New Zealand’s online casino community is always expanding. If it’s not a wave of new players discovering the joys of gaming online, it’s a crop of new operators sprouting up. Since the initial online casino boom of the early noughties, the local scene has grown immensely. From a handful of small sites to dozens of international brands, Kiwi casino gaming is now thriving.
Naturally, with so many new NZ online casinos entering the mix, it can be hard to keep track of them all. Fortunately, that’s where we come in. Thanks to our team of industry experts, we’re able to identify, review and promote the best new online casino sites New Zealand has to offer. In fact, if you look at the table below, you’ll see an overview of the top new entries.
Our Top Recommended New Casinos for 2019
| Rank | Casino | Bonus | Rating | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | $600 + 200 Free Spins | VisitReview | |
| 2 |  | 100% up to $100 | VisitReview | |
| 3 |  | NZ$1,000 & 200 Free Spins | VisitReview | |
| 4 |  | $1000 + 200 Free Spins | VisitReview |
As part of our mission to provide a comprehensive breakdown of NZ online gaming, we also like to guide you. In this article, we’ve not only highlighted the leading new online casinos for New Zealanders but identified what makes them great. By showing you why fresh-faced operators are worth using, we’re helping you to make better choices. So, before you join one of our recommended NZ casinos, let’s take a look at why industry newbies shouldn’t be overlooked.
We all know the big brands and what they stand for. Thanks to years of industry experience and flawless services, names such as LeoVegas, 888casino and Betway, all have an instant allure. What’s more, because these sites have been active and regulated for a long time, you know they’re safe and secure. When it comes to new NZ online casinos, you don’t have the same level of information or history to draw on.
That’s something we understand but we also know it’s not something you shouldn’t fear. Indeed, casino gaming is all about taking calculated risks. By doing your research and using sound logic, it’s often possible to improve your potential returns in at the tables. The same is true when it comes to joining any new online casino New Zealand has to offer.
The Benefits of New Casino
As we’ve already said, our team does a lot of the hard work for you. However, it always pays to be well-informed. With that being true, here are few reasons new online casino sites aren’t as much of a gamble as you might think.
Bigger and Better Promos: Every new business, regardless of the industry it’s in, has to make an impression. To cut through the noise and be heard, companies often try to shout the loudest. In the online casino industry, nothing shouts louder than a welcome bonus. Often splashed across a site’s homepage, an attractive bonus can convince players to join.
Because of this, all the top-rated new NZ casinos will have generous promotions. For example, Playzee launched in December 2018 and hit the headlines with a welcome bonus worth up to NZ$1,500 and 150 free spins. That’s NZ$500 more than an established NZ casino like Royal Vegas offers. So, based on bonuses alone, you could get more from an industry newbie.
Software, Games and Innovations: An older casino site such as 888casino has one disadvantage when it comes to technology. Yes, these operators have skilled developers and plenty of experience. However, any new innovation that sweeps across the industry has to be integrated into an already operational platform. That means a certain amount of backtracking and remodelling has to take place.
At new online casinos, the developers have a clean slate that allows them to include the latest tech, games and software from the start. Most of the time, this creates a more seamless experience. Indeed, how many times have you updated an older casino site and the download has caused stability issues?
Although these are often resolved fairly quickly, they can hamper your experience. Newer online casinos tend not to falter in the early stages because everything is designed specifically for the latest innovations.
Local Jackpots and Tournaments: Perhaps the most overlooked but valuable reason to try New Zealand’s newest online casinos is payouts. In the industry, progressive jackpots come in two main forms: universal and local. The former are jackpots that are available to players across multiple sites linked together via a single networked game. The latter are progressive payouts that are available only to players on a particular site.
If you use new NZ online casinos with local jackpots, the benefit is obvious: there are fewer players competing for the top prize. Technically, your odds of hitting the right combination aren’t any better. However, the chances of you winning could improve because there aren’t as many people shooting for the jackpot. The same logic applies to online pokies tournaments. If the player base is smaller, you should, in theory, have more opportunities to win.
New Casinos in New Zealand Can Have Some Faults
As you’d expect with any upstart, things won’t be perfect. In fact, even New Zealand’s longest-serving online casinos still have their flaws. However, there are some common issues that often appear during the first year or so of a site going live:
Lack of Options: Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is an online casino with hundreds of games, features and bonuses. To ensure they don’t do too much too soon, developers construct their casinos in stages. This means some of the newest New Zealand online casinos may lack some payment options (often the less common ones such as pay by phone bill) and games. However, if you stick with it, you’ll often see the expected services appear over time.
Mobile Mistakes: Another area in which new NZ online casino sites fall short is mobile apps. Yes, the latest platforms will all be optimised to work on all devices. However, because apps (especially iOS apps) require extra detail, the developers often choose to focus on them at a later date. In other words, they choose to perfect the desktop site first, then they work on a mobile app.
How We Assess Sites
Before we let you test the newest NZ online casinos out there, let’s quickly talk about how we review them. Our aim is to deliver the best service possible and that means remaining objective at all times. Our experts have decades’ worth of experience and they personally review each site. Looking at everything, from the games and bonuses to how the stable the site is, nothing is overlooked. Once we’ve carried out a review, we highlight a casino’s selling points and compare them to the country’s other leading operators. By doing that, you not only get to see which sites are hot but exactly how hot they are compared to everyone else.
Don’t Disregard New NZ Online Casinos
New online casinos in New Zealand might not be for everyone. However, our advice is to not disregard them simply because they lack experience or history. As we’ve said, newbies often offer bigger bonuses and have more modern features than their elders. What’s more, customer service is often on point simply because the operator wants to win people over. Therefore, if you’re looking for a place to play, we’d urge you to check out our recommended new NZ casinos before you make a commitment one way or another.