New Zealand Esports Betting Sites 2024 - Avoid scam brands

Choosing a esports betting site can be different from choosing an sports betting site. Some betting brands don't care to offer esports coverage at all, while others give esports short shrift. Then have all the complications that come with being based in New Zealand. Kiwis often see the betting sites based in Australia as a good option due to brand familiarity, but they have limitations on in-play betting and require AUD accounts, which is less than ideal.

Beyond the Australia, there are esports-focused brands based elsewhere. Which can be trusted? It can be hard to tell given so much brand placement in the world of esports events. Ideally, you want to find betting sites with excellent platforms, that offer proper coverage of your favourite esports, but which also offer NZD accounts and payment methods. That's what we've identified for you here below with bet365, MarathonBet and Betway. Below our outline of esports betting at these three brands, we continue a discussion about key esports betting topics for Kiwis.

#1 New Zealand Esports betting site: bet365

bet365 has cemented its position as the leading sportsbook worldwide, boasting an extensive customer base of over 90 million since its inception in the UK in 2000. Regulated across various European markets, its prominence is attributed to its superior interface and robust betting features, making it the go-to choice for esports enthusiasts.

In the realm of esports, bet365 shines with its unparalleled coverage, offering a vast array of pre-match and in-play events for betting. Setting itself apart from competitors, bet365 provides an exhaustive range of betting markets within each match, extending beyond the conventional match winner market to include numerous map-based options. Additionally, the platform offers comprehensive outright winner betting markets, essential for those wagering on league or tournament winners. Notably, bet365 also offers free live streaming of numerous esports events for users with funded accounts, easily accessible via the "Esports" section in the main sports navigation.

bet365's esports coverage spans a diverse range of titles, including popular games such as Arena of Valor (AOV), CS:GO, Call of Duty (COD), Dota2, Honor of Kings, League of Legends (LOL), Rainbow Six (R6), Rocket League, Starcraft (SC), Starcraft II (SCII), VALORANT, World of Warcraft (WOW), as well as esoccer and ebasketball.

Beyond esports, bet365 provides a comprehensive suite of sports betting, casino, and poker gaming options, distinguishing itself from "esports-first" brands that often lack traditional sports coverage and oversight in casino game fairness. With bet365, users in New Zealand can enjoy top-tier gaming experiences, whether focused solely on esports or exploring a variety of gaming offerings. All of this comes as supported with NZD accounts and payment methods.

#2 Esports betting site for New Zealand: MarathonBet

MarathonBet is also in the conversation as being a top esports betting provider for New Zealand. They honestly cover everything we could think they could cover, and they do so with an unprecedented array of betting markets. If you love scanning markets for value to put your esports knowledge and instincts to the test, MarathonBet could be argued as your top option.

While we love their site and interface, they are just edged out on this, by what is to us, the number #1 sports and esports betting brand and platform in the world. At MarathonBet, find Esports in the main navigation across the top of their site from your computer or mobile, or within their A-Z Sports menu.

#3 Esports betting site for New Zealand: Betway

Betway is a major player in the online gambling industry. It is the lead brand for "Super Group", which is one of the world's largest online gambling companies, whose shares trade on the NYSE. You may have seen their logo advertised during traditional sports events like during European football matches or North American NHL and NBA games.

In the realm of esports, Betway stands out as they sponsor Ninjas in Pyjamas, showcasing their commitment to the esports community. They provide a dedicated "Esports" link in the main navigation alongside, but also their A-Z listing of sports. Their esports offering encompasses popular titles such as CS:GO, Call of Duty, Dota2, League of Legends, Valorant, SCII and more, ensuring comprehensive coverage for esports enthusiasts. 

Betway offers a user-friendly betting experience with extensive coverage and a wide range of betting options., including a diverse selection of match markets, including handicaps and map-based options. Additionally, they provide numerous "futures" props well in advance of tournaments, allowing users to speculate on various outcomes throughout the event. With NZD accounts and multiple banking methods, including bank debit, e-wallet and prepaid options, Betway emerges as a premier esports betting destination.

Further discussion on esports betting in New Zealand

When people are looking for the top esports betting providers, most just want to "cut to the chase" so to speak, which is why we start our page here above with our tight list of the three top brands for Kiwis.  People get to learn the brands that will serve them best and be on their way.

However, there is actually a lot to discuss with regard to esports betting from New Zealand, and lots of questions that could need to be answered. So we've got some key discussion points below surrounding some frequently asked questions as well as how we go about our own research here.

• What makes a top esports betting site for New Zealand?

• Why some esports betting review resources are unreliable & how to spot this.

• Our top ranked esports brands must have these attributes.

• Which esports betting sites are scams?

• What's the story with GGBET?

• Be aware of crypto-only esports betting sites.

• About Esports betting bonuses.

• Are there poker & casino games too?

What makes a great esports betting site for players in New Zealand?

It's essential to recognize that all betting sites, regardless of their focus on traditional sports or esports, provide the same core service: enabling deposits, offering odds, accepting bets, and facilitating withdrawals. These are the fundamental functions of any betting platform. However, many newer betting companies, particularly those emphasizing esports, have garnered negative reputations, particularly in terms of withdrawal processing.

Some esports-centric brands have been criticized for significant delays in processing withdrawals, with some taking up to three weeks to complete even small withdrawals. Additionally, certain larger betting brands, despite heavy investment in esports advertising, have been accused of fraudulent practices. These brands may refuse to pay consistent winners, often citing violations of their terms and conditions as justification for withholding winnings. It's essential for New Zealand bettors to be aware of these risks when selecting an esports betting site.

Most esports betting reviews for New Zealand are unreliable: We show you how to spot this

How can you find a brand to trust, given that there are so many options, and "esports betting review sites" when you search Google for "esports betting New Zealand"?  It's important to approach esports betting review sites with a critical eye, as many of them are financially motivated by partnerships with preferred betting operators. While these partnerships may influence their rankings and recommendations, it's crucial to assess whether these recommended partners genuinely offer the best experience for esports bettors in New Zealand.

Many esports betting review sites simply republish their general "betting partner" lists under the guise of an esports-focused narrative for New Zealand. However, some of the brands included in these lists may not even cover esports events, rendering the information provided irrelevant and potentially misleading.

As a result, it's essential for esports bettors in New Zealand to conduct thorough research beyond relying solely on review sites. Look for platforms that offer comprehensive esports coverage, competitive odds, reliable payment methods, and responsive customer support tailored to the needs of esports enthusiasts.

You can identify an illegitimate "esports betting" review list by comparing it to the general sports betting ranked-list for "New Zealand" on the same site. If you notice that the ranking of brands is identical across both lists, it indicates that the review site has not conducted thorough research to evaluate providers from an esports perspective. Instead, they are likely promoting partners based on financial incentives, without considering their suitability for esports betting.

At SNBET, we ensure that our recommended brands offer a top-notch esports betting experience for players in New Zealand. This is why our list here is just three brands deep, and is in a different ranked order than our main sports betting list.  While our other top sports betting brands for New Zealand in BetVictor and Casumo offer esports coverage, we assume our readers on this page want deep esports coverage, so they've been omitted here.

Our top recommendations must: Be a trusted operator, get the basics right for New Zealand & have a killer esports offering

All the esports betting brands that we recommend for players in New Zealand have three main points in their favour. Know that we have not simply recycled our list of the top sports betting sites for New Zealand. Esports offerings differ from site to site. We've gone into the esports offerings from our top operators, and re-ranked them appropriately, and have omitted two brands to ensure tru esports fans get a top experience.

1)  Trustworthy: All the companies we recommend have moved to become licensed in locally regulated jurisdictions, not just their "international" ones in Gibraltar, Malta or Curacao. While Kiwis would play on our receommended esports betting sites in these jurisdictions, it should provide comfort in knowing that numerous other national regulators across Europe have given their stamp of approval to these brands.

2)  The betting basics for New Zealand: All the esports brands that we recommend offer New Zealand Dollar accounts and economical NZD payment methods.  This is key for most people across New Zealand and is not something you should take for granted.  Many of the "esports betting review sites" with pages for "New Zealand" list brands that only support betting accounts in Australian Dollars, which would thus force you to pay costly currency conversion fees integrated into each deposit or withdrawal.  These fees tend to increase the cost of your deposit by 3% to 5%, and reduce the value of your withdrawal by the same 3% to 5%, when there is no need. Some sites may not offer inexpensive debit and bank transfer methods, which are far cheaper than credit card payments. Other "esports-first" sites may only have betting accounts based in cryptocurrencies, which opens a completely different issue, if you just want to play in NZD.

3)  Top-notch esports offering: The quality of the esports betting offering is crucial, encompassing both the range and depth of esports coverage for each event. Our recommended sites don't just cover a few popular esports; they offer extensive options. Some sites provide exhaustive coverage, while others prioritize the top six or eight esports. Below, we provide detailed information on the esports coverage offered by each brand.

Moreover, our recommended brands excel in providing both live and pre-match betting, offering a wide range of markets for diverse betting options. This is a significant advantage, as many other betting platforms may limit options to basic match winner markets, also known as moneyline bets. Sites based in Australia, are actually banned from offering online, in-play betting. Our endorsed brands delve deep into the market offerings, ensuring a comprehensive experience for users. Some of these brands even offer complimentary live streaming of esports events directly within their platforms. Additionally, our listed brands boast intuitive, responsive, and user-friendly betting platforms that perform seamlessly across all devices, be it mobile devices for on-the-go betting or desktops and laptops for more immersive experiences.

Considering these key aspects, it becomes evident why "esports-first" brands are absent from our recommended list. While such brands may focus solely on esports, they often lack the established track record and reliability of more established operators, particularly in terms of prompt payment processing. While their esports offerings may be enticing, it's essential to prioritize operators that excel in the fundamental aspects of betting services. Various indicators suggest that many esports-first brands fall short in this regard.

Which esports betting brands for New Zealand are pure scams?

If you watch esports events, or browse various "esports betting review sites" you may notice some very prominent brands.  Two Russia-based brands that you should avoid altogether are 1XBET and 22Bet, which unfortunately can also be found in app stores.  These brands both operate on the same essential betting platform and have looked to sponsor esports teams to gain brand recognition and increase the sense of trust around their brands.  Don't let this fool you.  They have some of the worst reputations in online betting, whether for esports or any other kind of online gambling.

This revelatory article shows that 1XBET, which is connected to 22Bet and several other brands, has actually declared bankruptcy, but is simultaneously expanding. In doing so, they still owe an inordinate amount to "legions" of unpaid players on their Curacao-based site.  They are known widely for essentially canceling winnings.  The winning player looks for a withdrawal, then 1XBET will point to their terms and conditions, citing some manner of player violation, and that's it.  Your money is gone.  Avoid 1XBET & 22Bet.  You might as well just flush your money down the toilet with them.  Beyond the controversies, both operate awful, RAM-hog websites as accessed from your PC.  Move on. Don't touch them with a 10-foot pole. Stick with the top esports betting brands for New Zealand.

What's the story with the most visible NZD esports brand, GGBET?

If you search online, you will find that "GGBET" has been aggressive with marketing affiliates to get top placement at several esports betting review sites - especially toward a "New Zealand" audience. They have also invested in partnerships with several esports teams. 

In an interesting move, GGBET as a brand actually operates from two "off shore" jurisdictions so they can serve various "grey market" segments.  GGBET-dot-com is based in the more reputable jurisdiction of Malta, but this site does not accept any players from New Zealand.  However, they also operate GG-dot-bet, from the far less reputable igaming jurisdiction of Curacao, and this is where players in New Zealand may play.  

While GGBET has a fairly compelling esports betting platform from their Curacao jurisdiction site, and they do offer NZD accounts and payment methods, we do find several customer complaint threads online that surround topics of either having very low betting limits, or very slow withdrawal processing. 

We can't speak to the veracity of these claims, but they are the kinds of issues that can speak to an operator that might be managing liquidity issues.  Slow withdrawals, can be justifiably related to KYC anti-money laundering requirements, like having your ID verified. However, they can also be associated with operators that are hoping that the overly slow process might make the given player cancel the withdraw toward more play, and eventual losses. We can't say that this is happening at GGBET, just that there are online complaints in this vein.

We would not recommend against your playing at GGBET from New Zealand.  We just don't know enough to sway things one way or the other.  What we would say is that if you don't want to play with the well-established, trusted and highly-regulated esports betting sites that we recommend, and you want to try out GGBET, start slow with relatively small amounts.  Then, maybe try an early test withdrawal to see how smoothly things run for you.

Which esports betting sites, marketed at New Zealand players are crypto only?

Several of the most visible "esports betting sites" market segment are actually crypto-only services.  These include brands like BC.Game, Thunderpick and Stake.com.  In other words, they do not offer betting accounts in New Zealand Dollars.  Instead, they actually have customers set their betting accounts to a given base cryptocurrency.

So you would actually be wagering on esports or regular sporting events from a balance of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Cardano, Ripple or others.  Either you would need to transfer these crypto balances in directly yourself, or, the betting site will allow you to buy crypto directly from them. This is certainly part of how they make money from customers.

The reality is that all cryptocurrencies can have wide swings in value over a very short period of time.  Buying a balance in any of these cryptocurrencies is a bet in and of itself.  If it is a wager that you are uncomfortable in making due to the volatility in value, or the added complication of sending or storing crypto, stick to the trusted & well-established New Zealand Dollar esports betting sites that we've listed.

Which "esports betting sites" marketed at New Zealanders are USD only?

If you are new to the world of betting in general, know that there are some operators in this world that will essentially accept customers from literally any jurisdiction, even ones where online betting is illegal.   When we talk about an online betting operator that will accept players from jurisdictions where they have laws, regulations and licenses, but the operator in question does not have a license, we call that a "black market" operator.  These kinds of operators tend only to offer USD betting accounts.

There remain several of these in the market today, but the biggest one, which has made its way into some highly visible "esports betting site lists" and has sponsored some big events, is BetOnline-dot-ag.  You are fully allowed to play at this BetOnline from New Zealand.  However, if you see this brand as you research your next esports betting site, know that they only offer USD accounts.  Thus, you would need to exchange your NZD to USD on deposits, and convert back from USD to NZD on withdrawals.  On every conversion, you'll lose 3% to 5% of the transacted value through the integrated fee.  Save yourself the headache, and play directly in NZD with all of our recommended esports betting providers.

About esports betting bonuses for New Zealand

As we've written about above, esports betting itself is just a subset of general online sports betting - even though you may see yourself only as an esports bettor.  That's fine.  Some brands might focus on this Esports theme a little more in various ways so that visitors to their site feel at home in knowing that esports is a focus on their platforms.  Sometimes you will find "Esports" as its own gaming vertical in the main upper navigation in addition to within the normal A-Z sports navigation, as found at nd Betway. 

Beyond this, which is related to the bonus offer issue, when you click or tap to visit one of our recommended esports brands for New Zealand, some will welcome you with a bonus offer that comes with an Esports theme.  For others, you might see a landing page and new player offer that looks targeted at a sports betting fan.  Don't worry, that's just the main betting offer landing page for that given brand for players in New Zealand.  Your play within Esports will certainly apply to the "sports betting bonus" that you might see.

Take this as a positive, you'll get an offer from a top tier provider that applies your bonus across all kinds of betting. Know that several of the offers we have on SNBET are superior to those you might find if you were to visit the given operator directly on your own.  If you wish to learn more about how the bonus offers work, read our New Zealand betting bonuses page. Note that some brands prefer not to have their offer advertised, so you'll need to click to visit to see if anything is available.

Can you play poker & casino games at our top esports betting sites?

The answer is different based on the gaming vertical in question. Poker is a tougher gaming type to offer, since a given company will need to have an entire ecosystem of real players online at any given time. This is why there are really only a relatively small number of online poker brands in the world, compared to betting sites and online casinos. From our top esports betting brands for New Zealand only, bet365 can offer poker to you. When it comes to slots, online and live dealer casino games, know that all our recommended esports betting brands also offer excellent NZD online casinos for play from the same account.

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