What Mobile Betting in New Zealand Actually Costs You in 2026

Updated October 2026

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A smartphone is where most New Zealanders place a bet now. The Racing Industry Act 2020, with the section 74AAA amendment that took effect on 28 June 2025, narrows the field so sharply that there is effectively one choice on this side of the Tasman and a different category of choice everywhere else. This is not a guide to ten interchangeable apps. It is a guide to what mobile betting in New Zealand is, what it costs the punter, and what the alternative app stores will hand you instead.

Current as of 26 October 2026; the New Zealand licence position was checked against the Department of Internal Affairs’ published statements on section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020.

The TAB NZ Pair: What the Shortlist Looks Like and Why

Two Brands, One Operator, No Rivalry

TAB and Betcha are not two bookmakers competing for your phone. They are the two online brands of TAB NZ, the body set up under the Racing Industry Act 2020 as the only lawful provider of racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand. The mobile experience is split because punters have different habits: TAB carries the legacy product (trackside racing, tote, fixed odds, racing newspapers’ worth of form), while Betcha sits closer to the offshore app experience that younger punters expected before the prohibition tightened. Both run on the same wallet. Both honour the same self-exclusion.

Entain runs the TAB platform under a 25-year partnership signed in 2023. The economics matter to the punter in a specific way: Entain and TAB NZ split gross profits 50/50, with at least $150m a year flowing to TAB NZ for the first five years. A one-off $100m payment went to the racing codes. The point is not the size of the deal. The point is that the TAB NZ product is now built on Entain’s engine, which is why Betcha’s app feels like an Entain product (Bet Builder, live multi-view, cash-out) and why TAB’s app keeps the racing feel of the old TAB but with Entain’s pricing underneath. The punter pays for that in the margin baked into every odds line, just as at any bookmaker, only here the deal is locked in until 2048.

What “Shortlist” Means in a Monopoly

A shortlist, in a market with two lawful online brands from one operator, is a checklist of features rather than a ranking of rivals. The things worth ranking are: does the app cover the codes you bet on, does it stream what you watch, does it pay out without delay, does it keep your money in harm-minimisation tools you can actually set, and does it pay the right taxes out of its take so the public side of the TAB holds up. Each of those is a different answer to a different reader, and the next sections measure them against that.

The New Zealand Betting Landscape

What the Law Did on 28 June 2025

The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA into the Racing Industry Act 2020. The wording is short and absolute: no person other than TAB NZ may offer racing betting, sports betting, or other racing or sports betting to a person in New Zealand, regardless of where that person is resident or incorporated. It took effect on 28 June 2025. The Department of Internal Affairs, which is the gambling regulator under the Gambling Act 2003, told unlicensed providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect.

There is no licence route. There is no register of licensed bookmakers, because there is no second licence to issue. The only legal bookmakers for New Zealand residents, on mobile or anywhere else, are TAB and Betcha.

What That Means in Practice for a Phone Bettor

For the person holding the phone, the practical effect is that the App Store and Google Play filters in New Zealand have stopped surfacing the familiar European-facing brands that were available before the prohibition tightened. Sites served from overseas are not blocked by the state; the law puts liability on the operator. A New Zealand punter can still reach an offshore app, but doing so means stepping outside the only framework in this country that gives the bettor a regulator to complain to, a harm-minimisation regime to fall back on, and a guarantee that unspent credits come back.

What Greyhound Racing’s Closure Changes

Greyhound racing is closing in stages from 1 August 2026. From that date, offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either; the prohibition catches any race meeting that no longer runs. For the punter this is a slow attrition rather than a single event, and the practical question — which greyhound meetings the app still prices — is one to ask the operator before staking.

Responsible Gambling in the New Zealand Framework

The Tools TAB NZ Puts on the Phone

TAB NZ’s app lists deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion as the three safer-gambling tools it provides. Self-exclusion applies across both brands (TAB and Betcha), because they sit on the same wallet and the same account identity. The 17+ age rating on the App Store is the platform’s content rating, not the legal age to bet; the legal age to bet is 18, and betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. Land-based casinos are 20 — that is a separate regime and does not apply here.

The Helpline Behind the Tools

The app lists the free 24/7 Gambling Helpline at 0800 654 655, with text support at 8006, and the Safer Gambling Aotearoa service as the public-side framework. The Problem Gambling Levy, paid by TAB NZ and set at 0.74% of betting revenue from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028, funds that service. A punter who feels their betting is moving past the harmless end of the spectrum has the same number to call regardless of which brand of TAB NZ the bet was placed with.

What the Offshore App Store Does Not Offer

An offshore app is not required to display these tools, is not connected to the helpline, and is not covered by TAB NZ’s levy. If the offshore operator has its own self-exclusion, it covers only that account, not any other. There is no national online-betting exclusion register, because the only operator that feeds it is TAB NZ and TAB NZ already covers its own customers. A punter who excludes himself from TAB and Betcha still has to exclude himself separately at every offshore app he uses.

Bonuses and Free Bets at the Mobile Counter

What TAB NZ’s “Bonus Cash” Is Worth

The TAB NZ app lists Bonus Cash for new customers, which can be split across multiple bets, and 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 headline figure is one thing; the actual value depends on the odds you take and the markets you play, and the bonus cash rules are in the terms. There is no separate, separately-capped free-bet product marketed as such. Read the terms for the minimum odds on qualifying bets and the time the bonus cash stays valid.

Why Offshore “Free Bets” Read Differently

The offshore apps use the familiar pattern: a free bet credited on signup or first deposit, a deposit match behind it, and an accumulator insurance for the multi-bettor. The marketing words are the same as anywhere: “free bet”, “boosted odds”, “risk-free”. The arithmetic on those offers tends to be the same anywhere too — the free bet stake is usually not returned with a win, the boosted price is capped, the minimum odds on the qualifying bet sits at or above 1.50, and the rollover on the bonus credit is the offer’s real price. The terms at each operator are the page on which the offer’s worth is actually stated, and they vary widely between brands.

What the Bonus Cycle Costs the Reader

A bonus costs what its turnover and its minimum odds together say it costs, not what the headline number says. If a $100 bonus carries a 5x rollover at minimum odds 1.50, the punter must place $500 of qualifying bets at odds of 1.50 or higher. At a typical margin of 5% on the markets played, the expected cost of clearing is roughly $25 — that is the price the punter pays for the bonus. The bonus cash received was $100; the net, after the expected cost of clearing, sits well below that. Offshore offers that look heavier than this tend to come with heavier rollover or shorter deadlines. The rule of thumb is unchanged across the offshore space: the larger the headline, the longer the term.

Mobile Apps, Handsets, and What the Phone Does

The TAB App on iOS and Android

TAB NZ publishes its betting app as “TAB – Racing & Sports Betting” on the New Zealand App Store under the seller name New Zealand Racing Board, with the app first released on 8 September 2014. It carries a 17+ App Store age rating while stating that customers must be 18 or over to bet. The product covers horse and harness racing, rugby union and rugby league and other sports, with pre-match and live betting, and adds Trackside live race streaming with in-app betting, racing form, Blackbook and Jockey Challenge tools, and a simplified wallet for deposits and withdrawals.

The Betcha App on iOS and Android

Betcha is published on the New Zealand App Store by Entain New Zealand Limited, first released on 6 August 2024. It carries the same 17+ age rating, and lists Safer Betting tools and the Gambling Helpline at 0800 654 655. Betcha is the brand that points younger punters toward the modern multi-builder experience; TAB is the brand that points racing-first punters toward the form tools.

Features Worth Naming in a Mobile Context

The TAB NZ app lists Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis, one-tap Popular Multis, and a Place Extra option that lets punters back runners to finish up to the top 10 in selected races. Live betting is available on both apps; the depth of the in-play markets is wider on Betcha and on the bigger international events on TAB. Both apps use the TAB NZ wallet, so a deposit at one is available at the other without a second transfer.

Betting Without an App: The Mobile Site

Most offshore brands, including those reviewed below, run on Android and iOS through a mobile-optimised site as well as through dedicated apps, with the apps sometimes offered through a sideload (an APK file) rather than through the Google Play Store. The browser experience on a modern phone is good enough for most bettors, with the dedicated app adding push notifications, biometric login, and a faster path back to a pre-built multi. The trade-off is download size, app-store updates, and the friction of sideloading an APK on Android.

The Operator Write-ups

TAB (tab.co.nz)

TAB is the legacy brand of TAB NZ and the most natural starting point for a punter whose habits were formed before the prohibition tightened. The app covers thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing (until greyhound meetings close from 1 August 2026) alongside rugby union, rugby league and other sports, and the racing product is where the depth shows: Trackside live race streaming inside the app, racing form, Blackbook, Jockey Challenge, and Place Extra on selected races for punters who want to back a runner to finish in the top 10 rather than the top three. The fixed-odds and tote (parlay) products both live in the same wallet, which lets a punter combine a Same Race Multi with a quinella or a quaddie without juggling accounts. Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis, one-tap Popular Multis and the Mega Multi bonus of up to $50 in Bonus Cash on a multi of four or more legs are the everyday promo architecture, with Bonus Cash for new customers usable across multiple bets. The safer-gambling tools — deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion — sit inside the app and apply across both TAB and Betcha. The 17+ age rating is the App Store’s content rating; the legal age to bet is 18. For a racing-first punter who wants form, live vision and a multi-builder on one screen, the TAB app is the package. The trade-off is the racing-product feel: a punter who has used a modern offshore multi-builder will notice the form panel sitting beside the bet slip and may prefer Betcha’s lighter interface for sport-only betting.

Betcha (betcha.co.nz)

Betcha is the second of TAB NZ’s two online brands, run by Entain New Zealand Limited, and is the brand that sits closer to the offshore app experience a younger punter expected before the prohibition took its current shape. Released on the New Zealand App Store on 6 August 2024, Betcha carries the same 17+ age rating, the same Safer Betting tools and the same Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655), and uses the same TAB NZ wallet — a deposit at TAB is available at Betcha and vice versa. The product is built around the multi-builder and the live multi-view, which is where the Entain engine shows: the in-play markets on the bigger events go deeper than the racing-first app’s, and the Bet Builder flow is closer to what a punter used to reach by sideloading an offshore APK. The Greyhound product winds down with the rest of greyhound racing from 1 August 2026. For a sport-first punter who wants the offshore-style interface inside the New Zealand framework, Betcha is the right entry point; for a punter whose habits are racing-first, the TAB app’s form and live-streaming tools are the better fit. The two are not rivals; they are the same operator on two interfaces.

BillyBets (Billybets.com)

BillyBets is not licensed in New Zealand; only TAB NZ may offer racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, and the brand names no licence that applies in this country. Support is available 24/7 through live chat and a Help Centre, and the site runs on both Android and iOS through a mobile-optimised platform. The cashier page lists New Zealand in the country selector, which is the only signal that the brand has any awareness of this market; the only currency filter shown on the cashier is Euro. The point of including a brand like this on a New Zealand shortlist is to be explicit about the gap between licensed and unlicensed in this country: the operator has no New Zealand complaints route, no harm-minimisation framework that reaches it, and no guarantee that unspent credits or large wins come back. A New Zealand punter who installs this app is gambling outside the only framework that gives them a regulator to complain to. The brand’s product is fine for what it offers; the cost is the absence of the protection the TAB NZ framework provides.

Alawin (Alawin.com)

Alawin is not licensed in New Zealand; the brand accepts customers aged 18 or over only, and names no licence that applies in New Zealand. The brand is included here so the New Zealand shortlist reflects what a punt reaches in an app store search, not only the legal position. The product sits inside the offshore category: mobile-optimised site, casino and sportsbook side by side, and the standard offshore bonus architecture (a welcome package, free bets on qualifying events, accumulator insurance) whose real price lives in the wagering requirements and minimum odds in the terms. A New Zealand punter who reaches this brand has stepped outside the only framework in this country that provides a regulator, a complaints route, and harm-minimisation tools funded by the operator’s own levy. The expected cost of clearing the welcome offer, calculated against a typical 5% margin on the markets played, sits in the same range as any offshore brand of this size; the structural cost of using it from New Zealand is the absence of the protection that sits underneath the TAB NZ product.

RTbet (Rtbet.com)

RTbet is not licensed in New Zealand; only TAB NZ may offer racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The brand names a Curaçao licence, which is invalid for the New Zealand market. The sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball, with live betting and virtual sports. The product breadth is wider than the TAB NZ product on some sports (American football, baseball, table tennis), and the live betting menu is the standard offshore depth. The cost of using RTbet from New Zealand is the absence of a New Zealand complaints route, the absence of any harm-minimisation framework that reaches the brand, and the absence of the guarantee that unspent credits or a large win will land. The bonus architecture is the standard offshore one: a welcome package whose turnover and minimum odds decide what the offer actually costs the punter. RTbet lacks the local regulatory oversight that safeguards New Zealand bettors, making the licensed alternative the safer choice.

FunBet (Funbet.com)

FunBet is not licensed in New Zealand; the brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand, and the New Zealand framework puts liability on the offshore operator under section 74AAA. The sportsbook offers odds on football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball, with live betting and a bookmaker described as open 24/7. Rugby in the markets list is worth noting for a New Zealand punter, since rugby sits at the heart of the TAB NZ product, and FunBet’s rugby menu adds depth outside what TAB NZ lists. The cost of using FunBet from New Zealand is the same structural gap as any other offshore brand on this shortlist: no New Zealand regulator, no New Zealand complaints route, no harm-minimisation framework that reaches the operator, and the DIA-stated risk that unspent credits may not return and large wins may not pay. The welcome offer and the recurring promos sit in the standard architecture, with the real price in the wagering terms. In contrast to licensed options, FunBet lacks the robust protection that New Zealand punters expect.

22Bet

22Bet is not licensed in New Zealand; the brand is run by TechSolutions Group N.V., a Curaçao company with registration number 144920, which also runs 20Bet, Bizzo and National Casino, under Curaçao licence 8048/JAZ. Such a licence provides no authority to take bets from New Zealand residents. The product is the standard offshore sportsbook plus casino plus live betting plus virtual sports plus a long list of deposit methods including crypto, and the welcome architecture is the standard multi-stage deposit match. The cost of using 22Bet from New Zealand is the same structural gap as any other offshore brand on this shortlist, plus a brand-group scale that makes dispute resolution harder rather than easier: the operator is one of several in a Curaçao-licensed group, and the New Zealand punter has no complaints route inside that group. The expected cost of clearing the welcome offer sits in the standard offshore range, calculated against the margin on the markets the punter plays; the structural cost of using it from New Zealand is the absence of the protection that sits underneath the TAB NZ product. The TAB NZ pair remains the only product operating within the established New Zealand regulatory framework.

Rooster.bet

Rooster.bet is not licensed in New Zealand; the brand 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, an authorisation that provides no legal standing in New Zealand. The product is the offshore sportsbook-plus-casino model, with the standard welcome architecture and the standard mobile app wrapper. The Tobique licence is one of the newer small-jurisdiction licences and sits in the same minimal-consumer-safeguard category as Curaçao and Anjouan for the purposes of a New Zealand punter’s protection: there is no New Zealand complaints route into Tobique, no harm-minimisation framework that reaches the brand, and the DIA-stated risks apply.

Golden Panda

Golden Panda is not licensed in New Zealand; the brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand, and the New Zealand framework puts liability on the offshore operator under section 74AAA. The site 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 is one of the broader offshore packages, with the welcome architecture and the recurring promo cadence that comes with the casino-plus-sportsbook structure. The cost of using Golden Panda from New Zealand is the structural gap that applies to every other brand on this shortlist outside TAB NZ: no New Zealand regulator, no New Zealand complaints route, no harm-minimisation framework that reaches the operator, and the DIA-stated risk that unspent credits may not return and large wins may not pay. Operators like this lack the local consumer protections available through the TAB NZ framework.

Winz.io

Winz.io is not licensed in New Zealand; the brand states in its footer that it holds a licence delivered by Anjouan and Tobique, an authorisation that confers no right to operate in the New Zealand market. The product is the offshore casino-led package with a sportsbook and a recurring promo cadence, and the licence combination is the same minimal-safeguard profile as the other offshore brands on this shortlist. The cost of using Winz.io from New Zealand is the same structural gap: no New Zealand complaints route, no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework, and the DIA-stated risks that come with the offshore category. Licensed options like the TAB NZ pair provide the New Zealand framework that this brand lacks. The brand’s licence combination is a marker to read, not a recommendation.

What a Bet on the TAB NZ Apps Returns to You

How the Return on a Bet is Worked Out

For a single bet, the return is the stake multiplied by the odds, and the net profit is the stake multiplied by the odds minus one. A $10 stake at odds of $2.10 returns $21.00, which is a $10 stake plus $11.00 in profit. The same arithmetic applies in reverse for a losing bet, where the stake is the loss. For a combination bet (a multi) the odds of the legs multiply into one price, and a $10 stake across three legs at odds of 1.50, 2.00 and 3.00 carries combined odds of 9.00, returning $90.00 on a win. The odds are decimal, the stake is in New Zealand dollars, and the return is the total paid back rather than the profit alone. This is the same arithmetic everywhere, but the price the punter pays for the chance of that return is the margin baked into the odds.

Why the Margin is the Real Price

The bookmaker’s margin is the share of every dollar bet that the bookmaker keeps on average, and it is the difference between the sum of the implied probabilities of every outcome and 100%. A two-outcome market with no margin sums to 100% exactly; a market with a 5% margin sums to 105%. The wider the margin, the more the punter pays for every bet on that market over a season of betting.

What the Margin Costs a Punter Over a Season

A punter placing $100 of bets per week at a 5% margin pays $5 per week to the bookmaker in expected terms, which is $260 over a year. At a 7% margin the same volume costs $7 per week, which is $364 over a year. The volume is the variable the punter controls; the margin is the variable the bookmaker sets. The compounding effect over a season of betting is what the margin really costs, and it is the reason the price on the screen is worth reading before the bet is placed rather than after.

What a Multi is Worth in Expected Terms

A multi is the combination bet whose odds multiply across legs, and the punter’s expected return on a multi is the same as on a single: the stake multiplied by the combined odds multiplied by the probability of every leg landing. The probability of every leg landing is the product of each leg’s probability, which falls sharply as more legs are added. A two-leg multi at odds of 2.00 and 2.00 has combined odds of 4.00; the implied probability of both legs landing is 25%, so a $100 stake returns $25 in expected terms before the margin. A four-leg multi at the same per-leg odds has combined odds of 16.00 and implied probability of 6.25%, returning $6.25 in expected terms on the same $100 stake. The multi looks bigger because the odds are bigger; the expected return shrinks because the probability shrinks faster. That is the arithmetic behind the multi-builder experience at TAB NZ and at every other bookmaker.

How the New Zealand Tax Position Reads to a Punter

The Player Side: Recreational Winnings

Inland Revenue guidance says recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable in New Zealand, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is not taxable. The position is the same for racing and sports betting at the TAB NZ pair, and it is the same for offshore bookmakers in the sense that the New Zealand punter is not taxed on the winnings themselves. A punter who bets as a business is a different case, and the standard caveat applies: this is general information rather than tax advice, and the right source for a specific position is Inland Revenue or an accountant. The point for a casual mobile bettor is that a win at TAB or Betcha, or at an offshore app, does not produce a New Zealand tax bill.

The Operator Side: What TAB NZ Pays

TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy at 0.74% of betting revenue from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028, which funds the Gambling Helpline and Safer Gambling Aotearoa. That is the visible public-side cost of the monopoly, and it sits inside the TAB NZ product rather than appearing as a separate line on the bet slip. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets ceased on 30 June 2026, which removes a piece of the previous offshore-cost architecture but does not change the licensing position: section 74AAA still puts liability on the offshore operator serving New Zealand.

The Offshore Operator Side: What They Pay and What It Does Not Mean

Overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay an online gambling duty, set at 12% of profits from 1 July 2024 and rising to 16% from 1 January 2027. The fact that an offshore operator pays this duty does not make the offer lawful under section 74AAA, and the page does not write that tax payment shows a bookmaker is legal. The duty is a tax on the operator’s profits from this market; the prohibition is on the operator serving this market at all.

A Primer for the New Zealand Punter

How to Read the TAB NZ App

The TAB NZ app opens on the day’s racing and sport, with a bottom bar that moves between Racing, Sport, Live, Multi and Account. The Racing tab is where thoroughbred, harness and greyhound meetings live (greyhound closes from 1 August 2026), with each meeting listed by race number and the Form panel sitting beside the bet slip. The Sport tab is the multi-builder experience on rugby union, rugby league and other sports, with the Bet Builder flow sitting on the bigger events. The Live tab is the in-play menu, which is wider on the bigger international events than on the smaller ones. The Multi tab is where Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis and Popular Multis live, and the Account tab is where the wallet, the deposit and withdrawal methods, and the safer-gambling tools (deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion) sit.

How to Read the Betcha App

The Betcha app is lighter than the TAB app, with the multi-builder and the live multi-view at the front of the interface. The Racing tab is thinner than TAB’s because Betcha is not the form-first product; the Sport tab is where the multi-builder lives for rugby union, rugby league and other sports, and the in-play menu is the wider Entain market. The wallet and the safer-gambling tools are the same TAB NZ wallet and the same TAB NZ tools; a punter who sets a deposit limit at Betcha has set it across both brands.

How to Read an Offshore App from New Zealand

An offshore app opens with a Sports tab, a Live tab, a Casino tab, and an Account menu. The welcome offer is the standard offshore architecture (a deposit match, sometimes a free bet on the first deposit, sometimes an accumulator insurance) with the real cost in the wagering terms and the minimum odds. The deposit methods lean on cards, e-wallets and increasingly on crypto; the withdrawal methods are a subset of the deposit methods and may take longer to land. The safer-gambling tools are the brand’s own and apply only to that account. The country selector is where a New Zealand punter finds the New Zealand framing — sometimes it is a payment-method filter, sometimes it is the only signal that the brand has any awareness of this market. The structural gap (no New Zealand regulator, no New Zealand complaints route, no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework that reaches the brand) is the cost of betting outside the New Zealand framework.

Comparing the Brands Side by Side

The New Zealand Betting Landscape at a Glance

Reading the Spread

The two rows at the top are the same operator on two interfaces, with the licence line carrying the same legal standing and the mobile line carrying different product emphases. The eight rows below are the offshore category, with the licence line marking the structural gap and the mobile line carrying the depth of the product a New Zealand punter is leaving the framework to use. The product depth is real; the protection is not. The page does not rank the offshore category against the TAB NZ pair, because the comparison is not between two products of the same kind.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

TAB and Betcha are the two lawful online brands of TAB NZ, and they are the only operators allowed to take online sports and racing bets from people in New Zealand since section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 took effect on 28 June 2025. The Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect, and there is no licence route for another bookmaker. Both brands run on the same TAB NZ wallet and the same safer-gambling tools.

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

The return on a single bet is the stake multiplied by the decimal odds, and the net profit is the stake multiplied by the odds minus one. A $10 stake at odds of $2.10 returns $21.00, which is $10 in stake plus $11.00 in profit. For a combination bet, the odds of the legs multiply into one combined price; a $10 stake on three legs at odds of 1.50, 2.00 and 3.00 carries combined odds of 9.00, returning $90.00 on a win.

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

The bookmaker’s margin is the share of every dollar bet that the bookmaker keeps on average, and it is the difference between the sum of the implied probabilities of every outcome and 100%. A two-outcome market with no margin sums to 100% exactly; a market with a 5% margin sums to 105%. The wider the margin, the more the punter pays for every bet on that market over a season of betting.

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

A New Zealand punter betting with an offshore operator steps outside the only framework in this country that provides a regulator to complain to, a harm-minimisation regime to fall back on, and a guarantee that unspent credits come back. The Department of Internal Affairs has stated the risk 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, and 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 legal age to bet with TAB NZ is 18; betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The TAB NZ app carries a 17+ age rating on the App Store, which is the platform’s content rating rather than the legal age. Opening a TAB NZ account requires a verified New Zealand address and identification, which is how the legal age is enforced in practice.

Are betting winnings taxed in New Zealand?

Recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable in New Zealand, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is not taxable. A punter who bets as a business is a different case and is advised to consult Inland Revenue or an accountant for a specific position. The tax position is the same for winnings at the TAB NZ pair and at an offshore bookmaker in the sense that the New Zealand punter is not taxed on the winnings themselves.

Published by the Nzgridironbets team.