Poker Sites in New Zealand

As leaders in the world of online poker games, we at BestPoker are always devoted to finding ways to enhance your experience. We do that by listing various guides on this variant, explaining how you can play it, where can you play it, etc.

By now, you must surely know that many gambling sites specialize in poker games. In this article, we’ll focus on a rather important thing – finding the best online poker site. Without any ado, let’s dive into the details.

Online Poker for NZ Players

Kiwi players often wonder “is online poker legal in New Zealand?” According to the Gambling Act 2003, gambling is illegal unless authorized by this law. In terms of online cash games, they are too illegal unless approved by the Lotteries Commission and the Racing Board.

To play this game for real money, Kiwi players must register an account. Signing up is very fast and simple. It won’t take you more than just a few minutes to complete. One thing that you must keep in mind is that you must be of legal age (18) to play poker and all other real money games.

There are several online poker sites that offer free poker games as well. You don’t need to register an account to do so. However, remember that you are also not eligible to win real money rewards.

Playing poker online can be addictive for some. Luckily, there are numerous responsible gambling organizations that are there to help. Some of them include:

• Problem Gambling Foundation NZ
• Gambling Helpline New Zealand
• Safer Gambling Aotearoa
• The Salvation Army Oasis
• Asian Family Services

As for regulating the online poker world, one of the agencies that are in charge of this task is TAB New Zealand.

How to Choose the Best Site to Play Poker Online – Online Poker Guide

If you want to enjoy a secure and immersive experience and access to the best online poker rooms, you must make sure that you find the most reputable site. That’s what we will start with in this article as we’ll explain which features you should look for when you are searching for a trustworthy operator.

The License is a Must

Before you even start playing online poker at a certain site, you must make sure that the platform is legal and secure. To do that, you must check whether it holds a license. This is very simple.

Access the official online poker site and scroll to the bottom of its homepage. The footer should contain information about the licensing body, company that operates the site, license number and more.

All of the biggest online poker sites feature this information. Double-check the information with the regulator and if it’s in the green, then you are clear to proceed to the second step.

Check the Providers At the Online Poker Site

The best online poker software providers are synonymous with quality games. So, if you want to know whether the titles at the poker site are good and can provide you with a decent gaming experience, providers hold the answer.

Of course, you should also check whether there’s one online poker room or multiple rooms. The more poker rooms are featured, the more diverse your experience will be.

Poker Bonuses

One of the reasons why the number of online poker players rose so much in the past couple of years is that poker sites offer a plethora of advantages over land-based poker facilities.

Bonuses and promotions are a part of those advantages. They can boost your potential rewards during standard games or poker tournaments. Some of the promos that you can come across on poker sites are:

• Welcome bonuses
• Cashbacks
• Match bonuses
• Loyalty programs

There are two important features of a poker bonus that you must pay attention to. First, make sure that the bonus is rewarding and that it applies to your favourite real money poker variant. Secondly, read the terms and conditions to see if it’s easy to meet them.

The easier it is to meet the T&Cs, the easier you will reap the benefits of the bonus itself. If you are claiming a deposit bonus, take a close look at the wagering requirements. Before you can withdraw bonus winnings, you must meet the wagering requirements.

They are an indicator of the amount of real money that you must stake at the casino before you’re able to cash out wins made with the offer. The lower they are, the better.

Other Notable Features to Check

The features that we listed above are the most important. There are a few additional ones, though, and they can help you choose if you have multiple sites on your shortlist.

First, we have the customer support team. The help team should allow you to contact it via multiple ways (phone, email, live chat). Next, the user interface of the website should be simple and easy to navigate through.

Finally, check if there are additional casino games. You might want to try something different from time to time and the top poker sites should allow you to have this flexibility. Apart from having poker rooms online at your disposal, you should have access to pokies, roulette, blackjack and live games.

Live games are often available at internet poker sites. They are unlike any other casino game. They take place in real-time and you join via streams. Poke is one of the available sub-categories at these sections. All new online poker sites in NZ feature these games.

What Are Online Poker Rooms?

Now that you are familiar with how to find the best mobile poker apps, it is time to dive a bit deeper into the game itself. We’ll start by explaining the meaning behind poker rooms.

A poker room is a specific site where you can play poker with friends online or with other people. The beauty in these rooms is that many of them come with low minimum stakes. These rooms have multiple variants and as a result, they provide you with tons of flexibility.

In some cases, you may stumble across a room in which you can play free poker. Demo versions are a great way to get introduced to the product itself and determine whether it is a good fit for your preferences.

This is where you can learn how to play poker online and get familiar with poker table positions.

Playing free poker is a good thing to do before transferring to real money poker for one reason. Unlike other casino games, poker relies heavily on skill. Additionally, you can use a plethora of poker tips and strategies to increase your chances of winning.

That makes this game a bit more complicated than other products. Its complexity is the reason why you ought to train before registering at a certain real money poker site.

Online Poker Sites for Real Money

When you’ve accumulated enough experience on the hand rankings and mastered the skills, it is time to try playing this game at an online poker site for real money. There are just a couple of steps that you need to complete to play this game for real money:

1. Choose the best online poker site
2. Access its website
3. Click on the registration button
4. Fill in the required fields
5. Finalize the Process
6. Choose a Payment Method
7. Deposit funds
8. Play poker for real money

As you can see, the process is pretty straightforward and fast. You’ll complete it within a few minutes. When depositing funds to your account, make sure that you are familiar with the minimum requirement and the available methods.

One additional thing that you should know is that when you decide to withdraw winnings from poker tournaments or standard poker games for the first time, you will have to verify your account.

This is done by sending the proper documents to the customer support team. The documents that you need to send are a copy of your ID or passport, a utility bill/bank account statement, and proof of address.

What Are the Main Differences Between Land Based Poker and Online Poker?

There are several crucial differences between online poker and land-based poker. These differences are the reason why the initial is considered superior to the latter. For starters, you can play online poker at any time and place. All you need is a stable Internet connection.

Next up, online poker is far more secure – all transactions take place online, on secure platforms. In comparison, if you win a certain reward in land-based poker rooms, the establishment will cash out the funds to you and you will have to carry them home.

Speaking of payments, online poker sites offer plenty of flexibility as you can choose between a variety of methods.

And if that is not enough, online poker games are far more versatile as numerous reputable providers create them.

Standard poker games and video poker games at online gambling sites are powered by RNGs and thus, you can rest assured that they are not rigged. In contrast, numerous land-based poker rooms have faced controversy over the years for game rigging.

Is It Cheating if You Use Software in Online Poker? How Can It Help?

One of the main things that every player wants to know before they played real money poker is whether you can use a software in the biggest online poker rooms.

Softwares are poker tools that allow players to keep track of which rooms are available, relevant information to the room, guides on how to play the game, etc.

Poker sites use these softwares to organize their rooms and provide players with a better gaming experience. On the other hand, players use softwares, also known as poker cheat sheets, to increase their chances of winning.

Thanks to the software, players get familiar with the relevant poker terms and phrases, winning hands and they may even enjoy the benefit of an odds calculator. The calculator tells them which winning hands are most likely to drop.

You will be pleased to know that these cheat sheets are completely legal when you play Internet poker. That’s what makes this game so interesting and competitive.

What Kind of Poker Can You Play Online?

The beauty of playing at the best poker sites is the fact that you will have the chance to play several kinds of poker. They will make your overall gaming experience more diverse and more entertaining. Below, we’ve listed and explained all the available poker variants, so let’s give them a look.

Online Poker

Starting, we have standard online poker. This variant is powered by RNGs and thanks to that fact, you can rest assured knowing that each community card that is dealt on the table and each hand that you receive is random. Some standard games that you can play at the best poker site are:

• Texas Hold’em Poker
• Omaha Poker
• Caribbean Stud Poker
• Three Card Poker

Live Poker

Live poker is a rather popular game at every online casino. It is extremely interactive and thrilling. As the name itself suggests, the game takes place in real-time. A professional dealer hosts a game and players join via a stream.

A majority of standard poker games at an NZ casino site have live versions. Caribbean Stud Poker and Casino Hold’em are among the most popular live poker titles.

Video Poker

Finally, we have video poker. Unlike standard and live poker, this game has just one round. It is played on a slot-like machine and you can switch your hand if you don’t think that it is good. After you bet, you press the hit button and the machine immediately reveals the community cards. Some notable video poker games are:

• Jacks or Better
• Double Ace Poker
• Double Double Bonus.
• Deuces Wild

How Do Poker Bonuses Work?

Earlier, we mentioned that when you play real money poker games, you can claim a plethora of bonuses and promotions. They can boost your online gambling winnings and provide you with a more immersive experience.

The most popular bonuses that you can claim at the best poker sites are:

• Welcome offers
• Poker cashbacks
• Match and Reload Bonuses
• Loyalty programs

Welcome Bonuses

First off, we have welcome bonuses. Here’s how they work. Poker operators offer these bonuses to new players. You receive a welcome bonus when you’ve made the first-ever deposit at the site.

An important feature of this offer is the fact that it is a one-time offer. Here’s how you claim it. First, you register at any of the most trusted online poker sites. Then, you make the minimum required deposit for the welcome offer. If it’s required, you also enter the bonus code.

The casino will instantly transfer the bonus to your online poker account. Your deposit will be matched and you will receive extra funds that you can use to play real money games.

Terms and conditions apply to this bonus. Some of them are minimum deposit, bonus validity period, eligible games, accepted payment methods and wagering requirements.

Cashbacks

Next up, we have cashbacks, which are no deposit bonuses. The tricky thing about them is that you must wager and lose a certain amount of real money playing poker.

Each poker site has a minimum threshold in terms of the amount that you need to stake at the top online poker rooms. If you meet this condition, then all you have to do is log in on a specific day.

The site will automatically transfer a percentage of the lost amount to your account. Then, you can use the funds to play video poker games, standard poker games or live poker, depending on the policies.

Match and Reload Bonuses

Match and reload bonuses are deposit bonuses. They work on the same foundation – experienced and recreational players need to deposit on a specific day to receive extra funds.

There’s one difference between them, though. A match deposit bonus will reward you when you make the first deposit of the day, whereas the reload bonus will reward you on your second deposit.

Some terms and conditions that accompany these bonuses are maximum bonus amount, minimum deposit, wagering requirements and eligible games.

Loyalty Programs

Finally, we have loyalty programs. They are neither deposit nor no deposit bonuses. A loyalty program provides poker players with numerous benefits.

The higher you are on its scale, the more exclusive rewards you will receive. Of course, to level up, you must wager real money on games such as Omaha poker, Seven Card Stud, Caribbean Stud Poker, etc.

Some of the extra poker bonus offers that you will receive as a VIP member include:

• Higher cashbacks
• Faster withdrawals
• Access to VIP online poker tournament
• VIP support
• Dedicated account manager
• Birthday gifts
• Unique promotions

One thing that NZ poker players ought to remember is that not every game has an equal exchange rate. For example, you might have a 50:1 exchange rate for online poker NZ and 75:1 for video poker machines. That means that you will receive 1 point for every NZ$50 that you wager on online poker and 1 point for every NZ$75 that you wager on video poker.

Poker on Mobile

The online poker network spans way beyond desktop devices. In the modern era, you can play almost every poker game on your mobile device.

Thanks to the fact that the best places to play online poker are mobile-friendly, they provide you with massive flexibility. When you access poker sites on your smartphone, you’ll see that the gameplay does not differ from the desktop version.

All you have to do is make sure that your connection to the Internet is stable. If you are accessing an operator via an app, make sure that you have enough storage to download and install the app.

Can You Play Online Poker for Free?

Free games are a good way to get introduced to the mechanics and gameplay. The case with poker is no different.

That is the reason why many players want to try free poker first before deciding to give the real money versions a go. So, if you are wondering whether you can play for free at the best poker room, the answer is yes.

However, this applies only to standard poker online. Live poker games are only accessible for real money.

References:

Prohibited Gambling – dia.govt.nz

Racing & Sports Betting Online in New Zealand | TAB

TAB Help

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