Our team is made up of three dedicated and trustworthy poker players from New Zealand. Like many other Kiwi players, we found it difficult to find a site that gave us unbiased and up-to-date information about poker in New Zealand.
With that in mind, we decided to create a poker site specifically for players in NZ. Our site provides New Zealanders with in-depth comparisons of the best online poker rooms, as well as the latest info on promotions and bonuses
Whether you're interested in live, online, tournament or cash game poker, you'll find all the answers to your poker-related questions here.
Jack Wilson
Jack is our resident poker strategist. He lives and breathes poker and has been playing the game for over ten years. Primarily a tournament specialist, his scope of poker knowledge includes Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Stud poker among other poker genres.
Having worked for several international poker magazines, Jack felt that it was time to do something related to his home country. So, with his two partners, Sophie and Liam they created Poker.co.nz, a place where fellow Kiwi poker players can come and find out about poker on their own turf.
Sophie Brown
Sophie Brown has worked in online marketing and research for several years. After graduating from university, she went to work for a prominent advertising agency and quickly rose up the promotion ladder.
n 2009, she played in her very first online poker tournament and finished in the top ten. Not having had a lot of experience, she decided to study as much about the game as humanly possible. This involved hours of playing online and live, as well as reading books and watching videos.
Eventually, she met up with Jack at a charity poker event, where they both realised that they had a keen, mutual interest in promoting poker in New Zealand. From that point on, they worked towards making a single portal that would provide Kiwi players with everything they needed to know about poker in their home country.
Liam Taylor
Liam is the newbie of the three, although he is nowhere near the least experienced. Liam has played millions of hands online and is as close to online poker as he is to his family. Given a choice between the two, we're not sure which way he would go!
His enthusiasm and love for the game are clearly apparent to anyone who meets him. He also has an innate, natural “nose” for the game – once making a “super-thin” river call with queen-high to bust a player from a NZD$ 1,100 buy-in event! Had he been wrong, he would have been down to less than 5BB, two off the money.
As an integral part of the team, Liam has his finger on the pulse of NZ poker. He knows where the most popular and fishiest games are, as well as where the best bonuses can be found. He's basically our poker bloodhound.
Our rating system for online poker rooms is quite simple but in-depth and well-researched. We go that extra mile to make sure that the poker rooms in our guide are who and what they say they are.
Here are few the criteria we take into account when doing our research:
- Welcome Bonuses – Percentage and terms for clearing it.
- Other Bonuses – Amount and terms for clearing it.
- Game Selection – Types of games available, Hold'em, SNGs, MTTs, etc.
- Traffic – Amount of players, especially during NZ peak playing times.
- Banking – Available methods for deposits and withdrawals, as well as time frames for withdrawals
- Customer Support – Availability, politeness and helpfulness
- Game Variety – Other poker genres like Omaha, Stud, Razz, etc.
- Poker Site Security – Safety and security of poker client itself, as well as ability to process transactions and keep player information safe.
What to Look For in a Poker Site:
There are so many different poker sites available today that it can be difficult to decide which ones are worth joining and which should be disregarded. At Poker.co.nz we identify the best poker sites based on the needs of players from New Zealand and taking a variety of factors into account. The primary concern when it comes to choosing a poker site is the security of the players, which is why we will never recommend a site which is not fully licensed and regulated. The ability to transfer funds securely and for player information to remain confidential are absolutely fundamental issues when it comes to choosing any online poker site as customer security is our number one concern.
In terms of the poker rooms available, there are a number of factors to be taken into account. With Kiwi players on a different time zone to many other parts of the poker playing world, it is vital that any poker site have sufficient player volume 24 hours a day to ensure that the tables are filled. A good variety of games is important as well as tables offering different buy-ins to suit all bankrolls. We also pay particular attention to the payment methods available so as to ensure these cater for a New Zealand client base.
Should you have any questions or issues which you would like to have addressed, we have a rapid response team standing by to answer any of your queries. You can get in contact with us by email at and we will assist you with any issues. For general information you should browse through the FAQ sections of the relevant pages on the site to see if this answers any questions you may have.
At Poker.co.nz we rate and compare the many online poker rooms out there. We don’t own or operate any online poker sites ourselves. Do understand that while we try to ensure all the information on our site is accurate, information changes constantly and we cannot be held liable for any losses that occur as a result of incorrect information on our site. Before playing online poker at any site, do be sure that it is legal to do so in your country of residence. Finally, playing poker can result in financial losses and we at Poker.co.nz are not liable for any such losses.