KSA will monitor 25 websites to make sure New Zealand players are banned

Casinos with many New Zealand players come under scrutiny

The range of online games of chance is huge: there are thousands of internet casinos where New Zealanders can play for money on a slot be able to play or participate in a poker tournament. The global turnover of this industry was around 500 billion dollars in 2021 and has been growing for years.

Of course, it is impossible for the KSA to keep an eye on every individual betting site. The government body therefore uses certain criteria to determine which casinos can expect a check. Where previously only the ' focus on the New Zealand market’ (the language, the payment methods and so on) was an invitation for additional supervision, the KSA now also looks at the number of New Zealand players registered at a particular casino.

The Greater that number, the more priority the provider gets. The 25 casinos that are currently being scrutinized are therefore probably the most popular among New Zealand gamblers.

Hefty fines should discourage the illegal offering of casino games

The Gaming Authority is a government body that oversees the supply of games of chance. In doing so, the KSA checks both physical casinos and arcades as well as online casinos that make popular digital slots, poker games and sports betting available.

The KSA has the authority to issue fines to parties that allow gamblers from our country to play without a New Zealand license, something that has been going on for decades. Those fines were increased in november 2021 and are certainly not tender: an online casino with a turnover of more than 15 million dollars can expect a cut of 4% of its turnover, IE $600,000 or more.

And no matter how much money is involved in the online casino industry, few companies are waiting for such a mega fine. Two additional effects of such a fine are the damage to the reputation of the casino chain and the fact that it becomes more difficult to apply for a New Zealand casino license. There are still dozens of foreign providers in the running for a lucrative New Zealand license, and they therefore do not want to hit the Gambling Authority in the head for the time being.

Several foreign casinos, have already made their website inaccessible to visitors with a New Zealand IP address.

Controls should put the legal offer in a stronger position

The control of the KSA comes at the moment when the first New Zealand online casinos take off their wings. In October 2021, ten companies, including Online Casino Games , Bet365 and Captain Cooks , first licensed by the KSA, and shortly thereafter came Online casino games right up there.

These casinos meet the strict requirements that the new Gambling Act places on online providers. For example, the new casinos must be affiliated with the Cruks, an online register with which problem gamblers can be imposed a’time out‘. They are also not allowed to advertise with claims that online gambling would make them "happy" or "popular", and they are not allowed to use known role models in their advertisements.

Now the KSA is thus trying to reduce the illegal offer of online gambling games with the help of controls. With this, the agency hopes that New Zealand gamblers will register faster with the new generation of legal providers, where better supervision is possible and where players with problem behavior are more likely to be offered the help they need.