Kiwi Casino Figures Boom as Players Use VPNs

May 9, 2025 By Michael S. Davis No Comments 6 minutes

Despite having a relatively austere regulatory landscape, offshore online casinos that service New Zealand players have found that business is going very well. While these online casino platforms are unable to be operated on the New Zealand mainland or by New Zealand companies, offshore entities can offer New Zealand residents safe places to play. Players from New Zealand are able to sidestep the austere regulatory landscape with relative ease by using VPN services.\

In spite of a relatively austere regulatory landscape, the number of New Zealand residents who are engaging in online casino entertainment is relatively high. The catch is that the platforms these players are visiting are not regulated by the NZ government, but rather are offshore platforms offering their services to players in a bid to fill a void left by the austere regulatory environment. Visiting these offshore platforms isn’t illegal, but they are often blocked by the NZ government, which necessitates that residents use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to gain access and enjoy these platforms.

Note: Various online services are geo-limited. But you can bypass these limitations by connecting to FastestVPN. However, we highly advise against using FastestVPN for engaging in malicious or unlawful activities online.

Constrictive regulations force residents offshore

Like many countries, NZ has somewhat austere and conservative gambling regulations. The relevant legislation, the Gambling Act 2003, heavily restricts what kinds of services can be offered by NZ-based operators, leaving only the state-run Lotto NZ and TAB NZ able to provide NZ players with online gambling services. Other operators have to be offshore, and these offshore online casinos cannot be promoted or advertised within NZ.

These regulations are no doubt in place for good reasons, to protect NZ residents from the potential of harmful gambling habits and predatory actions from unlicensed and immoral gambling operators. In reality, however, these regulations just leave NZ residents with much fewer options and allow the existing operators to become lax in terms of the services they provide. For players who are more discerning, the only option becomes to use VPNs to gain access to offshore platforms. While these platforms aren’t regulated by the NZ government, as reported by Erik King first, they do typically hold industry-approved licences from other world-renowned gambling organisations such as the UK Gambling Commission or the Malta Gaming Authority, making them safe places to play.

VPN services let NZ residents play freely

We’ve mentioned a couple of times that VPN services have provided the answer for NZ residents who want to play at these higher-quality offshore casino platforms. It’s likely you already know, but if you don’t, a VPN works by hiding your real IP address and instead making it seem as though you are connecting from a server in another country. In effect, it lets you appear to be logging in to a server from wherever in the world you want to appear to be. This makes them a great tool for getting around pesky regulatory red tape.

The most common usage for VPNs is to do exactly what many NZ residents have been doing, bypass geo-restrictions that stop them from visiting specific websites. Interestingly, many NZ residents have claimed that it isn’t just about having a wider library of games to choose from, but have also claimed that the offshore platforms have to do more to attract them as players in terms of offering bonuses and promotions. It would seem that the tight regulatory environment NZ has kept has led to a monopoly and stagnation of its internal online gambling ecosystem.

Offshore is not synonymous with risky

A common misconception when talking about offshore casino platforms and bypassing regulations in this way is the idea that the offshore platforms will be riskier or less safe for the player. While it can be true in some circumstances, most of these offshore platforms are well-established and bear licenses from renowned extra-national organisations, as we mentioned earlier. Organisations like the Malta Gaming Authority, Government of Curacao and the UK Gambling Commission are happy to supply licenses to casino platforms that successfully undergo their rigorous tests and checks.

This means that while offshore platforms might necessitate the usage of a VPN, it doesn’t mean they are inherently unsafe. NZ residents should still do their due diligence in checking for up-to-date licensing provided by a reputable organisation, but once that has been confirmed, these platforms are likely to be just as safe for players and their data as any other platform on the net.

A change in the weather

Interestingly, at the time of writing, NZ is looking to pass new legislation that would open up the online gambling ecosystem in the country and provide new government licenses to a number of new operators. While it is difficult to discern, it could be that the amount of traffic that can be seen on the offshore platforms designed to service NZ residents has convinced NZ legislators that their residents are unhappy with the current options available to them.

This new regulatory framework seems to be on track to be in place and provide more options for NZ players by 2026. By enabling more platforms to exist under government licenses, it is entirely possible that it will refresh the internal online gambling ecosystem in NZ and force its operators to become more competitive both in terms of the games and services they offer. This should lessen the amount of traffic that offshore platforms receive while still providing NZ residents with a healthier gambling ecosystem to enjoy.

Conclusion

Despite, or perhaps because of, the prohibitive regulatory environment that NZ has for online gambling, offshore platforms that provide services for NZ residents seem popular. These platforms are typically safe, despite existing outside of the country’s regulatory environment, because they usually bear licenses from well-regarded organisations across the online gambling world.

While NZ attempts to refresh its internal gambling ecosystem and provide a better experience for players within its regulatory environment, those players are likely to continue using VPNs to access wider options and the healthier gambling ecosystem that exists outside of that system.

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