3 Jan

Real Money Gambling in Australia and NZ: Review

Although not many people realize it, Australia and New Zealand are some of the best places to gamble in the world. The Aussies, for instance, gamble more than any other nation, and they have stacks of gambling facilities dotted all over the country. From pokies in pubs, clubs and hotels, to full-blown casinos such as the Casino Canberra, located in the capital, the Conrad Jupiters, and the Burswood International. The options aren’t as impressive in New Zealand, where the laws on gambling are a little tighter, but there are still 6 large casinos and resorts owned and run by the state, and a wealth of pokies located throughout the country that are run by charities. This part of the world is also home to some great sport, and plenty of options when it comes to bookmaking. If rugby is your thing, then you’ll struggle to find it played better outside of Super Rugby, not to mention the international giants that are the Wallabies and the All Blacks. Football, AFL, cricket, athletics, motor racing and more also fall under the spotlight Down Under.

Online Gambling is where the action is though and that’s where many players are turning of late. For both Aussies and New Zealanders, it is legal to gamble, but whilst Aussies can gamble on any site, even those based in Australia, their neighbors in New Zealand have to stick to international websites to avoid falling afoul of the law.

These days online casinos, poker sites and slot machines have drawn such a huge following that there are even those who play these games for fun, without any money involved. For many this is unthinkable, even those who adore online casinos and pokies wouldn’t dream of playing them when there is no money at stake — those are our type of people, and the ones that this article will concentrate on.

There are many real money sites out there that cater for players from this part of the world, but one of our favorites is Platinum Play, which is run by Digimedia, who also run several other casinos. We like to pick our casinos like we pick everything else that is important in life: we want a name that we can trust, one that has been in business for many years and one that clearly knows what it’s doing. We’re not the only ones either, and one of the first rules of business is to build a brand that everyone will recognize and trust. Digimedia have certainly done that. They are a company that have been running online casinos for many years, and have yet to get caught up in the whirlpool of negativity that surrounds this industry.

Platinum Play is a part of the Fortune Lounge Group, which is a community of online casinos, and it is also audited by eCOGRA, who make sure the website and the software runs as it should, and also act as an intermediary in the unlikely event that a player raises a dispute with the casino. Platinum Play have hundreds of pokies, but their software is also loaded with table games, from blackjack to roulette and more.

Away from online casinos, the choice is endless. Poker fans are welcome to join Pokerstars or Full Tilt, which have been accepting players from Australia and New Zealand for many years, whilst sports fans from this part of the world tend to flock to sites such as Betfair. In fact, Betfair is the site of choice for the Aussie gambler Zeljko Ranogajec, who is often touted as being the biggest high-roller in the world. The turnover of this reclusive gambler is said to be over $1 billion, whilst his activity on Betfair supposedly accounts for a massive 30% of all of their takings from Australia. We recommend all of these sites, but if you opt for Betfair, we wouldn’t advise playing their poker or casino software, as it is very buggy, only compatible with Windows and riddled with bad reviews. There is no issue with their sports book or betting exchange though, and who knows, if things go your way you might even be able to rival Mr Ranogajec and his unprecedented gambling habit.