Choosing The Best Real Money Casino in NZ
To tell a reliable casino from a shady one, you need to know where to look. Nothing should be missed; games, safety certificates, customer support — everything is important.
When you look at these factors every time you come across a real money casino, things become very clear to you. And the more casinos you try, the easier it becomes for you to distinguish the best ones from the first sight. If you don’t want to level up this skill and just want to play games, you can rely on my experience and use one of the casinos I already picked out of the crowd.
The safest casino
As New Zealand doesn’t legally allow online gambling, this kind of activity is not regulated in any way in the country, which means there will be no one to help you if something goes wrong. That’s why it’s especially important to only play in the casinos that are properly licensed and have approval certificates from independent testing agencies. I pay maximum attention to this criterion and only list the casinos that meet all the safety requirements. If security is one of your main priorities too, check the King Billy Casino as it’s licensed by Malta Gaming Authority and has perfect reviews from players.
The best choice of withdrawal methods
For the same reason, players from New Zealand might have problems with gambling deposits and withdrawals. Even though online gambling is not explicitly prohibited and players are not prosecuted for betting in international online casinos, a lot of them still don’t want to use cards issued by local banks for their gambling transactions.
That’s why it’s vital for a casino to have a lot of different deposit and withdrawal options so that every player can find something to use. In the Casino Joy, you can choose among 20 banking methods, including Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, and others, so there is no way you can’t make a deposit or get your winnings back quick and easy.
The most convenient to use on mobile
I really love mobile gambling as it allows me to make bets and win without being stuck at home in front of my computer. I can now do it everywhere, and any time, all I need is my smartphone, stable internet connection, and, of course, a mobile-friendly online casino. I have several websites that I regularly use, but my go-to option is the Scatters casino. Its modern interface makes it perfect for smaller screens, and I can play my favourite games there with no freezing or interruptions.
The best live-dealer products
As pandemic made it dangerous and sometimes even impossible to visit land-based casinos, live games became even more popular than they were before, and now you can find them in almost every real money casino. But not all of them are good, and sometimes, you can come across a casino where games are streamed from a dirty studio with bad light and dealers who barely speak English. To avoid such situations, I recommend playing live-dealer games in the reputable casinos with positive reviews, like the PlayJango casino that offers one of the longest lists of live games I’ve ever seen. All kinds of Live Roulette, Blackjack, and Poker made by Evolution Gaming, NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, and other providers — all collected here in PlayJango casino.
The best customer support
I really hope that you will never have any issues with your real money gambling, but the hope is not enough, and it’s better if you have plan B. When I choose casinos for my list, I always check their customer support. Can I reach them at any moment, even at night? Are there several ways of communication? Are the CS members friendly and willing to help? If all the answers are “yes”, a casino can make it to this page.
The SportsAndCasino is a great example of a casino with perfect customer support as it can be reached via live chat or email, and there is always someone to help you and answer your questions.
The highest RTP of games
RTP stands for Return to Player: the amount of money you can win from a casino in the long run. The highest RTP of the games is — the better, as it decreases your chances of losing all your money. When my only goal for the day is to earn as much money in a casino as possible, I opt for the casinos that offer a lot of video pokies as these games have the highest RTP rate, sometimes up to 99%.
In the Emu Casino, one can play a ton of various slot games, from simple 3-reel slot machines to sophisticated video pokies with bonus rounds and state-of-the-art features.
A Few Words About Stake Limits
I don’t usually include stake limits into my evaluation criteria as most of the players make low or average bets, but I still want to share this information in case someone needs it. The fact is, not all the casinos allow you to make really big bets as they apply maximum bet limits. It’s not a problem if you want to bet $10 or even $100, but it can spoil everything if you are a high-roller who prefers betting a couple thousand every round. Those who like taking a risk should look for the casinos that have VIP or high-roller tables with increased maximum bet limits.
Real Money Game | Maximum Bet |
Multi Wheel Roulette | 1 NZD – 2.000 NZD |
Double Ball Roulette | 1 NZD – 4.000 NZ |
European Blackjack | 1 NZD – 5.000 NZD |
Double Exposure Blackjack | 1 NZD – 5.000 NZD |
Video Roulette | 1 NZD – 250.000 NZD |
Things to Know Before You Play
The guide about real money casinos almost came to an end. The final thing to do for me here is to teach you how to tell a secure casino from a shady one and share some interesting information about the casino games developers, and it’s exactly what I’m going to do now.
Best real money games developers in NZ
There are two types of online casinos — some are mono-brand and only offer games made by one provider, while the others have all kinds of gambling products developed by different companies. I prefer the latter ones as they usually offer games by all of my favourite providers so I can switch them and play everything I want at once. It would take hours to describe all of the gambling game providers I like, so here is a short list only. To see the rest of them, please use the filter on the right.
Evolution Gaming. You have probably seen or played products made by Evolution if you like live-dealer gambling as this is one of the world’s best live game developers. I always opt for Evolution games when I’m missing the real casino vibe as many of them are streamed from the brick-and-mortar venues instead of studios.
NetEnt. There is hardly a casino game that this company hasn’t yet created — table games, live games, and, of course, video pokies created by NetEnt can be found in every self-respecting casino.
Microgaming. It’s one of the oldest and the most reputable companies in the industry. If you see the games made by Microgaming in the casino’s game list — you can be sure this casino is safe enough to play as Microgaming never cooperates with un-checked casinos.
How to make sure you are safe when betting real money
If I had to give you one rule of safe gambling, it would be this one — always check where you play and only trust your money to the reliable online casinos. The easiest way to do it is to pick a website from my list as this is the place where all the casinos have been checked and proved to be safe.
If you are in the mood to spend a couple of hours searching for the casinos yourself, there are two things to check before making a deposit. The first one is the license. As New Zealand doesn’t allow online casinos, you’ll have to opt for the websites licensed by international institutions such as the UKGC or MGA. If you don’t see any licensing information on the casino website — better search for some other one.
The second one is the testing certificate. A reputable license is great, but it’s even better if a casino has the eCOGRA certificate, which proves that the games are fair and the casino is safe and reliable.
Blacklist of Real Money Casinos
When searching for online casinos, I often come across the shady or just poorly-designed ones that I don’t recommend even visiting, let alone depositing your money. At one moment, the collection of the bad casinos became so big that I decided to create a separate blacklist to share with other players.
It includes but is not limited to these websites:
Please avoid these casinos, and don’t forget to check my blacklist from time to time for the updates.
Conclusion
I know I can’t share my knowledge with the whole world, but I’ll start with New Zealand and see where it goes. I want to make high-quality online gambling as accessible as possible, and that’s why I spend so much time evaluating the casinos and putting them into the list. If you liked one of the websites I’ve chosen or got a great win — feel free to share your review or experience here. And for now — it’s time to get done with reading and start betting as you never know when the jackpot is going to hit. Maybe now?
