History of Pokies in New Zealand

Gambling was already introduced to the people of New Zealand during the 1980s. It was in 1988, the electronic gaming machines known as ‘pokies machines’ or ‘one arm bandits’ became legal and were introduced in some licensed casinos, game clubs, Returned Services Associations and hotels. After this, in 1989 the New Zealand Parliament gave consent for the legalization of gambling clubs throughout the nation.

Six major gambling machines were officially launched in 2003 at New Zealand’s largest casinos of that time which included Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch, and Dunedin along with two machines in local casinos of Queenstown. This was a huge milestone in the history of gambling in New Zealand. This also brought immense pleasure for the slots game fans due to the less complex features of the pokies that everyone found easy to play.

history of pokies in new zealand

Just a few years after the achievement of these milestones, pokies were now not introduced throughout the nation but also achieved through popularity among the locals and tourists alike.

The tragedy struck in 2001 when the Government of New Zealand, looking at the gambling addiction of its people took it out from the main city. The government also shut down seven functional metropolitan casinos fearing the adverse effects of gambling on its citizens.

Modern Casinos

Modern land-based casinos are all under the control of the Government of New Zealand. By this understanding, all the pokies machines also come under the government. These are mainly established in pubs and hotels of New Zealand. Many citizens like pokies due to its awesome and interesting rounds that often produce generous payouts. Again, the Government is vigilant of the jackpot amounts and tax them too.

The latest of New Zealand’s Gambling Act says that over twenty-two thousand slots machines and two thousand people will be covered by the system. The data generated by these machines will be sent to a central monitor, where it will not only fix the limits but also monitor how much money was waged on what machine and the outcomes of it.

Online based casinos

Pokies received New Zealanders love equally in the online casino as it had received in land-based casinos. In 1994, Microgaming was the main online slots provider for the New Zealanders which included amazing games like Cash Splash and Fruit Fiesta.

Later on, the online casino market saw rapid changes and many new software providers cropped up. At the end of 90s Cryptologic and Playtech began providing software for pokies.

Due to the Gambling Act of 2003, the national online gambling or the gambling operated by the home developers on the websites was prohibited.
Many online slot games that were introduced by Microgaming, Playtech and other software companies couldn’t survive in New Zealand’s online casinos. These happening games although can be found in the online casinos of other foreign countries.

The online gambling in the casino is also operated by the New Zealand government and come in the form of the National Lottery website. These websites offer only those games that are legalized by the government and have no competitors.

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