Offshore New Zealand Dollar sports betting sites: how to avoid scams & bad information

Now, TAB and Betcha are your only legal online sports betting options for Kiwis, thanks to new legislation that will create a large market for New Zealand casinos sites, but not online bookies. TAB and Betcha are where you should be betting - by law.  However, if you are going to insist on pursuing offshore sports betting, which we would argue against, we will highlight some things to watch out for, and there is good reason for this warning. For years prior to 2025, Kiwis were allowed by law to play at offshore gaming sites, including many brands that operated across the Tasman Sea.

Previously safe, regulated Aussie online bookies are now closed off for Kiwi players, given recent local legislation.  So although you had to convert your NZD to AUD to play in the past, at least you had access to your choice of operators in a robustly regulated online sportsbook market.  You can't take this for granted now, since so many reputable betting brands are now unavailable to Kiwis.

Given how many years New Zealanders were legally allowed to play offshore, they can be forgiven for not knowing about the recent changes. But the reality is, with the large reputable offshore brands now respecting the recent laws, shutting their sportsbooks to Kiwis, some Kiwis will still look for offshore options, but will now mainly find disreputable brands. So while we at SNBET do not condone or promote use of offshore sportsbooks from New Zealand, education and awareness is key, so we want to discuss some key points.

New Zealand will remain a coveted market for offshore online sports betting companies. So below, SNBET.co.nz helps you in understanding 1) at least some of the non-NZD betting sites to avoid  2) some of the new and potentially risky NZD sportsbook brands that you might want to avoid. 3) some of the Russia-based bookies that are highly visible via international media and should absolutely be avoided by Kiwis.

Avoid non-NZD betting sites that try to portray themselves as NZD providers

When browsing online, you may find companies looking to market their new customer offers with "dollars" in the offer alongside New Zealand national symbols or payment methods that are popular for Kiwis. When you combine these ad elements together, no one could blame you for thinking that the given online sportsbook offers NZD accounts - but in many cases the "dollars" quoted in the offer may be used toward a US dollar account.  So you’d actually be converting your funds on every deposit & withdrawal.  In each transaction, you will lose about 3% to 5% of the value, hidden in the exchange.  When you see such online marketing, don't assume that NZD is available.  Start with the default expectation that the dollars on show are referring to USD. You won't have this issue at TAB or Betcha - which of course both support direct NZD accounts and payment methods and are licensed for New Zealand betting.

Avoid new betting sites that may not be in business next year, or next week.

If you are an English or German football supporter in New Zealand, thinking back, you might have heard of a betting brand called ‘MoPlay’.  Founded in August 2018, they went bust in early 2020, but not before they became the official sports betting partner of Manchester United of the Premier League in 2018 and of Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga in 2019.  MoPlay was a completely new betting brand, that served a handful of  "grey markets" at that time, including New Zealand. With a flashy new sportsbook app and betting site, to go along with their launch, they invested heavily into these two marketing deals.  

The only problem is that they did not have enough revenue to sustain their huge operational and marketing costs.  As a result, Manchester United took legal action to recover roughly 9 million Euros in unpaid funds from the Agents for MoPlay after they entered ‘administration’.  MoPlay itself could no longer service the player accounts that it held, and it thus sold their databases of players to other betting companies that could.  

There is a lesson here.  Offshore sports betting is more of a risk than you might otherwise consider. Stick to your locally licensed and regulated options of TAB and Betcha.

Which offshore bookie brands should Kiwis avoid?

The reality is that you should only play at TAB and Betcha now. However, some brands should be called out in particular for avoidance. Given the desire to attract New Zealand players, there are a lot of new betting brands that accept players in New Zealand and may even offer NZD accounts in order to tempt players. One of the most visible brands, through their Italian Serie A, LaLiga and Bundesliga international TV marketing deals is Russia-based '1XBET', which has proven to be one of the most disreputable online bookmakers.

Furthermore, several new Russia-based brands, with and without connections to 1XBET have been established and have become visible on "sportsbook review" resources targeted at New Zealanders, in order to scam them out of their money. Some of these "review resources" are actually owned by the Russian bookies themselves, so they are just touting their own scammy brands. This list is not exhaustive, but absolutely avoid:

1XBET, 20Bet, 22Bet, BankonBet, Betiton, BetMaster.io, Betonic, Betrophy, BetWinner, CampoBet, Casinia, Cobrabet, FEZBet, GreatWin, LibraBet, MELBET, Mr.Play, N1 Bet (& variations), NineCasino, OceanBet, Powbet, Rabona, Rocketpot, Shangrila, Slots Palace, Thrillsy, Wazamba, Zetcasino, Zulabet.

If you see any of these brands being promoted by a "sportsbook review" site, ask yourself if they really have your best interests at heart, given promotion of such brands. Stick with TAB and Betcha. Your online bookie choices may now be limited in New Zealand, but that's better than getting scammed out of your cash.

What is the main lesson to learn in order to avoid New Zealand sports betting scams?

The lesson is that even if you want more choice beyond your legal choices of TAB and Betcha, the new legislation has unfortunately increased the chances that you might sign up with an offshore operator that will scam you. The highly reputable and regulated brands that operate within Australia or the UK, and that previously served Kiwis, are now off the table for you as online bookies in New Zealand. What's left are mainly the kinds of operators you should absolutely avoid - so stick with your local, legal options.

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