Online Gambling in the Pipeline?

The New Zealand Gambling Act 2003 gives authority for New Zealand's TAB and Lotteries Commission to operate over the Internet. There they can peddle merchandise that is normally sold through their retail outlets.

TAB is fully authorized to offer bets on sports, dog and horse racing. The Lotteries Commission is allowed to sell lottery-related products. With so much global online gambling activity it's no wonder that New Zealanders are wondering when they'll be able to gamble online.

Good news

Kiwis are hoping that they'll one day be able to gamble within the cyber-space of their own geographic domain. For now they'll have to be content with betting with offshore Internet Gambling providers.

Those TAB and Lottery companies fortunate enough to be operating in New Zealand are safe in the knowledge that competitors are blocked from entering the market. And in a serendipitous move for pundits, June 2008 marked the beginning of Virtual Horse-Racing TABs being opened up throughout New Zealand.

What's next - online gambling perhaps?