Since then, technology has been responsible for a number of legal updates, including the introduction of slot machines, more lotteries and more gaming options when the New Zealand Lotteries Commission was established in 1987. During this time, national lotteries were introduced in the 1930s, paving the way for increasingly relaxed attitudes towards gambling that resulted in the government setting up a Totalizator Agency Board in 1961 to oversee betting shops and legalise bookmaking once again. The industry falls under the remit of the Department for Internal Affairs who ensure that a proportion of all profits that are generated by gambling are distributed back to the community.įrom 1920 until 1961, bookmaking was illegal, and those who wanted to place bets on horse races had to do so at the track.

The approach the New Zealand government has taken to gambling has been relatively moderate, in global terms. The availability of accessible, safe, and fun ways to play the odds has opened up a world of gaming that was previously only available to those who didn’t mind the slightly taboo nature of their activities. The 21st century has seen a lot of changes in the way gambling is viewed, and the explosion in the popularity of online gaming has played a large part in this attitude shift. Some cultures have been consistently strict about gambling, passing laws to limit the activity and creating social disdain for those who indulge in such hobbies.

This attitude has come in and out of fashion over the centuries, with some cultures and periods being more accepting of the natural human urge to try and predict the future. However, for as long as there have been games of chance, there has been controversy surrounding the playing of those games, and even the ancient Greeks had restrictions imposed on them as most forms of gambling were illegal. Playing games is one of the oldest forms of human communication and there is evidence that our earliest ancestors would entertain themselves using rudimentary tiles, dice, and cards.

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