Tips to Picking An Online Casino in New Zealand
The first thing to realize before we get started is there are no actual online casinos in New Zealand. There are 6 brick and mortar casinos spread throughout New Zealand and the government thinks that is plenty. Besides the casinos, there are horse racing, lotto, and poker. It is estimated that 80 percent of New Zealanders gamble in some form, and it is a sure bet that a substantial amount of them use online casinos. While New Zealand might have strict laws on regulating casinos, both brick and mortar within the country, the laws make it clear that as long as a New Zealander is of age, they are perfectly free to gamble at online casinos not based in New Zealand. They can deposit money to gamble, and they can withdraw money from winnings. And incidentally, winnings at an off-shore casino are not taxable.
So how do New Zealanders pick an honest, reliable casino?
One way is to figure out where the Casino is licensed. Generally, the best online casinos are licensed in Malta or the UK. Both these countries run class act online casinos. Also, look for an eCOGRA symbol at the bottom of the casino website. The eCogra symbol stands for the eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance which is a London Based international player protection as well as an approved testing facility. If a casino says a slot machine has a 97 percent payback, eCogra will verify it. And eCogra will verify that all the decks in the blackjack cards have 52 even distributed cards and every game is essentially on the up and up. In addition, eCogra is the organization to go to if you have a dispute with the casino, that’s something that the UK and Malta Gambling authorities rarely touch although they may cursively look into it.
Read Casino Reviews
Do you believe you’ve found a great offshore casino? It’s highly recommended that you read at least three reviews of the casino to get a general feel for the casino. Reading reviews can save you a heck of a lot of time. You’ll find out who licenses them, how many slot machines, how many live casino games, the avenues the casino uses to deposit funds, the withdrawal avenues, how long it takes for winning deposits to be made, the withdrawal limit, who to contact with support issues and whether support is by chat, email or telephone. The reason you want to read at least three reviews, and 6 would probably be better is that many reviews are biased on the net. And there are also a lot of sour grapes. For example, people who had their accounts closed by the casino because they didn’t meet their player restrictions, or they had several accounts and thus lost bonuses. By far the most important things you want to know are:
- 1. Are New Zealand Players Accepted?
- 2. Is New Zealand Dollars an acceptable Currency
- 3. How long does it take for your deposit to be accepted?
- 4. How long after winning will you receive your winnings and by what avenue?
- 5. What documents do you need to show to be a verified player? Remember, all of this is taking place online.
Pay attention to online casinos that offer quick payouts is the key information you need. Of course, if you are a slot player, you probably already know that some online casinos have 100 different slot machines and some have 700. Another big thing in the online casino is are bonuses. I personally don’t like bonuses because my experience is that they all have more exceptions and clauses to the casino bonuses than renting an apartment. I prefer to rate a casino on reliability rather than on bonuses, but if you are the flighty type, then be sure to go to their website and read every word on exactly how bonuses work. You need to know what us the minimum amount you need to deposit, and how much you need to gamble in the casino (and which part of the casino) you need to spend those bonuses and how long do they last, a day, a week, a month? Personally I do like the minimum deposit casino bonuses that some casinos offer for as little as $10 dollars because it gives you a good feel of what the casino is like without committing too much.
Top Rated Casinos in New Zealand
With so many great online casinos in New Zealand to choose from it can be hard to know which to choose. We have looked through-out the web to find the 5 most popular safe casinos that the kiwis love. All of these are protected by eCogra and have the latest licenses to ensure player safety. We also found the customer service of all of these casinos to be very helpful.
1: Captain Spins Casino
2: Jackpot City Casino
3: Jonny Jackpot Casino
4: CasiGo Casino
5: SkyCity Online Casino
Currency
The next thing you might want to check is whether they accept New Zealand Dollars as currency. Probably around 15 or 20 percent do, and that’s in your favor because if they don’t accept New Zealand dollars you’ll probably need to go through a third party to make your deposits and receive them, and you can lose a boatload of money on the currency exchange.
The overall vibe of the website
If I had my way, eCogra or another body would insist that all online casino websites follow the same format. There’s far too much, “We are the best, rah rah language” across the board. Online casinos are fun, but even if you are a consistent winner, they are not really that much fun. Remember, that as the customer, you call the shots at an online casino. There are dozens to choose from so it’s not as if most of them will be closing next week and you need to get in on the action now. Take your time. Go slow. And pick two or three good ones, and play at those until the casino acts otherwise. Another thing to keep in mind, and it is important, is how do you access the site. Most modern online casinos, recognizing that over 50 percent of the web are accessing the casino on a mobile phone. Is your casino mobile friendly? Do you have to download the casino software, or is it automatic from the web? There are lots of other tips available on the web, but above all choose only the most reliable casinos.
