Top New Zealand Sports Betting Options

As well as finding and reviewing the best sites for casinos and online betting NZ has available, we also bring you other important punting information. That includes a list of the greatest sports that Kiwis can wager on. Learn more about what we consider to be the country’s top betting options right here.

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Why We Recommend These Sports

Make no mistake, the range of sports available to bettors in New Zealand is truly incredible. As you develop more insights into sports betting, you’ll want to explore your options at desktop and mobile bookmakers more.

That’s why compiling this list of our top recommendations was quite difficult, but ultimately we thought about what sports Kiwis love the most, and which events have the widest selections of markets and the most information for punters to research. Taking that approach, we settled on Tennis, Rugby, Football, Horseracing, Australian Football League, Motorsport and Cricket.

Simple Tennis Betting

In addition to the 4 Grand Slams that are held every year, the world of Tennis features many other top-tier events that you can watch and bet on. The game is simple and endlessly enjoyable to watch, and the same could be said of the betting markets.

Major tourneys such as Wimbledon or the Australian Open attract millions of viewers all around the world, and thousands of wagers are placed on every single match. Beginners can start with the simple punts listed below, and see how much fun Tennis betting can be.

Match Winner

Desktop and mobile online betting NZ fans can put money on who the overall winner of the Tennis match will be. You might also see this type of wager referred to as a moneyline, especially at Canadian or United States operators. Bookmakers’ posted odds reflect each player’s ranking and their theoretical chance of winning.

Set Betting

Get into more details of a Tennis game than match betting allows, with set betting. These wagers work especially well for in-play bets, where you adjust your stakes as the action unfolds. An underdog who is unlikely to win might have a particularly stellar set, and live betting allows you to accommodate that.

Handicap Betting

Handicap bets are very common among NZ bookmakers and punters. When a team – or, in the case of Tennis singles, a player – is more advanced than their opponent and are the likely winner, the results can be a forgone conclusion. Handicaps level the playing field a little.

In handicaps, bookmakers give the underdogs a positive starting points value, and give the favourites a negative value. These values are applied to the actual scores, making it harder to predict who will win the handicap. If top seeds are pitted against first-timers in opening rounds, handicapping is the ideal way to make the match closer and more exciting.

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Totals – Over/Under

Totals, also known as over/under wagers, are popular because they’re a little more complex that straight win predictions but are still very simple. All you need to do is predict whether a result will be over or under a pre-set number. In Tennis, for instance, you can bet that the total number of games played.

Rugby Betting Basics

At our reviewed online betting NZ sites, both Rugby Union and Rugby League events are available. The game of Rugby is close to the heart of almost every New Zealander, making watching and punting on the matches extra special.

Small wonder, then, that there are so many Rugby markets available in the country. We take a look at the most popular online Rugby bets in the country, breaking them down so you can understand them easily and try them out for yourself.

Match Markets

Rugby match betting involves predicting who will win or whether the teams will tie, for both halves and the full game.

Half Markets

Half markets are predictions about a specific half of a Rugby match. The most popular options are saying which team will win each half, and saying which half will have the highest total score.

Points Markets

In points markets, bets are placed according to points scored within the match itself. For instance, you could bet on which team will score the most points in games or whether the scores will be odd or even numbers at half and full time.

Try Markets

As their name suggests, try markets are centred on tries – how many are scored, how each try is scored, and which team or specific player is scoring the tries. These bets are great for seasoned Rugby experts who have an intimate knowledge of both the game and the athletes on the field.

The most popular try bet is the team try, where you predict which side will score the most tries in a game. Total try bets, where you predict what the total number of tries will be, are also the favourite of many punters. Don’t forget about propositions on specific events, like if the first try will be converted, which offer great potential payouts.

All About Football Bets

The Beautiful Game is the planet’s most popular sport, so there is a huge amount of information you can find out when you’re researching specific matches, and there’s always Footie action going on somewhere in the world. Check past performances, injury reports, ladder standings and expert opinions before you place any wagers.

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Straight Bets

Often also called moneylines, straight bets are predictions on who the winner of a game or tournament will be. In Football you might find them under the heading “1X2” which refers to the 3 possible outcomes – that the home team will win (1), that the sides will draw (X) or that the away side will win (2).

Handicap Bets

As with Rugby and other sports, handicaps refer to docking points from the favourites and adding points to the underdogs’ score before play begins. Even if the favourites win outright, they might lose after the handicap is applied.

Totals

Football totals, or over/under punts, can be on the combined score of both sides for the entire game or for either half. At some sportsbooks, you might be able to predict individual team totals too.

Propositions

Once you’ve been betting for a while and have some insight into Football teams and athletes, you can make predictions about specific events on the field. For example, you might place a proposition bet on how many corners will be awarded, or who will be given yellow cards.

Horse Racing Bets

There’s a reason horse racing is known as the “sport of kings” and online betting NZ punters have been avid fans for years. Start with a few simple Win and Place bets, and as you get to know more about the sport you can bet on exotic punting options.

The research you can do is extensive, and includes performance and win/loss percentages of the horse and jockey, how rider and steed fair together, and track and weather conditions. The more you put into this, the more interesting the races will be and the better the payouts will feel when you win.

Win Bets

In win bets, you simply predict which horse will come in first.

Place Bets

Bet that a specific horse will finish first, second or third

Each Way Bets

Each way bets combine win and place wagers, which must be equal amounts. You get both win and place payouts if the horse you picked finishes first. If your selection comes second or third, you get the place payout only.

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Swinger Bets

You can pick 2 competing horses and combine them in a swinger, where you’re paid out if they finish in any 2 of the first 3 spots.

Exactas, Trifectas and Quartets

In exactas, you need to bet on the first 2 finishers in the right order. The same is true for trifectas and quartets, for the first 3 and first 4 finishers, respectively.

Pick 6 and Jackpot Bets

You might see the pick 6 wager called a scoop 6 at some bookies. Either way, you need to correctly choose the winners of 6 races, and can bet on more than 1 sprinter per race. You have to win all 6 bets, and the payouts are usually massive. Jackpot bets work in the same way as the pick 6, but are based on 4 events rather than 6.

Place Accumulators

In place accumulators, you must select a horse, or horses, to come first, second or third in each of the 7 races comprising the place accumulator. You can win the bet many times, and all returns are multiplied together. For example, imagine you choose a single horse in Races 1 to 4 and 2 horses in Races 5 to 7. If all your selections finish in the first 3 positions, you win the payout 8 times over (1x1x1x1x2x2x2 = 8).

All to Come Bets

Here, you must select a single horse in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 races, to win or to run a place. All the races you select must be at the same meeting, so that results are determined on the day of the events.

Australian Football League Bets

When most people think about wagering on the Australian Football League (AFL), the first thing that comes to mind is predicting Australian Premiership results. However, AFL NZ has grown so rapidly that punters now have extended options on local teams and on games that are played on home soil.

The New Zealand-based tournament is not as prolific as the traditional league yet, but it is growing every year and provides plenty of exciting wagering opportunities. Let’s take a look at some of the best markets.

Main Markets

Main markets in AFL NZ include first scoring play, where you wager on which team will have the first opportunity to score in a match, and the halftime/fulltime result where you need to predict which team will lead at halftime and fulltime.

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Handicaps

As in other sports, AFL NZ handicaps are ideal when teams are unevenly matched. Since there are currently just a few teams in the local league, handicaps are used extensively in AFL New Zealand at the moment.

Margins

A margin is the difference between team scores, and there are several possible wagers here. You can bet on what the margin will be in each quarter of the game, in the first and second half, or at the end of the match. The range of margin values you can choose from depends on which timeframe you choose.

Goals

Predicting the number of goals in an AFL NZ game can be tricky. However, if you get it right, the payouts from sports betting NZ site are worth it. The most popular options here include the total number of goals for each quarter, over/under bets on both teams, and over under/bets on individual squads.

Points

Depending on the specific teams and your chosen bookmaker, the total number of points is split into groups of 10 and range from 0 all the way through 211 and over. Points also include bets on whether the point total will be an odd number or even number or which will be the highest scoring half.

Top Online Motorsport Bets

self-proclaimed petrolheads and thrill seekers will find a great range of Motorsport betting markets to choose from in New Zealand. Whether you are putting money on an upcoming Formula One Grand Prix, the Red Bull Air Race, the Dakar Rally, Formula E or the Daytona 500, there are stakes to suit all skill levels and wagering styles.

Championship Winner

With Motorsports like Formula One, Formula E, MotoGP and NASCAR Racing, you have option of betting on an individual race or on the outright winner of the entire championship. All top-rated bookmakers will offer championship bets from the start of the season. The longer in advance you place a championship bet, the better the potential payouts. Odds are usually based on previous season results and updated changes to the cars.

Winning Constructor or Manufacturer

Staying with the Championship Motorsport betting markets, punters can also predict the season’s outright winning manufacturer or constructor for the season. With Formula One this will include options like Ferrari or Mercedes, and with MotoGP this would include options like Honda, Yamaha or Ducati.

Race Winner

This popular market can apply to just about every Motorsport where there is a set race, whether it be point to point, or on a track. The race winner is the driver that completes the race first and takes the chequered flag – and could be different to the driver in pole position or the one to set the fastest lap during the race.

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Pole Position

Most track events include a pre-race to determine the starting grid, held the day before the main race. The driver with the fastest time in the trials earns pole position and the grid advantage for the main race. Pole position wagers involve predicting who that will be.

Fastest Lap

In fastest lap, you need to say which driver will set the fastest lap time during the race. This is a favourite amongst seasoned punters, and is often different from the individual who ends up winning.

Leg Winner

Some Motorsports, like long-distance Rally Racing, include multiple legs in a single race. The most popular example is the Dakar Rally, where teams and drivers are timed for each leg and race against the clock, rather than each other.

In such cases, punters can place a wager on each leg (section) of the race. Each leg has a unique type of surface with different challenges, making it ideal for fans of sports betting in New Zealand who love a challenge.

Some drivers and vehicles are faster and more adaptable on loose sand, while others do better on hard surfaces and tar. Predicting the leg winner is a great way to extend your options and gain better sports betting odds, once you understand how the drivers and cars will perform.

Online Cricket Betting Options

Online Cricket sports betting is extremely popular in New Zealand as it offers so many different ways to win. One of the great things about Cricket is that the test matches are completely different to One Day and T20 games.

Played over 5 days, there tend to be more wagering opportunities on test games with enhanced markets. To give you an idea as to what you can put your money on, we’ve taken a look at the difference between test and One Day (50 overs) markets in Cricket betting.

Innings

The majority of markets can be found on T20 games, 50 overs games and test matches; only a handful of sports betting markets relate specifically to tests. The most significant include the Innings Bets, since test Cricket is the only type that has more than one innings.

The well-loved “First Innings Lead” is a bet on which of the two teams will have the lead after the first innings. Bookmakers will also offer a draw option for first innings, with massively high odds since the chance of both teams scoring the same number of runs in the first innings is extremely rare.

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Over/Under 1st Innings

Another popular wager related to 1st innings is the over/under bet on the exact total for each team. The bookmaker posts a score for each team and a bet is placed on whether the actual 1st innings score will be over or under the total.

Fall of the First Wicket

While this market is shared with limited overs Cricket, the total number of overs does shift slightly. With this bet, you are trying to predict in which over the first wicket will fall. Since there can be over 70 overs played in one innings, it is rather difficult to predict.

100 Runs

Again, with sports betting in New Zealand, this is option is mainly used in Test matches but sometimes also with 50 over games. This is also known as “Century” wagering, where you are simply predicting whether any player will score 100 runs in the match. It is far more likely that a player will achieve a higher score in a test match compared to limited overs matches.

Odd/Even Innings

Some bookmakers like to offer odd/even markets on innings totals. This can be placed on either the first or second innings and simply involves predicting whether the innings total will be an even number like 220, or an odd number like 315.

First Ball

First Ball wagers offer plenty of desktop and mobile sports betting markets relating to the first ball of the test match. Here you are predicting what is going to happen on the first ball. Options include a wicket, dot ball, no ball, wide, leg bye, six runs, 4 runs, 3 runs, 2 runs or 1 run.

Shared Options

There are plenty of online Cricket sports betting markets that apply to all 3 versions of the game. Popular options for all matches include:

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