Restricted Casinos in New Zealand

After that, the laws began to soften, and new forms of gambling became available to New Zealanders. Consistently lotteries, slot machines, casinos and online casinos appeared.

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Slot machines

The slot machines first appeared in New Zealand in 1991. Slang name – poker machines or abandoned, as in Australia. The government allowed to organize clubs with slot machines in 1989. In the 90’s, operators preferred to put gambling machines in and around Wellington, as it is a metropolitan area. Then in 2001 the government announced that it was going to free the capital from gambling. Seven city casinos were closed, because the authorities feared too much development of dependence among the population.

The first casino was opened in Christchurch in 1994. Then casinos were built in the cities:

• Dunedin;
• Hamilton;
• Queenstown;
• Auckland.

Slots online

Of course, New Zealanders, as a very gambling nation, could not miss the online casino. Gaming web sites and platforms began work in 1994. Microgaming became the first supplier of online slots in New Zealand.

Fruit Fiesta and Cash Splash are some of the first machines that have been made available to New Zealanders. In the late nineties New Zealanders got acquainted with slots from Playtech and Cryptologic.

First online slots had only 1 winning line and three reels. Then, with the development of computers, developers began to enter more paylines, wild symbols, scatterers, bonuses and bonus games.

Legislation of New Zealand in the sphere of gambling

The gambling business of New Zealand is governed by a number of laws:

• Boxing and Wrestling Act 1981;
• Gambling Act of 2003;
• Racing Act of 2003;
• Amendments to the 2003 law – the Gambling Amendment Act, adopted in 2005 and 2015.

Gambling Act of 2003 is the basic law on gambling of New Zealand. It determines the classes of gambling, depending on the monetary costs and risks to society. The law also defines private gambling.

According to statistics for 2016, in New Zealand there are 6 casinos and more than 1,400 gambling sites. The number of gaming machines – more than 16 thousand. Show less