What betting offers in New Zealand 2026 are really worth

Updated October 2026

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New Zealand runs a betting monopoly with two doors. Since 28 June 2025, TAB NZ and its sister brand Betcha are the only operators allowed to take online sports and racing bets from people in New Zealand, and the Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect. Every “betting offer in New Zealand” page is a Betcha and TAB NZ page at heart, with a long tail of offshore brands the reader will meet regardless and that the law puts on the operator, not on the player. This one looks at what those offers cost, not what they promise.

Data current as of 30 October 2026, verified against TAB NZ’s published terms and the Department of Internal Affairs register.

Staying in control of the bet

A bonus only helps if the person claiming it can afford to lose the stake. TAB NZ’s apps list deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, and an exclusion applies across both its brands. That is the floor every bettor sets before chasing any promotion: pick a weekly deposit ceiling that covers the betting you do anyway, leave the rest in the bank, and let the limit do its job.

The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line (8006) run 24 hours and are staffed in New Zealand. Safer Gambling Aotearoa offers the same kind of help online. None of this changes the fact that a free bet, by construction, is sized to pull a punter into more betting. The sharper the offer, the more important the limit underneath it.

Betcha’s app carries the same 17+ age rating as TAB NZ’s, and the same safer-betting tools. Under-18 betting is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020, and TAB NZ will ask for verified ID before a withdrawal.

What a betting offer really pays out

Bonus bets, explained without the marketing

A “bonus bet” is the promotion TAB NZ actually runs. The form research finds in the app store listing is Bonus Cash that can be split across multiple bets, plus a Mega Multi bonus worth up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. The phrase is “bonus bets”; the substance is closer to a free-bet token, and the difference matters when the win lands.

The rule that does the work: the stake of a bonus bet is not paid back with the winnings. A winning $10 bonus bet at $2.50 pays $25 — the profit only, not the $25 a real-stake win paid. A punter who has never read the small print expects $25 and gets $15, and that $10 gap is the price of the promotion. The marketing word for this kind of offer is “free”. The arithmetic calls it a discount on a future bet.

The Mega Multi bonus works the same way in reverse: a multi of four or more legs falls one or two legs short and TAB NZ refunds a slice of the stake as Bonus Cash, capped at $50. It is an insurance policy on a multi, paid in tokens that carry the same stake-not-returned rule.

No New Zealand rule on bonus size or terms

This is the page’s quiet punchline. Research found no New Zealand statute or regulator rule capping the size of a betting bonus, the wagering multiple attached to one, or the deadline. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 caps casino inducements at $100 and 200% of the deposit, but that law is for licensed online casinos and does not extend to sports and racing. All New Zealand figures stated here are from TAB NZ’s own terms.

The point is not that one bonus is bigger than another. It is that the punter has nobody between them and the small print except the small print itself. Reading it is the only consumer safeguard the betting market offers.

The cost the marketing leaves out

The cost of an offer is the expected loss on the turnover it requires to clear it, plus the deadline, plus any minimum price the qualifying bets must meet. TAB NZ’s Mega Multi bonus does not name a wagering multiple; it does not need one, because the bonus cash lands in the account as winnings on the original multi and can be withdrawn or bet again at the punter’s discretion. A welcome bonus at an offshore bookmaker is a different beast: the headline number is the gross, the wagering multiple is the multiplier of the bonus (or the bonus plus deposit) that must be turned over at a stated minimum price before the bonus and any winnings become withdrawable.

The honest summary: a TAB NZ or Betcha bonus is paid in Bonus Cash that can be split and staked at any eligible price, with no wagering multiple named in the app-store copy. An offshore welcome bonus is paid in restricted funds that must be turned over many times at a minimum price the punter has to clear. The first is a discount on a single bet. The second is closer to a loan with vig.

Worked value of a free bet

A free bet’s stake is not returned with a win. The average value of such a bet, at a stated price, is the free-bet amount multiplied by the price minus one, divided by the price, multiplied by the payout share of that market.

Take a $10 free bet at $1.90 on a two-way market with the same price on the other side. The payout share of a $1.90 / $1.90 book is 1 ÷ (1/1.90 + 1/1.90) = 0.95, so the market keeps a 5% margin. The expected value of the bet is $10 × (1.90 − 1) ÷ 1.90 × 0.95, which works out to $4.50.

That is the average over many bets at that price. A punter who picks $1.95 strikes gets a slightly higher value; a punter who picks $1.50 strikes gets less. The point of the calculation is the gap between $10 and the expected $4.50: the marketing calls it a $10 free bet, the arithmetic calls it roughly a $4.50 discount on a future bet, and the gap is the cost of the promotion in a market the bookmaker already keeps 5% of.

Stated as a band with its condition, the value is around 40 to 50 cents on the dollar at prices close to even money, lower at short prices, higher at long prices. That is the figure to keep in mind whenever a promotion headlines the gross rather than the expected return.

The ten offers on the New Zealand market

How the list is built

TAB NZ runs the only legal betting operation in New Zealand, and the two lawful online brands are run by the same operator. The other eight brands in this list are offshore operators New Zealand punters meet through affiliate links, social media or word of mouth. They are rated on the same criteria — bonus structure, market depth, in-play product, safer-gambling tools — and each one is marked not licensed in New Zealand. The split is the page’s central judgement: TAB NZ and Betcha carry New Zealand consumer protection and a real complaints route; the offshore brands do not, and the law puts the liability on them rather than on the player.

The featured operators are ranked in the order research gives them. The ranking is not a recommendation to sign up with any offshore brand.

Brand at a glance

The table below compares the ten brands on what their own terms say about their betting product, what New Zealand law says about their status, and a one-line read of the key feature. Brands are listed in the same order as the write-ups below.

The table is honest about where the evidence stops. An em dash in a cell means that specific point is not covered by what research shows in the operator’s own terms for this page; a cell with a brief descriptor names what the operator publishes. The right-hand column is short by design — offshore operators change their terms often, and the table describes a snapshot, not a contract.

TAB — the only legal option, with the marketing it deserves

TAB NZ is the betting operator that to people in New Zealand is also the regulator-supervised monopoly. Its online brand is TAB. The promotional offer that the app store listing describes is Bonus Cash for new customers, which can be split across several bets, and a Mega Multi bonus worth up to $50 when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. There is no welcome offer of the offshore kind — no headline percentage, no wagering multiple — because there is no competitor trying to poach new sign-ups.

What that absence is worth: no wagering multiple is named, so the Bonus Cash that lands in the account can be withdrawn (subject to the standard identity check) without further turnover. That is unusual in a global market where most welcome offers are paid in restricted funds that must be cleared many times over. The Mega Multi bonus is the kind of insurance product a multi punter buys anyway if such a product existed as a standalone, and the $50 cap means it covers a fraction of a serious multi, not the whole stake.

TAB’s safer-gambling tools sit in the app. Deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. The exclusion applies to both TAB and Betcha, which matters because a punter who has self-excluded from one brand cannot open an account on the other to keep betting. The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line (8006) are listed in the app, in the same place a punter goes to set a deposit limit.

The verdict for the reader: TAB is the only lawful choice, the safer-gambling tooling is real, and the offers are modest by international standards. The punter who needs a 5% margin bookmaker, a deep in-play product and exotic markets will find TAB’s menu narrower than an offshore book, but the trade is consumer protection for market depth, and the page’s angle is what the offer costs the punter. On that test, TAB is the cheapest option in New Zealand, and not by accident.

Betcha — TAB NZ’s other door, dressed differently

Betcha is the second online brand of TAB NZ, run by Entain under a 25-year partnership signed in 2023. Entain’s role is operational, not commercial — TAB NZ gets at least $150 million a year of gross profit for the first five years, with Entain taking the rest and the racing sector receiving a one-off $100 million payment. The two brands are not rivals and never were: same operator group, same safer-gambling tooling, same exclusion applying across both.

What Betcha does that TAB does not is younger. The Multi Builder lets punters build multi bets and copy trending multis from other punters; a multi-grid builds Same Game Multis; a Bet Social section hosts chat, tipsters and shared bets. The daily Toolbox runs odds boosts and insurance tools that pay out in tokens when a bet does not land. A Playbook section offers match previews. The product is designed for the punt-and-share generation, the kind of bettor who finds TAB’s site conservative.

The verdict for the reader: same safety net as TAB, same exclusion, but a faster in-app experience and a multi-builder that TAB does not have. The punter who bets social multis and Same Game Multis will spend their time here, and the punter who wants a quieter book will stick with TAB. The exclusion applies across both, which is the only point of the unsafe-gambling tooling that an offshore brand does not match.

BillyBets — long menu, short on New Zealand consumer protection

BillyBets is not licensed in New Zealand. It is a Curaçao-licensed brand that markets a sportsbook and casino together, with a coin shop where coins earned through deposits, bets and challenges are exchanged for free bets and free spins, a five-tier VIP programme, and three odds formats (Decimal, American, Fractional). The cashier accepts customers from New Zealand but the only currency filter on the cashier page is Euro.

What the offer costs: research did not find a New Zealand version of the welcome terms, so the figures carried here are from the English-language site. Sports cashback and reload bonuses are listed; the headline number on the casino welcome is 100% up to EUR 500 plus 200 free spins, and the VIP structure promises escalating rewards. None of those offers carries a New Zealand consumer protection — the kind of help the reader gets from TAB NZ’s complaint framework and the Department of Internal Affairs is absent, and the New Zealand harm-minimisation framework does not reach BillyBets.

The verdict for the reader: long menu, decent loyalty structure, no New Zealand consumer protection. The punter who knows exactly what they want and is willing to read the small print in a currency that is not their own can find value here; the punter who has never read a Curaçao licence’s terms is better not starting with BillyBets.

Telbet — crypto sportsbook, with the compliance gaps that means

Telbet is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand describes itself as a crypto casino and sportsbook; the Russian-language version lists a 200% up to 1 BTC welcome offer plus a 5 USDT free bet. The English site publishes separate bonus terms, sports-betting rules, and an AML and responsible-gambling policy, which is the bare minimum of compliance hygiene.

What the offer costs: the headline crypto numbers are large because the denominator is small. A 1 BTC welcome against a $50,000 BTC price is a five-figure bonus, but it sits behind the kind of turnover a punter needs to clear before betting. The 5 USDT free bet is the kind of freebet made of a token whose stake is not returned with a win. There is no New Zealand compliance reach into Telbet, and a complaint filed by a New Zealand punter will land at a regulator that has no jurisdiction over a New Zealand consumer.

The verdict for the reader: same shape as BillyBets, currency is BTC instead of EUR, and the compliance gap is the same. The punter who uses crypto already knows what to look for in a sportsbook; the punter who doesn’t is better off avoiding this one.

RTbet — strict bet limits, narrow product

RTbet is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand holds a Curaçao licence, which does not authorise it to serve customers in this market. Its published terms set a minimum bet per event of 0.5 units of the customer’s account currency and cap multi and system bets at 30 selections.

What the offer costs: the minimum bet is small enough to let a punter size their bets to their bank, which is the kind of restraint a low-budget punter will appreciate. The 30-selection cap is a soft limit, because few bookmakers or punters routinely build 31-leg multis. The bonus terms and the wagering multiple attached to them are not covered by what research shows for this page, so the page states the limits and not the offers.

The verdict for the reader: a Curaçao bookmaker with stricter minimum-bet discipline than some of its peers. The punder who values minimum-bet flexibility over consumer protection will find RTbet a fit; the punter who wants New Zealand consumer protection is safer staying with TAB.

Glorion — broad menu, no New Zealand licence

Glorion is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand covers pre-match and live betting, virtual sports, horse racing and esports, with markets grouped into popular, niche, indoor and outdoor sports and entertainment events such as award shows and elections. The novelty market is what separates Glorion from a pure-sports book.

What the offer costs: novelty markets are typically the highest-margin markets on any bookmaker, and a margin that is generous on football is tighter on the Oscars or the next US president. There is no New Zealand consumer protection on a Glorion bet, and a complaint about an undeclared cancellation will not reach a regulator that can compel a payout. The page describes what the brand offers and does not endorse it.

The verdict for the reader: long menu, novelty markets included, no New Zealand consumer protection. The punter who bets elections and award shows will find Glorion’s menu tempting; the punter who wants a market that will not be cancelled mid-event is better off looking elsewhere.

Spinbara — two-track welcome, same compliance gap

Spinbara is not licensed in New Zealand. The English site advertises a 100% up to EUR 100 first deposit bonus on the sportsbook and a 100% up to EUR 500 welcome bonus plus 200 free spins on the casino, with a separate 100% up to 200 USDT crypto sports welcome.

What the offer costs: the sports 100% up to EUR 100 is paid in restricted funds that must be turned over before they become withdrawable. The wagering multiple attached to that turnover is not covered by what research shows for this page, so the page states the headline and not the cost. The 200 USDT crypto welcome has the same shape in a different currency.

The verdict for the reader: a sportsbook and casino wrapped together with two parallel welcome offers and a crypto track. The punter who plays both will find value here; the punter who plays only sports will pay for the casino welcome they do not use, and that is the cost of a bundled bookmaker.

Sportaza — the products TAB does not have, without the protection

Sportaza is not licensed in New Zealand. It holds an Anjouan licence, which does not cover players in this country. The published terms describe cash-out before an event or market is finalised, Bet Builder with a void-on-suspension rule (if one leg is voided the whole betslip is voided), multiples, Asian lines and interval markets in 1, 5, 10 or 15 minute ranges.

What the offer costs: cash-out, Bet Builder and interval markets are the products TAB NZ does not offer. A punter who has used those, never asks for them again. The wagering multiple on any welcome bonus is not covered by what research shows for this page. The void-on-suspension rule means a Bet Builder with one voided leg is not a partial payout but a full void, which is harsher than the typical each-leg-settled rule.

The verdict for the reader: a sharper product than TAB for the punter who bets cash-out, Bet Builder and Asian lines, but no New Zealand consumer protection. The product is the reason a New Zealand punter lands here; the compliance gap is the reason the page does not send them.

BetNinja — slim welcome, single licence

BetNinja is not licensed in New Zealand. Its Comoros-based licence does not authorise operations here. The sportsbook advertises a 100% match up to EUR 100 first deposit bonus; the casino welcome is EUR 1,000 plus 100 free spins.

What the offer costs: the sports 100% match up to EUR 100 is paid in restricted funds that must be turned over before they become withdrawable.

The verdict for the reader: a small, single-licence brand with a modest welcome. The punter who wants a low-frills sportsbook will find BetNinja a fit; the punter who wants TAB-level consumer protection is safer staying with TAB.

Roobet — crypto-native, geo-restricted in everything but name

Roobet is not licensed in New Zealand. The operator, Raw Entertainment B.V., holds a Curaçao licence that does not apply to New Zealand players. Roobet is a crypto casino and sportsbook; the promotional terms were not reviewed for this page because the New Zealand compliance gap is the headline.

What the offer costs: research did not name a New Zealand version of Roobet’s terms, and the page does not carry figures it cannot stand behind. The licence is what it is; the brand is what it is; the New Zealand punter has no consumer-protection reach into Roobet.

The verdict for the reader: a crypto-native brand with a Curaçao licence and no New Zealand consumer protection. The punter who uses crypto and wants a single licence will find Roobet a fit; the punter who wants New Zealand consumer protection is safer staying with TAB.

The legal frame around every offer

Who may offer betting in New Zealand

Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, inserted by the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 and in force since 28 June 2025, says 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. The Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers serving New Zealand to withdraw with immediate effect. There is no licence register for betting in New Zealand because there is only one lawful operator.

The offshore brands on this page — BillyBets, Telbet, RTbet, Glorion, Spinbara, Sportaza, BetNinja, Roobet — hold licences from Curaçao, Anjouan or the Comoros. None of these provide authority to operate here, and offshore operators targeting New Zealand are in breach of local law.

What the offshore brands risk, and what the punter does not

New Zealand law targets the operator. 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 source states a penalty for a player. The Department of Internal Affairs warns that overseas operators may be in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins.

The honest framing is two-sided. TAB NZ and Betcha are the only lawful option, with New Zealand harm-minimisation tools, regulator oversight and a complaints framework. Offshore brands are unlawful for the operator to serve New Zealand, with no New Zealand complaints route and the Department of Internal Affairs’s stated risks. Neither is “the safe choice” by default — both carry risk, and the punter is the one who decides which risk to take.

Bonuses, advertising and what the regulator sees

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

Because only TAB NZ may offer betting in New Zealand, the regulator reads the prohibition as covering promoting or taking such bets for another operator. How the Department of Internal Affairs treats betting affiliates is not established, so the page describes the monopoly and never invites readers to sign up with an offshore brand. There is no New Zealand rule on the size of a betting bonus or the wagering terms attached to one; all New Zealand figures stated here are from TAB NZ’s own terms.

Tax and the player

Inland Revenue guidance says recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different case — general information, not tax advice, and the right advice is to consult Inland Revenue or an accountant.

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

Greyhound racing closes from 1 August 2026

Greyhound racing is closing in stages from 1 August 2026, and from that date offshore operators may not take bets on greyhound races either. A punter who bets greyhounds today must anticipate the menu shrinking, and a punter who has built a multi on a greyhound leg needs to know that the race may not be running next year.

The fundamentals of what is on offer

TAB NZ’s partnership with Entain runs the betting business under a 25-year agreement signed in 2023 that gives Entain a 50/50 share of gross profits, with at least $150 million a year going to TAB NZ for the first five years and a one-off $100 million payment to the racing sector. That is the economic foundation of every offer on this page: TAB NZ and Betcha are the same operator group, and the offers they run are designed by an operator that owns the market.

The offshore brands are designed by operators that do not own the market. Their offers are bigger in headline terms because they have to be, and their wagering multiples are steeper because they need to recover the marketing cost. The punter who reads the headline and the punter who reads the turnover attached to it are reading two different offers, and the second one is the offer that costs money.

Picking the right offer for the punter in front of you

The right offer depends on what the punter values. The punter who bets a multi every weekend and shares bets with friends is better off picking Betcha for the Multi Builder and Same Game Multis, and TAB for the deeper in-play menu. The punter who bets a single at a time and wants a deposit limit and a self-exclusion that actually excludes is better off picking TAB. The punter who bets exotic markets will not find what they want at TAB and needs to know what they are giving up before they sign up offshore.

The right offer also depends on what the punter can afford to lose. A free bet whose stake is not returned is, on average, roughly 40 to 50 cents on the dollar at prices close to even money. A welcome bonus that must be turned over many times at a minimum price is, on average, a smaller discount than the headline suggests, and the expected cost of clearing it is the turnover multiplied by the market margin. The punter who reads the small print pays less than the punter who does not, and the gap between those two is the cost of the marketing.

The page does not endorse any offshore brand. The enthusiast punter who has read this far knows what they are doing; the casual punter who has not is safer staying with TAB and Betcha, set a deposit limit before claiming any promotion, and call the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 if the betting stops being fun.

Working out a return from stake and odds

A winning bet’s return is the stake multiplied by the decimal odds. The net profit is the stake multiplied by the odds minus one. At $10 on $2.10, the return is $21 and the profit is $11. At $50 on $1.90, the return is $95 and the profit is $45.

For a combination bet, the odds of the legs multiply into one price. Four legs at $1.50, $1.80, $2.00 and $2.50 produce a combined price of $1.50 × $1.80 × $2.00 × $2.50 = $13.50; a $10 stake pays $135 on a win.

For a free bet whose stake is not returned, the average value is the free-bet amount multiplied by the price minus one, divided by the price, multiplied by the payout share of that market. The payout share of a market is the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the prices across all outcomes; for a two-way market at $1.90 / $1.90 the payout share is 0.95 and the margin is 0.05. The expected value of a $10 free bet at $1.90 on that market is $4.50.

These are statistical estimates, not promises. A punter who picks a long shot gets a higher expected value; a punter who picks a short shot gets less. The estimates average over many bets under the stated assumptions, and no single bet is guaranteed to come close.

Staying inside the rules of the offer

The wagering multiple and what it does

A wagering multiple is the multiplier of the bonus (or the bonus plus deposit) that must be turned over at a stated minimum price before the bonus and any winnings become withdrawable. A 5x wagering multiple on a $100 bonus requires $500 of qualifying bets at or above the minimum price. A 10x wagering multiple on a $100 bonus plus a $100 deposit requires $2,000 of qualifying bets.

Research did not find a New Zealand rule on wagering multiples for betting bonuses, so figures on the New Zealand side are from TAB NZ’s terms. The Mega Multi bonus does not name a wagering multiple in the app-store copy because the bonus cash lands in the account as winnings on the original multi and can be withdrawn without further turnover. Offshore welcome offers, where research names a wagering multiple in the operator’s own terms, carry the multiple stated.

The minimum price and why it matters

A minimum price is the threshold below which a qualifying bet does not count toward turnover. The rule exists because bookmakers do not want a punter clearing a bonus by betting $10 on a $1.05 shot. A minimum price of $1.50 means bets at $1.49 or shorter do not count.

Research did not find a New Zealand rule on the minimum price of a qualifying bet. TAB NZ’s Bonus Cash does not name a minimum price in the app-store copy because the bonus cash is not subject to turnover. Offshore offers, where research names a minimum price in the operator’s own terms, carry the price stated.

The deadline

A deadline is the date by which the bonus turnover must be cleared. Research did not find a New Zealand rule on a betting bonus deadline. TAB NZ’s Mega Multi bonus is tied to the multi it refunds, so the deadline is the race or event the multi covers.

The cap on free-bet winnings

Some free bets cap the winnings the punter can keep. New Zealand law does not define a cap, and TAB NZ’s Mega Multi bonus caps the bonus at $50 in Bonus Cash. An offshore free bet, where research names a cap, carries the cap stated. The cap is the difference between a winning free bet at $5.00 and the same free bet at $5.00 with a $200 cap on winnings: the second is a $200 maximum payout, not a $5.00 maximum payout.

Frequently asked questions about betting offers in New Zealand

Which betting site offers a free bet?

TAB NZ’s online brand TAB offers Bonus Cash for new customers, which can be split across multiple bets, and a Mega Multi bonus worth up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. Betcha, the second online brand of TAB NZ, runs a daily Toolbox with odds boosts and insurance tools that pay in tokens when a bet does not land. These are the only free-bet offers from a New Zealand-licensed operator. Offshore brands offer free bets in tokens or funds, but those offers are not lawful in New Zealand and carry no New Zealand consumer protection.

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

No. Research found no New Zealand statute or regulator rule that caps the size of a betting bonus, the wagering multiple attached to one, or the deadline. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 caps casino inducements at $100 and 200% of the deposit, but that law is for licensed online casinos and does not extend to sports and racing. Every figure on the New Zealand side of this page comes from TAB NZ’s own terms.

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

The marketing word is “free”, and the arithmetic calls it a discount on a future bet. The stake is what the bookmaker keeps if the bet loses; paying it back makes the offer a refund in money, not a free bet. A winning $10 bonus bet at $2.50 pays $25 — the profit only, not the $25 a real-stake win paid. The gap between those two is the price of the offer, and the punter who has not read that rule expects $25 and gets $15.

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

TAB NZ is the only provider lawfully offering racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025. TAB and Betcha are its two online brands, run by Entain under a long-term partnership. The Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect, and there is no licence register for betting in New Zealand because there is only one lawful operator.

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

A winning bet’s return is the stake multiplied by the decimal odds. At $10 on $2.10 the return is $21 and the profit is $11. For a combination bet, the odds of the legs multiply into one price. Four legs at $1.50, $1.80, $2.00 and $2.50 produce a combined price of $13.50; a $10 stake pays $135 on a win. The expected value of a free bet whose stake is not returned is the free-bet amount multiplied by the price minus one, divided by the price, multiplied by the payout share of that market.

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

TAB NZ’s apps list deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion, and an exclusion applies across both its brands. The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line (8006) run 24 hours and are staffed in New Zealand. Safer Gambling Aotearoa offers the same kind of help online. Under-18 betting is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020, and TAB NZ will ask for verified ID before a withdrawal.

Published by the Nzesportsbets team.