2021 was an important year for gambling in New Zealand. Especially for online casinos, 2021 was an essential year. In 2021, online casinos were legalized and regulated. As of 2021, it was for online casino games it is possible to obtain a license in New Zealand. Online casinos such as Betcity and Bet365 eagerly took advantage of this by being 1 of the first 10 parties that were legally allowed to run an online casino in the New Zealand market. However, this also caused parties such as Unibet and Bwin, who did not yet manage to obtain a license, to temporarily withdraw from The New Zealand market until they manage to obtain a license. In short, 2021 was an important and eventful year for the gambling world.
From april 2021, online casinos, after a preparation of 2 years, could finally apply for a license. A lot of casinos made an application, only 11 parties got a license. Including Royal Vegas Casino and TOTO which are under government control.
The big advantage for the government is that they can keep a finger on the pulse with regard to the policy through the permits. For example, the license holders are imposed all kinds of rules with regard to, among other things, Game limits. Licensees are also required to CRUKS implement the system. CRUKS is a central database where players with gambling problems can self-exclude. This database is connected to the online casinos with a New Zealand license. The moment a player logs on to CRUKS, the casinos can see this so that they can refuse the relevant CRUKS players.
René Jansen, chairman of the Ksa, explains: "all in all, an important and major step was taken in 2021 in New Zealand in the modernization of the gambling policy. That was urgently needed. In a legalized and regulated market, it is possible to protect players from the risks of gambling. In the case of online gambling, this was not possible before.’
