The Most Comprehensive Casino Reviews in NZ
How we Choose NZ Casinos to Review
Unlike most review portals, our focus is strictly also on the New Zealand demographic. As such, the best online casinos in our opinion are those that offer good Kiwi orientated gaming, Local free toll NZ support, and NZD banking. Most of the casinos we list are also online casino awards winners. The casino also needs to offer some form of customer support available to New Zealanders. The best will have a toll-free NZ number, a live 24/7 chat as well as more traditional e-mail or contact form support.
The following is our 20 point review process:
- Accept New Zealanders
- Take NZ dollars
- NZ specific website and/or Welcome Bonus
- Casino licensing jurisdiction such as UKGC, Malta, Kahnawake, Gibraltar
- Casino Game RTP auditing such eCOGRA
- Secure website with SSL (https) and web protection
- Secure Financial transactions. The whole process must be secure
- Banking methods, deposits and withdrawals, available in NZ
- Payout times, maximum payout amounts and reliability
- Breakdown of Software Providers
- Casino Games number, free demo play and type (Live Casino, Online Slots, Table Games, other Casino Games)
- Look, Feel and Speed of the website
- Quality of the Mobile Casino offering
- Welcome Bonus review
- Welcome Bonus terms and conditions
- General terms and conditions
- Customer support options in French and English and availability
- Loyalty Rewards and VIP
- Ongoing Promotions
- Responsible Gambling options (opt outs, gambling limits)
Review Criteria for New Zealanders
We review many facets of a casino and consider these the most important in deciding which casino may best suit you. Keep in mind that the casino does not even make the list if it does not meet the basic criteria of being properly licensed, offer secure transactions, allow Kiwis to register and accept NZD. So the following are the more important factors that we highlight in each casino review.
Casino Games Review
The most important factor of any rating system is the collection and quality of games offered. After all, why else would you be at a casino? When reviewing and comparing casinos, we consider the selection of games in terms of game variety (roulette, blackjack, craps, slots, table games, and card games), numbers, and quality (high-definition graphics and sound). We also look at what the software providers a particular casino is doing business with. Bear in mind software affects the types of games offered. Some reputable software providers include (but are not limited to): Microgaming, Cryptologic, Betsoft Gaming, Net Entertainment, and Realtime Gaming, which we grade accordingly based on exclusivity, quantity, and quality of games available. Games from recommended reputable casino software companies guarantee you get to enjoy the BEST gaming experience with seamless game play and crisp graphics.
Mobile Casino Review
The quality of the casino in its mobile-based version is another important factor in our rating system. The best mobile casinos offer downloadable versions of their casinos or have a mobile-optimized version for their desktop site, and have no glitches whatsoever. Instead, they offer exceptional graphics and compatibility, ensuring you have a good time playing. You can download mobile app directly from the website or via SMS download and PlayStore (the choice/method of gaming entirely up to the user). The best mobile casinos should also support all types of devices. After all, these are MOBILE casinos. Therefore, it is only reasonable to expect the software works on all smartphones, which include Windows, Blackberry, Android, and Apple
Promotion review
Promotions are crucial for motivating customers to keep on playing. It also gives them a sense of achievement when they win a particular challenge. In our rating system, we also determine the best online casinos based on the promotions they offer. We want many quality promos and no deposit spins. This includes benefits for high rollers, VIP programs, cash back guarantees, reload bonuses, and welcome bonuses. The terms of these promotions should also be easy; otherwise, it could be impossible to win anything. Subsequently, our recommendations are strictly based on the various play-through requirements, terms and conditions for promotions and offers. We would not want your hard work and effort to go to waste.
Casino Banking Review
All casinos must offer NZD banking. In terms of banking, we rate casinos based on the min/max cash outs and deposits, numbers of options offered, and how fast they turnaround withdrawals. Players wont to be able to get money onto a site easily, along with withdrawing the money quickly too. A good casino should offer a variety of payment methods from e-wallets, credit cards (MasterCard or Visa Card), prepaid cards, and direct bank transfers. We also analyze the withdrawal time for each method to ensure you do not have to wait too much to get your cash.
Casino Welcome Bonus Review
We do focus on the Welcome Bonus at each casino as this is a great way to get started at each of our casinos. We will comment on all the details as well as terms and conditions that stand out. Things like wagering and minimum deposits as well as how long you have to accept and finish the wagering. We will also give you a general sense of how it compares to other online casinos and whether or not is worth accepting.
The following is our 10 point Welcome Bonus review process:
- Overall bonus size
- Focus on 1st Deposit bonus
- How many deposit bonuses
- Minimum and maximum deposits
- Free Spins and type (minimum deposit, no deposit, no wager)
- Wagering requirements
- Welcome bonus terms and conditions
- Time to use the bonus
- Maximum payouts from bonus or free spins
- Bonus abuse terms
Casinos to Avoid and Blacklisted Casinos
So what do we do with all the casinos we come across that don't meet our criteria for a trusted online casino site? Well, there are plenty of casino scams out there. these may not be obvious at first but we manage to look deep enough to find those that can't be trusted. Immediate red flags include bad or non-existent licensing, predatory terms and conditions and unclear Welcome bonuses that appear to good to be true, and thus probably are not true. We would put up a list of blacklisted casinos but this is really an exercise in futility. The bad casinos come online faster than we can review them.
What do we suggest? Well, to start, read through what we have to say about the casinos we promote. Understand what we look for and what is important to note when deciding on a casino. I hope, that if you made it this far, you have begun to trust what our knowledge of the industry and we can prove to you why we believe in the casinos we list here.
The best NZ online casinos are licensed in proper jurisdictions and audited by trusted institutions and offer the gambler the ability to have mediation with a third party if things go wrong.
How to Review Terms and Conditions
Look, no one wants to read the T&Cs. We often just click the checkbox and move on, but with online casinos there are a few important things that need to be taken from the terms and conditions. We highlight on every review the relevant bonus terms and conditions. We also look at the general terms and conditions to ensure there is no suspicious wording in there.
Bonus Terms and Conditions
Most of what is important in the bonus terms and conditions rests in how you can use your bonus. Things like the time you have to use the bonus, the wagering requirements needed to bet before you can cash out your bonus, the time you have to meet those requirements and maximum amount you can win from a bonus are all things that help determine if a bonus is good or not.
Bonus Abuse Terms
Bonus abuse is also a big deal with online casinos and how they define that is written clearly in the T&Cs. generally you will be looking at the maximum you are allowed to bet while in the time period you are meeting your wagering requirements. This is usually around $5. There will be games that do not count towards the bonus wagering requirements but, in addition, they casino may ban certain types of bets. For instance, most casinos will not allow you to complete your wagering requirements on "even bets". That is bets like Red or Black or Pass or Don't Pass type of bets. The casinos are obviously not in the business of losing money and the welcome bonus often skews towards the player taking home winnings. If they allowed it to be uncontrolled, the casino would be out of business pretty quick and we would all be lacking in opportunities to gamble online.
General Terms and Conditions
These are used to cover the casino legally. Often these terms include definitions and most of it is fairly standard. Of note, a normal term is that if a game breaks down or a connection is lost, the casino is usually not liable for any wins or losses. This makes it even more important in our review that we test the security and speed of casino on both desktop, mobile and through downloaded programs. Game stability is an important factor. We do look for predatory terms such as those that effectively give the player no recourse when anything goes wrong.
Bottom Line on NZ Online Casino Reviews
Our reviews can be used as a guide, enabling YOU to determine which sites are the best choices for playing casino games with good bonuses, including both free casino spins and no deposit casino bonuses, games collection, mobile compatibility, promotions, and customer support. We strive for accuracy above all else so that you will have the best available information to make your decision. You may agree or disagree with our opinion but we hope you at least trust our information.
