. Safer Gambling Aotearoa is the public-facing harm-minimisation service funded by the Problem Gambling Levy.

Account opening is verified. TAB and Betcha require a New Zealand address and identity verification before a withdrawal. That requirement is what makes the operator group the only place a New Zealand punter has recourse to a New Zealand complaints framework. The offshore brands do not require a New Zealand address, do not require New Zealand identity, and do not connect to the New Zealand complaints framework. A punter with a complaint against an offshore brand has the brand’s own customer service and the brand’s licensing regulator (Anjouan, Curaçao, or the Tobique Gaming Commission, depending on the brand), and that is the list.

The age line is a hard line. 18 for TAB and Betcha. The breach is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The offshore brands publish different minimum ages, as set out above, and the only enforcement is the operator’s own. The two facts — minimum age on the page, minimum age in practice — are not the same fact for an offshore brand.

The levy, paid by TAB NZ, funds the harm service. The 0.74% Problem Gambling Levy is in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. Offshore brands do not pay it. There is no single national online-betting exclusion register; the register the 2026 online casino law will require is for online casinos only, not for betting. The offshore brands’ own self-exclusion tools are theirs to honour, and a New Zealand punter who has closed an account with one offshore brand has not closed an account with any of the others.

The harm language is straight on purpose. A punter who is betting more than they can afford to lose, or who is chasing losses, or who is keeping their betting from family, can call the Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) at any hour, free. The service is funded through the levy, which means the punter’s call is paid for by the operator who took the bet, in their case TAB NZ. That is what the monopoly buys, in operational terms.

What a Bonus Cash offer is actually worth

The word “bonus” is the word to read carefully. New TAB NZ customers can receive Bonus Cash that can be split across multiple bets, and the app lists a Mega Multi Bonus of up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. The terms apply. There is no separate New Zealand rule on the size of a bet-bonus or on how many times it must be turned over, so the numbers in this section are TAB NZ’s own, transcribed from the app listing and the operator’s own terms.

The single rule about a free bet

A free bet, a bonus bet, Bonus Cash, or any name in that family: the stake is usually not paid back with the winnings. A punter who places a $50 Bonus Cash bet at decimal odds of 2.00 keeps $50 of profit, not $100 of return. That is the difference between a free bet and a cash refund. The bonus is the profit; the stake is the operator’s. It is worth working out what that profit is, on average, before claiming.

A worked example

Take the Mega Multi Bonus at its maximum $50 in Bonus Cash, payable when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. Use an illustrative two-way selection at decimal odds of 1.90 / 1.90 — the kind of line a Same Game Multi on a basketball or a tennis match produces. The market’s payout share is 1 ÷ (1/1.90 + 1/1.90), which comes to 95%, leaving a margin of 5%. The expected value of a $50 free bet on that market, with the stake not returned, is roughly $50 × (1.90 − 1) ÷ 1.90 × 0.95, which works out to about $22.50. So a punter who triggers the full $50 Bonus Cash bonus on a market at those prices is collecting about twenty-two or twenty-three dollars of expected value, not $50.

The band widens at longer odds and narrows at shorter odds, because the (odds − 1) ÷ odds term stretches with the price. At decimal odds of 3.00 the same $50 free bet is worth about $50 × (2/3) × 0.95 ≈ $31.70; at 1.50 it is worth about $50 × (0.5/1.5) × 0.95 ≈ $15.80. The headline is the same $50; the expected value moves with the odds the punter actually takes.

The honest framing of a free bet

The offer pays for the profit portion; the punter pays the price of the marketing in the difference between the headline number and the expected value. A bonus that promises $50 of headline value, on a market with a 5% margin and decimal odds in the 1.90 neighbourhood, is worth roughly $20 to $25 in expectation. It is real money, but it is half the headline. The Mega Multi Bonus also depends on the multi falling short by a set number of legs, which is a probability condition on top of the odds condition, and a punter who treats the $50 as a projected value is treating a marketing number as a payout.

What the bonus can be spent on

The TAB NZ app listing describes Bonus Cash as splittable across multiple bets. The Mega Multi Bonus is triggered by a multi of four or more legs that falls short by a set number of legs — that is the condition, and the bonus is paid in Bonus Cash, not as a cash refund. The minimum number of legs, the maximum number of legs short by which the bonus can trigger, and the qualifying sports are in TAB NZ’s own terms. The terms apply, which is the polite way of saying: read them.

The offshore offers, in comparison

Spinbara’s English site advertises a first-deposit bonus of 100% up to EUR 100 and a sport crypto welcome bonus of 100% up to 200 USDT; Thunderpick’s English site advertises a 100% deposit bonus up to EUR 600. None of those offers is governed by a New Zealand rule on size or rollover. The turnover required to convert the bonus, the minimum price at which a qualifying bet must be placed, and the deadline by which the bonus must be cleared are all in the foreign operator’s terms. The bigger headline, against the TAB NZ modest offer, is the same difference of marketing a reader sees in any other market: the offer is sized to the rollover, the rollover is sized to the margin, and the margin sits inside every price the punter sees on the way through.

The odds-format point

Decimal odds are the only format most offshore brands present as the default, and a New Zealand punter using TAB NZ’s app sees prices in decimal form as well, so the conversion question is small. Where a bookmaker offers American or fractional odds — BillyBets is one example that publishes Decimal (2.00), American (+100) and Fractional (1/1) on its site — the format the punter sees on the slip is a presentation choice, not a different price. The maths is the maths.

The single rule that applies regardless of where the bet is placed

Every promotion in the table costs the punter the margin of the market they bet into, plus any turnover the offer demands. The marketing word is “free” or “bonus”; the cost is the difference between the headline and the expected value. The arithmetic the punter does on the front end is the arithmetic that decides whether the offer is worth taking.

TAB — the retail anchor of the monopoly

TAB is the older of the two surfaces, runs the racing-led product, and is the place a punter goes for fixed-odds and tote betting on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing, plus the sports codes New Zealand follows. The same app carries Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis, one-tap Popular Multis, and a Place Extra option that lets punters back runners to finish up to 10th in selected races. Same Game Multis are a multi whose legs come from a single event; Same Race Multis are the racing equivalent. Both let a punter build a price out of several outcomes inside one race or one match.

The promotion booker lists Bonus Cash for new customers, splittable across multiple bets, plus a Mega Multi bonus of up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. The Bonus Cash is paid in Bonus Cash, not cash, and the stake is not returned with the winnings — the calculation above gives the expected value at roughly $22.50 on a market at decimal odds of 1.90 / 1.90. That is the comparison the punter is making, even when the marketing copy says “up to $50”.

The safety booker is the one the punter does not see as a feature: verified New Zealand address and ID before withdrawal, deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion that also covers Betcha, the free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) inside the app, and the Problem Gambling Levy paid on every dollar of turnover. That is the protection the monopoly buys the punter, in operational terms.

TAB is the lawful option, with the harm-minimisation framework, the regulator behind it, and the modest promotional offer that comes with both. The punter who wants the racing-led product, who values the New Zealand complaints route, and who accepts that the bonus headline will be smaller than an offshore brand’s headline, gets the right product here. The punter chasing a bigger headline gets a different deal somewhere else, and gets nothing in New Zealand in return.

Betcha — the online face of the same monopoly

Betcha is the newer of the two TAB NZ apps and the one the partnership with Entain built. It is a separate app, with a separate product surface, on the same licence and the same operator group. The Multi Builder is the headline tool: punters build multi bets leg by leg, copy trending multis from other punters, and track live legs. A new multi-grid builds Same Game Multis from inside a single match. Same Game Multis are the multi format that has driven much of the growth in online betting in the last few years, and Betcha’s product is built around that.

The promotion booker is a daily Toolbox with odds boosts and insurance tools for bets that do not land. The Toolbox is the smaller, more frequent offer — the kind that shows up in a push notification and disappears within 24 hours. Insurance tools are the umbrella name for refunds on selected bet types that miss by one leg or fail on a stated condition; the refund is in Bonus Cash, not cash, and the stake is not returned with the winnings. The Mega Multi Bonus format described in TAB’s promotion list also runs on Betcha, on the same terms.

The social booker is the part that sets Betcha apart from the older app. Bet Social is a section where punters chat, follow tipsters, and share bets or pools. Playbook carries tips and match analysis. The 17+ App Store age rating is on the betcha app; the Safer Betting tools are in the app, with the Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) listed alongside. A punter who wants the social-product side of the modern betting app, while staying inside the monopoly, gets the right product here.

The licence line is identical to TAB’s. Same operator, same New Zealand standing, same protection. The punter who opens both apps with the same verified New Zealand address sees the same exclusion list, because the exclusion is across the operator group rather than the app.

TAB and Betcha are not a “best of two” — they are a single monopoly with two product surfaces. The punter who wants racing and tote-led betting uses TAB. The punter who wants multis, social features and daily Toolbox promotions uses Betcha. Most regulars end up with both, because the operator group is one and the verification is one, and the only cost of having both is the storage for a second app.

Eight brands outside the monopoly

The eight brands below are the operators a New Zealand punter meets when the search results, the affiliate sites and the bonus aggregators do their work. None is licensed in New Zealand. None has a New Zealand complaints route. None is governed by the rules described in the legality section above. Each review below names the licence the brand claims in its own terms, the marketing offer the brand advertises, and the reason a New Zealand punter might — or might not — still find the operator’s product worth looking at, in the operational sense, knowing what the brand is not.

Rooster.bet — Costa Rica base, no NZ standing

Rooster.bet is operated by Novatrix SRL, a company incorporated in Costa Rica with registration number 3-102-893958, under e-gaming licence No. 0000002 issued by the Tobique Gaming Commission. The Tobique Gaming Commission is the regulator of the Tobique Tribal Council in New Brunswick, Canada, and the e-gaming licence it issues covers internet gambling from the Tobique jurisdiction, not from New Zealand. No New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework reaches the brand.

No sport-specific welcome offer was surfaced in the materials reviewed. Rooster.bet’s own terms describe a casino-led product with sports on top, and the headline numbers a general reader sees on Rooster.bet are casino-led. The sport-promo terms were not identified in the terms reviewed.

The Tobique Gaming Commission is not a New Zealand regulator, and the licence it issues gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. A New Zealand punter who opens an account at Rooster.bet gets no recourse to the Department of Internal Affairs, no New Zealand identity-verification requirement, and no entry to the Gambling Helpline’s funded service. The offer is whatever the brand advertises that day; the protection is whatever the brand’s own terms provide.

Spinbara — Euro-denominated welcome package, no NZ standing

Spinbara’s English site advertises a first deposit bonus of 100% up to EUR 100 and a sport crypto welcome bonus of 100% up to 200 USDT, alongside a casino welcome bonus of 100% up to EUR 500 plus 200 free spins. The welcome package is paid in Euros or USDT, not NZ dollars. A New Zealand punter who deposits NZD will see the offer converted at the brand’s exchange rate, with the conversion spread inside it.

The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand. The brand is not subject to any New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework. The promotion terms are Spinbara’s, and the turnover required to convert the bonus, the minimum price for a qualifying bet and the deadline for clearing the bonus are in the brand’s own terms. They were not surfaced in the materials reviewed.

The headline number on Spinbara is bigger than the headline on TAB NZ. The cost of the offer is in the turnover, the minimum price and the conversion spread, none of which the headline shows. A New Zealand punter chasing a bigger headline gets a different deal here, on a different regulator’s rules.

Sportaza — Anjouan licence, broad market range

Sportaza offers cash out before an event or market is finalised, Bet Builder (if one selection is void the whole betslip is void), multiples, Asian lines and interval markets in 1, 5, 10 or 15 minute ranges. The product is the kind of broad market range an offshore bookmaker built around football and tennis builds, with a granular in-play section underneath.

The brand names an Anjouan licence (ALSI-202606064-FI2), which gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. The brand is not subject to any New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework. The material reviewed for the brand does not surface a sport-specific welcome offer.

Sportaza’s strength is the in-play product: cash out, Asian lines, interval markets. The punter who wants that depth, on an offshore bookmaker, and accepts the Anjouan regulatory frame, gets a product closer to the international bookmaker standard than TAB NZ’s product currently is. The punter seeking the New Zealand regulator’s reach will not find it here; that protection stays with the TAB NZ monopoly.

22Bet — Curaçao licence, deep market menu

22Bet offers over 30 market types per event, including 1X2, Double Chance, totals, both teams to score, correct score and HT-FT, plus tennis game, set and handicap markets. The market menu is the headline product, and the depth — over 30 market types per match — is the international bookmaker benchmark for an offshore brand of this size.

The brand names a Curaçao licence (8048/JAZ), holder TechSolutions Group N.V., which gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. A sport-specific welcome offer was not surfaced for the brand in the materials reviewed.

22Bet is the depth play. A punter who wants the international market menu, the wider handicap lines and the granular market types gets a product that TAB NZ does not currently match. That gap—between an international betting product and a local regulated framework—is the trade-off inherent to this offshore brand.

Thunderpick — esports-first, Curaçao base

Thunderpick is esports-first, covering CS2, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Valorant, and its sportsbook offers a cash-out feature and markets from the Champions League to the NFL. The product the brand is built around is esports, and the sportsbook is layered on top of it. The welcome offer is a 100% deposit bonus up to EUR 600 on the English site, with crypto recommended for the deposit.

The brand names a Curaçao licence (OGL/2024/677/0722), holder Paloma Media B.V., which gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. The promotion booker is the deposit bonus, paid in EUR, with the terms in the brand’s own conditions.

Thunderpick is for the punter who wants esports coverage and the crypto deposit path, and who accepts the Curaçao regulatory frame. The punter looking for New Zealand harm-minimisation or racing-focused integrity is better served by the monopoly operator.

Glorion — Anjouan base, broad verticals

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 verticals are wide, and the inclusion of entertainment events is the kind of product extension an offshore multi-vertical brand tends to ship.

The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand. The brand’s promotion materials reviewed did not surface a sport-specific welcome offer.

Glorion is wide rather than deep. A punter who wants the breadth — entertainment markets, virtuals, niche sports — gets that breadth here, on an Anjouan-base bookmaker with no New Zealand standing. The punter who prioritises the New Zealand regulator’s framework, or the integrity of a single racing code’s pool, will not find them here.

Golden Panda — multi-product, no NZ licence

Golden Panda offers a Sports section with a sportsbook, esports and virtual sports, plus casino, live casino, crash games, rewards, cashback, a VIP Club, Golden Goals and Prediction Markets. The product mix is the offshore multi-product model: sports, casino, esports, virtuals, crash games and a VIP programme layered on top.

The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand. The promotion booker is the rewards and cashback structure, plus the VIP Club and Golden Goals — formats that sit alongside the sportsbook rather than as a sport-specific welcome offer.

Golden Panda is the multi-product play. The punter who wants the rewards loop and the VIP structure gets that here. The punter who wants a sport-specific welcome offer with clear terms does not, in the materials reviewed. The base is offshore and the protection is the brand’s own.

Winz.io — dual offshore licences, sportsbook T&C set

Winz.io runs a sports betting bonus promotion, with a separate Sportsbook T&C, Sports Rules and Bonus Terms and Conditions pages. The promotion booker is the most clearly signposted of the eight: a sportsbook bonus promotion, with its own terms pages, sits in the menu. The brand names Anjouan and Tobique licences, holder Novatrix SRL, which gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand.

The brand is not subject to any New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework. The Sportsbook T&C, Sports Rules and Bonus Terms pages are the surface a punter reads before claiming the offer, and the signposting is the cleanest of the eight in the table above.

Winz.io’s promotion booker is well signposted. A punter who wants a clear, terms-fronted sportsbook bonus, on an offshore bookmaker, gets that here.

Frequently asked questions

Are there New Zealand rules on the size or terms of a betting bonus?

No published New Zealand rule on the size of a betting bonus or on how many times it must be turned over was found. The numbers in TAB NZ’s promotion terms come from TAB NZ itself, and the gambling regulator does not set a maximum bonus size or a maximum wagering multiple for betting. The offshore brands’ offers are governed by their own terms, in their own jurisdictions, with no New Zealand rule applied.

Why is the stake of a free or bonus bet not paid back with the winnings?

A free or bonus bet is a token that pays the profit, not the stake. On a market at decimal odds of 1.90, a $50 Bonus Cash bet that wins returns $50 of profit, not $95 of total return. The stake is the operator’s. The expected value of the bonus is the bonus amount multiplied by (odds − 1) ÷ odds, multiplied by the market’s payout share — which is why the headline number is roughly twice the expected value at typical odds and margins.

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

TAB NZ may, and its two online brands are TAB and Betcha. Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025, names TAB NZ as the sole lawful provider of racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand. 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?

Return = stake × decimal odds. Net profit = stake × (decimal odds − 1). On a combination bet the odds of the legs multiply into one price. On a two-way market at 1.90 / 1.90, the payout share is 95% and the margin is 5% — the difference between what the punter pays in and what the bookmaker pays out across the market’s outcomes.

Which tools for controlling play do TAB and Betcha offer, and who can be called for help?

Deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion are built into both TAB and Betcha, and the exclusion covers both brands. The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655, text 8006) runs 24 hours, is listed inside both apps, and is funded through the Problem Gambling Levy. Safer Gambling Aotearoa is the public-facing harm-minimisation service.