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Is it legal to gamble in New Zealand?

There are many forms of gambling for New Zealand. You can buy a lotto ticket, bet on sports or play slots, blackjack, and other games in casinos. Nowadays, online casinos have become very popular, giving us an opportunity to gamble online. So, if you want to gamble legal and safe, we created a small guide with useful information. It will allow you to understand the laws, restrictions and the limit age, which is required to play casinos.

At what age can you play in the casino?

You become an adult at 20 years old in New Zealand. At this age you can earn minimum wage rates. However, at 18 years old you can legally drink in pubs, buy tobacco, and many more things, including purchasing property. At 16 you can get married and have sex. (consensual). And what’s about gambling? The legal age to play casinos depends on a particular form of gambling activities.
To play lotteries there is no limit age, however, in order to play pokies in pubs, restaurants and clubs you have to be 18 years or over. As well as sports betting, you need to be over 18 to place a bet, otherwise, if you place a bet being under 18 you will be fined up to $500.

Land-based Casinos

In case you want to hit the poker tables in one of New Zealand’s land-based casinos, you have to be over 20. In order to access the gambling casino area to buy drinks or place bets, you are required to be an adult. To prove your age in a NZ casino, you can show your valid passport or driver’s license. Be aware that fake identification can cost you up to $500 plus a ban in casinos, like SkyCity for 2 years.

Online casinos

As you understand, land-based casinos have several restrictions, and a popular alternative for that is online gambling. For any online betting you are required to be over 18. However, with online gambling it’s not that easy. There are many restrictions, concerning online gambling in NZ. Long story short, Kiwis are able to play any offshore casinos. According to the Gambling act from 2003, all gambling sites registered in NZ are prohibited for any operation. However, if the casino site is registered overseas, and is not regulated by NZ authority, it’s fully legal to play with them. In addition, you can keep 100% of your prize without taxation.

Who regulates online gambling?

In fact, online casinos are regulated by several gambling authorities. Some of them are more strict with the rules, some of them more loyal. The majority of casinos are regulated by reliable and reputable regulators, and certified by independent agencies, like eCOGRA audit company. It means that you’re in a safe place, if you choose the right one. Make sure to do a little homework and read our casino reviews. The most respected regulators are the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Kahnawake Gaming Commission and Curacao Gambling Control. How to find if the casino is licensed or not? In order to do that, go to the bottom of the page in the casinos site and look for the logo of one of these authorities.

Conclusion

We hope you know at what age you can play, and how to play legal. All things considered, you have to be over 18 to play online casinos. However, you are required to be over 20 to play land-based casinos in New Zealand.

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FAQ

Apparently, the dream of every online gambler is a free bonus. Especially if it consists of several bonuses coming one after another. However, it cannot be so rose-colored. There is no single online casino that will offer you to play for real money but without deposit. This is just not profitable for casinos.

Maximum that they can give you is free spins upon sign-up. Such casinos are, for example, Casumo with 20 consecutive spins on Book of Dead, or Dunder giving 20 free spins upon registration. If you want to play further, pay, make the deposit. There are also online casinos that give some cash prizes that you will have to use playing a game. For example, 888 Casino presents $88 for games and Betzest offers only $5 without deposit. All you have to do is sign-up and ask for the bonus.

Judging by our research of online casinos and their promos, no one offers more than one free bonus at a time. In a word, you can hardly use consecutive free bonuses at an online casino. it makes no sense for them. Nevertheless, if you are already a frequent player at some casino, you may join a loyalty program. Maybe it will help to get more beneficial offers. Besides, casinos like Casumo or Royal Panda have a points system. Basically, you need to collect points playing the games, and later you can exchange them for bonuses like cash or free spins according to the terms of a casino

Before you join Royal Vegas, you have to know a couple of things about it. Beside the typical info about over 700 games and excellent experience that you can get at Royal Vegas, the online casino opens private info about the company and, of course, posts the terms right on the site. You can read them by yourself to stay assured. All in all, Royal Vegas seems to be fine and safe. So, let’s prove if it’s true.

Legitimacy

The first thing we ought to judge by is the legitimacy. Any online casino should be legit and licensed. Otherwise, you can’t trust it. Thankfully, Royal Vegas is one of the trusted. It’s time to mention the owner of the casino, Digimedia Ltd. The company registered the online casino in Malta and successfully received the license in 2018 by MGA. You can check what this licence contains if you visit the Malta Gaming Authority site and enter the number of Royal Vegas licence: MGA/B2C/167/2008.

Safety

Hence the online casino is regulated under the code of MGA licence, it has no other rights except for providing safety to visitors. Royal Vegas applies SSL-encryption on the site. It’s a 128-bit technology that protects the data of private and financial use from hands of internet frauds. In this part you may stay sure. Safety and privacy are guaranteed.

Conclusion

Still I recommend reading the general terms applied at the gambling site. These terms are what you sign automatically when you join the casino. Pay attention to the point 10 ‘General”. It says “The Casino may, without notice to you, amend, alter, delete, interlineate or add to (“Changes”) these Rules, Terms and Conditions <…> at any time whatsoever”. Mind that the online casino can alter the terms if you once have an unsolving trouble with them. By the way, Royal Vegas mentions that all your actions are made on your own risk. In order to avoid any problems, just read carefully what you agree with, play responsibly and don’t abuse bonuses.

The procedure of withdrawing winnings from fast payout online casinos is similar to shopping online. As well as any online store, the internet casino asks to open the cashier section and choose the withdrawal option. Then, select the amount you want to cash out and confirm the transaction.

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