Mobile Betting in New Zealand: Which Apps Are Worth Installing

Updated October 2026

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The first thing to know about betting on a phone in New Zealand is that almost none of the apps a player can download are taking bets from them lawfully. Since 28 June 2025, only TAB NZ and its sister brand Betcha may offer sports and racing betting to a person in New Zealand — the result of an amendment to the Racing Industry Act 2020 that turned what had been a competitive offshore market into a closed one. This page works through who that leaves standing, what each app actually does, and where the rest fit into a reader’s decision.

Current as of 31 October 2026 · verified against the Department of Internal Affairs register and TAB NZ’s own published terms.

A Quick Map of the NZ Mobile Betting Market

The legal frame is small enough to fit on a coaster. Two brand names, one operator behind them, one statute. Then there is everything else — Curaçao-licensed books, Anjouan outfits, Costa Rica-incorporated shells — that New Zealanders can still reach on a phone but that the regulator has told to stop serving them. Both groups are covered below; both matter, because the offshore brands are still where most comparison searches end up.

A punter who wants to bet on a phone in New Zealand today is, in practice, choosing one of three things: the TAB NZ app or Betcha app and everything that comes with a New Zealand licence, a Curaçao or Anjouan bookmaker that takes the registration anyway, or a wallet of both and a clear sense of which is doing what. Each path has a different cost, a different safety net and a different way of settling a dispute when something goes wrong. The rest of this page sets those out.

Who May Lawfully Take Bets in New Zealand

TAB NZ and Betcha — the only legal option

TAB NZ operates the only licensed sports and racing betting service for New Zealand residents, both online and at retail outlets. Betcha is its online-only sister brand: the same company, the same odds feed, the same safer-gambling tools, but a separate app pitched at a younger, sports-led audience. The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA into the Racing Industry Act 2020, which makes it unlawful for any other person to offer racing or sports betting to a person in New Zealand. The Department of Internal Affairs told unlicensed providers to withdraw with immediate effect on 28 June 2025.

There is no bookmaker licence to apply for. The prohibition does not work like the United Kingdom Gambling Commission or the Malta Gaming Authority, where dozens of brands carry an active licence. In New Zealand the only lawful provider is the only provider, full stop. DIA’s role under the Gambling Act 2003 is to monitor compliance with the prohibition and to keep problem-gambling harm minimisation in view — not to vet applications.

The 25-year Entain partnership

TAB NZ does not run the technology itself. In 2023 it signed a 25-year operating agreement with Entain, the London-listed gambling group, that gives Entain a 50/50 share of gross profits from the TAB business. For the first five years of the deal, TAB NZ is guaranteed at least $150 million a year. Entain also paid a one-off $100 million into the New Zealand racing sector as part of the same arrangement. The practical consequence for a player: Betcha’s app is published on the App Store by Entain New Zealand Limited, and the technology stack behind both apps is the same Entain platform that powers Ladbrokes and Coral in the United Kingdom.

That single-operator background is why this page treats TAB and Betcha as a single group rather than as two rivals. They are one operator wearing two hats. Inside that operator, Betcha exists to compete with offshore books on user experience and pricing; outside it, there is no lawful competitor at all.

What the Law Actually Says — and What It Does Not

The prohibition, plainly

Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 states that 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 phrasing is wide enough to catch an Anjouan-licensed brand taking a sign-up from an Auckland IP address. It does not geo-block offshore websites — New Zealand does not run a blocking regime like Australia’s — but it puts the liability on the operator.

What the law targets

The law targets the operator. Section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003, inserted in 2025, says an individual cannot be convicted for placing a bet with an offshore operator in breach of section 74AAA. No published penalty for a player was found. What DIA has published is a warning that overseas operators may sit in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits, and may not pay out large wins. That warning is the cleanest framing: TAB NZ and Betcha are the only lawful option with a New Zealand harm-minimisation framework and a regulator who will take a complaint; offshore brands are unlawful for the operator to serve New Zealand, have no local complaints route and bring the limits DIA warns about.

Neither group can be called “the safe choice” by default. The New Zealand-licensed option carries the regulator and the complaint route; the offshore option carries the price and the market range. The page covers both and leaves the choice to the reader.

Taxes

Inland Revenue treats recreational gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is specifically not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different case — general information, not tax advice; consult Inland Revenue or an accountant. On the operator side, TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74 percent, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. Offshore operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty — 12 percent of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16 percent from 1 January 2027 — but a duty being payable does not make the offer lawful. That distinction matters: paying tax is not the same as holding a New Zealand betting licence, and no offshore operator holds that licence.

Greyhound racing closes from 1 August 2026

Greyhound racing in New Zealand is being wound down in stages from 1 August 2026. From that date, offshore operators may not take bets on New Zealand greyhound races either. The TAB NZ racing codes that remain are thoroughbred and harness (trots).

Responsible Gambling on a Phone

The tools TAB NZ and Betcha put in the app

Both TAB NZ apps carry deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in-app. An exclusion at TAB NZ applies across both brands — a punter who self-excludes from TAB is also self-excluded from Betcha, because the two apps share the same player account. The 17+ App Store age rating is the App Store’s gate; the actual age for opening an account and betting is 18. Betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020.

Account opening at TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address and verified ID. That step is what makes a TAB NZ account a “known customer” account for harm-minimisation purposes; an offshore book that takes an email and a deposit is, by definition, not doing that check.

Help that is not the operator

The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and text line (8006) are listed inside both TAB NZ and Betcha apps. Safer Gambling Aotearoa runs the service. There is no single national online-betting self-exclusion register; the register the 2026 online casino law will create is for online casinos only, not sports or racing betting. Anyone who wants to stop betting across both TAB brands at once can do it through the in-app exclusion, and that exclusion is honoured at retail TAB outlets as well.

The offshore gap

Offshore brands typically have their own self-exclusion tools, but they are not connected to the New Zealand Gambling Helpline and they are not supervised by the Department of Internal Affairs. A punter who has self-excluded from TAB NZ and then opens an account with a Curaçao book that does not check New Zealand addresses has not really excluded — they have moved the betting somewhere it is harder to supervise. That is the single largest harm-minimisation gap on the offshore side.

Bonuses and Free Bets — What Each Side Actually Offers

TAB NZ and Betcha

TAB NZ runs “bonus bets” promotions rather than the deposit-matched headline numbers an offshore book advertises. New customers can receive Bonus Cash that can be split across multiple bets. The app lists a Mega Multi bonus that pays up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. The structure is a small bonus with a clear trigger and a published maximum, not a giant headline percentage with a hidden rollover. Terms and conditions apply on every line, and TAB NZ’s own terms are the only ones that govern a TAB NZ bonus — there is no comparison to make.

What an offshore “free bet” actually costs

Offshore books lead with bigger numbers and heavier turnover requirements. The shape of an offshore bonus is familiar to anyone who has shopped around: a headline percentage of the first deposit, a minimum odds qualifier, a turnover requirement expressed as a multiple of the bonus, a deadline, and a cap on what a free-bet win pays out. None of those numbers appear on this page, because none of them matter for a New Zealand-licensed choice. They matter for the offshore comparison below, and the operators are rated on the same terms their own cashier pages publish.

Two practical rules from the comparison:

• A “free bet” stake is usually not returned with a win. The free bet is worth the stake times odds minus one divided by odds times the payout share of the market. That is its expected value, not its headline number.
• A bonus turnover is usually a multiple of the bonus amount (or the bonus plus deposit) at a minimum odds qualifier, settled inside a deadline. The number of bets to clear it is the turnover divided by the stake per bet.

A reader who treats the headline number as the offer has already lost the comparison.

Mobile Apps and the Betting Experience

What a New Zealand TAB app does on a phone

The TAB NZ app — listed as “TAB – Racing & Sports Betting” — covers horse and harness racing, rugby union, rugby league and other sports, with pre-match and live markets. It carries a 17+ App Store age rating. First released on 8 September 2014, the app has been through enough cycles that the live racing product is the centre of gravity rather than a side feature.

The racing tools sit inside the app: Trackside live race streaming with in-app betting, racing form, Blackbook (the punter’s private horse tracker), and Jockey Challenge. Bet types include 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 tenth in selected races. Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Quaddie and Big6 are all covered, matching the published TAB NZ betting rules. The wallet is the simplified kind: deposit, withdraw, place a bet, watch a race, repeat.

What Betcha adds

Betcha — first released on 6 August 2024 — is the sport-led sister brand. Same Entain platform, same New Zealand wallet, but the product surface is built around sports markets rather than racing form. Safer Betting tools are present in the app; the 17+ age rating sits on the listing. The Gambling Helpline number is shown inside the app. The differentiation is editorial rather than regulatory: Betcha is how TAB NZ meets the sportsbook-shaped expectation a player brings from an offshore app.

The offshore apps on a phone

Every offshore brand covered below ships an iOS and Android app or a mobile-optimised site that behaves like one. SpinBetter, Megapari, BetWinner and Paripesa all publish mobile apps and carry a 21+ age notice — three years older than the New Zealand betting age of 18, which is itself a useful flag. RTbet, FunBet, BillyBets and Boomerang Bet state an 18+ age rule, which is the same as New Zealand’s. A few of these apps work; some are mirrors of older products with a different skin. None of them has a New Zealand harm-minimisation framework behind it, and none of them is taking bets from New Zealand lawfully.

Browser versus app

A phone browser gets to the same product as the app, usually without the live-streaming hooks and push notifications that make an app feel like an app. For a punter who bets twice a year, the mobile site is enough. For a punter who bets every Saturday across racing and rugby, the app is the better tool, and the difference is the racing form, the Blackbook and the Trackside stream — features that only exist inside the New Zealand apps.

How the Two Sides Compare

The table

How to read it

The first two rows are one operator in two skins. They sit where they sit because that is where they belong under the law: a punter on the TAB NZ app and a punter on the Betcha app are punters on the same system. The next eight rows are not a ranking. They are a catalogue of the offshore brands a New Zealand reader will meet when comparison-shopping, and they are all marked the same way because they all share the same New Zealand status: not licensed here, no local complaint route, no local harm-minimisation framework.

The difference between them lives in the third column, in what their own terms publish. That is also where the reader’s decision lives: market coverage, mobile product, support hours, age rule, currency on the cashier page. Read across the table rather than down it. A bookmaker with rugby and Super Rugby Pacific markets is more useful to a New Zealand punter than one with American football and volleyball, regardless of which side of the law it sits on.

The Ten Brands, Reviewed

1. TAB

TAB is the New Zealand bookmaker — the retail outlets, the racing tote, the long-running app and the only legal path to a sports and racing bet for a New Zealand resident. The product is built around racing codes first: thoroughbred and harness are the deep markets, with greyhound racing closing from 1 August 2026. Rugby union, rugby league, and the other sports listed in the app are layered on top.

The mobile product is mature. Same Race Multis, Same Game Multis, Popular Multis, Place Extra to tenth, Quinella through Big6, and the racing tools — form, Blackbook, Jockey Challenge — sit inside the app. Trackside live race streaming with in-app betting is the single feature that distinguishes TAB from every other app on this list, because the offshore brands do not carry New Zealand racing rights and as a result cannot show New Zealand racing. A punter who bets on the All Blacks and the Melbourne Cup will be on TAB regardless of anything else on this page, because the markets and the streams are not available anywhere else.

Bonus bets promotions are modest in headline number. Bonus Cash can be split across multiple bets; the Mega Multi pays up to $50 in Bonus Cash when a multi of four or more legs falls short by a set number of legs. None of that is the giant 100 percent deposit match an offshore book advertises, and none of it pretends to be. The honest comparison is that the bonus is the cost of being inside a regulated product with a New Zealand wallet and a complaint route.

Verdict: the only lawful option, with the only New Zealand racing streams, and the product range to match. Worth it for any punter who bets on New Zealand racing or who wants a New Zealand-licensed account.

2. Betcha

Betcha is the sports-led face of TAB NZ. Same operator, same wallet, same safer-betting tools, but the product surface is built for a punter who arrived from an offshore sportsbook rather than a TAB tote window. The app launched on 6 August 2024 under Entain New Zealand Limited, which puts a recent release date on it and explains why the experience feels closer to a modern sportsbook than the older TAB NZ app.

For a New Zealand punter the relevant question is what Betcha adds that TAB does not. The answer is editorial: Betcha is the sports-first view, with the racing codes available but not the centre of gravity. A punter who bets on rugby, NRL, the Black Caps and Super Rugby Pacific will find the markets tidied into a sportsbook-shaped layout rather than split across a racing app and a sports app. Safer Betting tools are in-app; the Gambling Helpline number is listed.

Verdict: worth it for the punter who wants a sports-first New Zealand-licensed app and is happy to live inside the same TAB NZ account.

3. BillyBets

BillyBets runs on the mobile-optimised web rather than a native app, and the cashier page offers New Zealand in its country selector — which is how a New Zealand punter ends up on the site in the first place. Support is 24/7 through live chat and a Help Centre. The product surface is a casino-first brand with a sportsbook attached.

What this brand is and is not: it is not licensed in New Zealand, it does not name a licence that applies here, and there is no New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework behind it. The cashier page lists Euro as the only currency filter shown, which is a small but useful tell about who the site expects to serve. A New Zealand punter who opens an account here is outside the New Zealand framework entirely.

Verdict: a mobile casino-maintained, Euro-priced bookmaker with no New Zealand protection. The mobile site is functional but the operator is not the right fit for a reader who wants a New Zealand-regulated account, and it is one of the more expensive paths to bet from a New Zealand phone.

4. Alawin

Alawin publishes an 18+ age rule in its terms, which is the same as New Zealand’s but is not the same as holding a New Zealand licence. There is no licence named that applies in New Zealand; the brand does not surface a regulator whose remit extends to a New Zealand punter. The site is a typical offshore-shaped sportsbook and casino.

Verdict: a brand without a New Zealand licence and without local protection. The 18+ age rule matches, but that is the only thing on the page that does.

5. RTbet

RTbet’s sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football and baseball, with live betting and virtual sports. The Curaçao licence the brand names gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand, and there is no New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework that reaches a punter who opens an account from an Auckland IP.

Verdict: a Curaçao-licensed book with mainstream Northern Hemisphere sports. Not licensed here and no local protection; the market list is aimed at a reader who follows the Premier League, NBA and NHL rather than Super Rugby Pacific.

6. FunBet

FunBet’s sportsbook covers football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby and baseball, with live betting and a bookmaker described as open 24/7. Rugby is in the list, which is a small plus for a New Zealand punter; the licence situation is the same as RTbet’s. No licence applies in New Zealand; no local complaints route.

Verdict: a sportsbook with rugby on the menu and no New Zealand protection. The market range is a touch wider than RTbet’s, but the legal status is identical.

7. 22Bet

22Bet runs on a Curaçao licence (8048/JAZ) held by TechSolutions Group N.V., a Curaçao company with registration number 144920. The same company runs 20Bet, Bizzo and National Casino, which is useful context — the operator has a track record, and a reader who has met any of those brands has effectively met this one. The licence gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand.

Verdict: a Curaçao-licensed book with a large market range and an established operator behind it. Not licensed here, no local protection, and the cost of being outside the New Zealand framework is the same as every other offshore entry on this list.

8. Rooster.bet

Rooster.bet 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. The Tobique licence is the new-style small-jurisdiction licence that has multiplied across the offshore market in the last two years; it gives no right to take bets from people in New Zealand. There is no New Zealand complaints route or harm-minimisation framework that reaches a Rooster.bet account.

Verdict: a Tobique-licensed book, one of many offshore brands running on the same licence. Not licensed here, no local protection, and it lacks the market depth of the other options on this list.

9. Golden Panda

Golden Panda runs 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 surface is heavy on casino and gamified features; the sportsbook is the smaller half. No licence applies in New Zealand; no local protection.

Verdict: a casino-heavy brand with a sportsbook attached and no New Zealand protection. The product shape — crash games, prediction markets, VIP club — points to a reader who treats sports betting as a side activity rather than the main one.

10. Winz.io

Winz.io’s footer states it holds a licence delivered by Anjouan and Tobique. The same Novatrix SRL that runs Rooster.bet is connected to the licences. Crypto and esports betting sit on the same product surface, which is what the brand’s name telegraphs. No licence applies in New Zealand; no local protection.

Verdict: a crypto-and-esports brand on dual small-jurisdiction licences, with the same offshore status as the rest of this list. The product is designed for a reader who prioritises crypto deposits and esports betting.

What This Leaves a Punter Choosing

Three honest paths

There are three paths on a New Zealand phone in 2026, and the comparison between them is shorter than the catalogue of brands suggests.

The first is TAB NZ, in either of its two apps. A punter who bets on New Zealand racing, who wants the Trackside stream, who wants a regulated New Zealand wallet and a local complaint route, and who is comfortable with a smaller bonus headline, is paying for the right product with the right protection. That punter has one choice and it is the right one.

The second is an offshore book. A punter who bets on the Premier League, NBA and NHL, who wants a bigger bonus headline and a wider market range, and who understands that there is no New Zealand complaints route and no New Zealand harm-minimisation framework behind the account, is choosing a different product at a different price. The price is the protection.

The third is both. A punter who keeps a TAB NZ account for New Zealand racing and a regulated wallet, and adds a Curaçao book for the markets TAB NZ does not cover, is doing what most comparison shoppers actually do. That punter is advised to treat the two accounts as separate products with separate balances and separate exclusion rules, and must be aware that self-excluding at TAB NZ does not exclude them from the offshore book.

What the comparison does not show

The catalogue is wide because the offshore market is wide. It is not a ranking. The brands on it are different in market range, mobile product, age rule, currency on the cashier page and the licences they name. None of them is different in New Zealand status, and a reader who treats the catalogue as a leaderboard is reading the wrong column.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

TAB NZ, through its two online brands TAB and Betcha. Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025, makes any other provider unlawful. There is no bookmaker licence to apply for and no register of licensed bookmakers, because there is only this one lawful operator.

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

For a single bet, the return is the stake multiplied by the decimal odds; the net profit is the stake multiplied by the odds minus one. For a combination bet, the odds of the legs multiply into one price and the return is the stake multiplied by that combined price. Decimal odds are the format used in New Zealand.

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

The margin is the share of every unit bet on a market that the bookmaker keeps on average. It is the other side of the payout share, which is one divided by the sum of one over each outcome’s odds across the whole market. The payout share and the margin add to one; a payout share of 95 percent is a margin of 5 percent. Higher odds and a wider market range do not change this — the margin sits inside every price.

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

The player loses the New Zealand complaint route, the New Zealand harm-minimisation framework, the connection to the Gambling Helpline inside the app, and the cross-brand exclusion. The Department of Internal Affairs has published a warning that overseas operators may sit in jurisdictions with minimal consumer safeguards, may not return unspent credits and may not pay out large wins. None of that is automatic, and none of it is a prediction, but it is the difference between betting inside a regulated product and betting outside one.

From what age can bets be placed with TAB NZ, and what is checked when opening an account?

Eighteen. TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address and verified ID at account opening. Betting under 18 is an offence under section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020. The TAB NZ app carries a 17+ App Store rating, but the betting age itself is 18.

Are betting winnings taxed in New Zealand?

Inland Revenue treats recreational gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog and trotting races is specifically not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different case — that is general information, not tax advice; consult Inland Revenue or an accountant for that case.

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