TonyBet New Zealand Review 2026

TonyBet was founded in 2011 by Antanas Guoga, a Lithuanian businessman and professional poker player. He built up the Lithuanian version of TonyBet to a significant level.  So much so that he was able to sell it to Betsson AB for an initial €4 million, (rising to €6 million) in 2016.  However, this Betsson AB version of TonyBet is not what players in New Zealand get to use.  Kiwis get the Estonian operator that remains and serves an 'international' audience. There are some positives about TonyBet for New Zealand, but a considerable list of negatives. Let's get into our TonyBet New Zealand review of this Estonian operator.

Is TonyBet legit or a scam? Should you play at TonyBet?

We do not recommend TonyBet to our New Zealand audience, as you will read.  However, we would not classify them as a scam bookmaker option like some of the brands that we touch upon here at SNBET.  In other words, while we do not find them to be a premier option, we also have no evidence that they will outright look to confiscate monies, like some offshore brands may. Even though we don't recommend TonyBet, we will point out their positive points.

Does TonyBet have New Zealand Dollar accounts?

Yes. TonyBet offers NZD accounts. Thus at TonyBet, you may avoid hidden and costly FX charges that otherwise exist at sites based in the Australian regulatory regime that only support AUD accounts, or at international brands that only support accounts in USD, EUR or GBP.  This is certainly a plus-point for TonyBet and potential Kiwi players. Unfortunately, this positive point is directly linked to a negative point on payments.

TonyBet NZD payment methods

TonyBet indicates that they support Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards, and e-wallets Skrill, Neteller and Payz.  However, on their site, they indicate that some of these methods, which should be essentially instant for deposits, actually can take up to 24 hours or even longer to be processed. This is pretty crazy, when our recommended operators for New Zealand essentially process the same transactions instantly, or within minutes.

TonyBet has an NZ site version just for Kiwis

This is a nice positive point for bettors in New Zealand. Very few providers have dedicated NZ site versions.  In doing so, New Zealand-based bettors are automatically detected by IP address and given a version which makes sports, leagues and events that are most popular for Kiwis, more easy to access as Rugby and Cricket are pushed to the fore, while still contending for space with football, where TonyBet has its main focus.  While this organisation of the interface is beneficial for Kiwis, it does not mean that TonyBet provides great rugby and cricket betting.

TonyBet odds on New Zealand's favourite sports

TonyBet as a provider is mainly focused on football, given it serves many more countries that just New Zealand. You can actually get pretty good odds value, with margins under 4% on the main markets for the most popular football leagues.  However, while some Kiwis are really into top-flight football around the world, most are interested in various rugby and cricket competitions. Unfortunately, even though the NZ interface makes Kiwi favourites easier to access, the odds value on offer is not particularly good, as odds margin values can range from 7% to 10%, when they really should be closer to 5% or 6%. 

It's important to note that this difference is not trivial. If you have one bookie that is using an odds margin of 5%, and another of 10%, the actually difference in margin being charged as expressed in their odds is actually 100%, not 5%. In other words, the bookie with 10% odds margin is charging double that of the one with 5% odds margin.  These values are significant.  So if you want to bet outside of top-end football at TonyBet, be sure you're okay with the value on offer, it's not particularly compelling value.

TonyBet New Zealand bonus offer

TonyBet offers a bonus for new customers up to $150, which is based in NZD.  However, they only offer 14 days to satisfy the wagering requirements of the bonus, which are five times the amount of your initial deposit.  In other words, the bonus offer may not be easily achievable for some bettors. Find more achievable New Zealand betting offers and a comparison of their key terms and conditions.

TonyBet New Zealand's other available iGaming types

Like just about every online sportsbook provider, TonyBet New Zealand offers both online RNG casino games and live-dealer casino games.  They are not among our recommended NZD casino sites in the market, but they do offer accounts and games in your native currency.

TonyBet New Zealand esports betting

TonyBet New Zealand does provide coverage of esports, but they organize it under the specific game names in their A-Z navigation instead of a dedicated "Esports" section. During our review, we found that TonyBet offers reasonable coverage of popular games like CS:GO, LoL, DOTA2, Starcraft, Rocket League, and FIFA, with varying numbers of betting markets for each event. However, we noticed a lack of outright event winner markets, which are commonly available on top-tier sites. The main issue with TonyBet's esports betting is the higher odds margins, typically around 9% to 10%, compared to the approximately 6% margins offered by leading New Zealand esports betting sites. These other operators provide superior esports betting experiences.

TonyBet New Zealand bottom line

TonyBet is not a brand that we recommend to our readers in New Zealand. On the positive side, they offer NZD accounts, which is more than we can say for all the brands located within the Australian regime, which only support AUD accounts. TonyBet also has a site version which is dedicated somewhat to Kiwi sporting tastes. However, they warn of particularly slow payment processing, and their odds value proposition on the most popular sports for New Zealand are relatively uncompetitive.  While there is no evidence of them being a scam operator, they are not a brand that we feel will best serve bettors in New Zealand, given their sporting tastes and given the superior platforms that belong to those brands that we do recommend.