Betstar: Why the Australian Bookmaker Closed (2023)

Betstar was once a well-known Australian corporate bookmaker, but it no longer exists. If you have arrived here expecting a live sign-up page, a working app or a current offer, this guide explains plainly what Betstar was, who owned it, why it was shut down, and — most importantly for readers in New Zealand — what your legal betting options actually are today. Everything below is written as a factual record, not a promotion.

Is Betstar still operating?

No. Betstar closed on 22 February 2023. Its owner at the time, the UK-based gaming group Entain, shut down both Betstar and its sister brand, Bookmaker, and merged customers’ accounts — including balances and any pending bets — into the group’s main Australian brand, Ladbrokes.

That means there is no live Betstar website, no active Betstar app and no Betstar account you can open. Any page, download link or “bonus” you see advertised under the Betstar name today is out of date or should be treated with caution. The old Betstar mobile app listing is no longer maintained.

What was Betstar?

Betstar was an Australian corporate bookmaker — a licensed company that set its own fixed-odds prices and took bets directly from customers, as opposed to a pooled “tote” operator. It was founded in 2007 by Michael Eskander and his son Alan Eskander, both experienced racecourse bookmakers who merged their operations and moved the business online. The company was based in Melbourne and licensed in the Northern Territory (Darwin), which is where most Australian online bookmakers held their licences.

For a family-run operator it grew quickly. Betstar was named in the Business Review Weekly (BRW) Fast 100 list of fast-growing Australian companies in 2009, and by 2012 it reported around 40 staff. It built its reputation mainly on horse racing and sports betting, and for a time it was one of the last privately owned Australian corporate bookmakers before the wave of overseas takeovers.

Who owned Betstar, and how the brand disappeared

Betstar changed hands twice before it was finally retired. The simplest way to follow the story is as a timeline:

• 2007 — Betstar is founded by the Eskander family in Melbourne and Darwin.
• 2014 — British bookmaker Ladbrokes acquires Betstar in a deal reported at roughly A$22 million (press coverage at the time put the range at about A$20–25 million). Alan Eskander said he sold up because keeping a family-run Australian book competitive against heavily funded overseas rivals had become too hard.
• 2018 — GVC Holdings (later renamed Entain) takes over Ladbrokes Coral, and Betstar passes to Entain along with it.
• 22 February 2023 — Entain closes Betstar and Bookmaker. Customer accounts, balances and open bets are moved into Ladbrokes.

Entain’s stated reason was that the smaller brands received less promotion than its flagship names and could no longer be clearly differentiated from Ladbrokes and Ladbrokes‘ stablemate Neds. In the company’s own words, the platform “no longer provides a customer experience that could be considered best in class.” In short, Betstar was closed for commercial reasons, not because of any single scandal or regulatory ban.

What Betstar was known for

While it operated, Betstar marketed a handful of racing and sports features that are worth recording for context. These are described in the past tense because none of them are available any longer:

• Fixed-odds and tote betting — customers could take a locked-in price (fixed odds) or bet into a shared pool (the tote), with “best tote” style promotions on major race meetings.
• The Betstar Card — a prepaid cash card linked to the betting account, pitched as a way to deposit and withdraw and to access funds at ATMs.
• “Protest Upheld” — a racing promotion under which, if an official protest overturned the result in certain Australian thoroughbred races, both the original and the promoted runner could be paid as winners.
• “Past the Post” payouts — dividends paid out on first-past-the-post results for some Australian racing, ahead of the final official dividend.
• Novelty bet types — markets such as “favourite versus the field” and winning-margin bets.

These were standard competitive features for an Australian book of the era rather than anything unique, and they do not transfer to any current operator.

Did Betstar ever operate in New Zealand?

This is the key point for Kiwi readers. Betstar was an Australian-licensed bookmaker aimed at Australian customers. It never held a New Zealand licence, and it was not a New Zealand betting service. Even if the brand still existed today, it could not lawfully take online sports or racing bets from people in New Zealand.

That is because New Zealand tightened its rules. Following a 2025 amendment to the Racing Industry Act, offshore bookmakers were pushed out of the New Zealand online market, and advertising offshore gambling to New Zealanders is prohibited under the Gambling Act 2003. If you want the detail, see our guide to how New Zealand regulates offshore sportsbooks and our explainer on whether online sports betting is legal in New Zealand.

Betting legally in New Zealand today

If you found Betstar while looking for a place to bet, the honest answer is that your legal choices in New Zealand are narrow and clearly defined:

• TAB NZ is the only operator allowed to offer online sports and racing betting to people in New Zealand. This includes its TAB and Betcha products. It is the single licensed route for fixed-odds and tote wagering on sport and racing. You can read more about how its tote and fixed-odds markets work in our TAB racing guide.
• Online casino is being licensed separately. Under the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs is introducing a licensing regime for online casino operators, with a limited number of licences (up to 15) awarded by auction and the regulated market opening on 1 December 2026. This covers casino games, not sports or racing betting, and it does not change TAB NZ’s exclusive position on wagering.
• The minimum age is 18. All licensed betting and gambling in New Zealand requires you to be 18 or over, with identity verification.

For a plain-English overview of the whole landscape — who can take your bet, how decimal odds work and how payments are handled — see our main guide to betting in New Zealand. If your interest was specifically the big Australian racing carnivals that Betstar promoted, our Melbourne Cup betting guide for New Zealand explains how to follow and bet on them legally from here.

What if you were an old Betstar customer?

This applies to former Australian customers rather than New Zealand readers. When Betstar closed in February 2023, Entain moved existing accounts, balances and pending bets into customers’ Ladbrokes accounts. Anyone who had funds and never followed up should contact Ladbrokes (or the support channels Entain provided at the time) to trace a balance. New Zealand residents who never held an Australian Betstar account are not affected, because the service was never offered here.

Responsible Gambling

This article is factual information about a closed betting brand and the New Zealand rules around betting. It is not gambling advice and it does not encourage you to gamble. Betting should only ever be treated as paid entertainment, never as a way to make money or recover losses, and you should never stake more than you can comfortably afford to lose.

If gambling is causing you or someone you know harm, free and confidential help is available in New Zealand 24/7 from the Gambling Helpline Aotearoa on 0800 654 655 (or free text 8006). You can also use practical safeguards such as deposit limits and self-exclusion; our guide to responsible gambling tools for NZ bettors explains the options. You must be 18 or over to bet legally in New Zealand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Betstar still open in 2026?

No. Betstar closed on 22 February 2023. Its owner, Entain, retired the brand along with its sister site Bookmaker and transferred customers’ accounts and balances into Ladbrokes. There is no active Betstar website or app.

What happened to Betstar?

Betstar was founded in Australia in 2007, bought by Ladbrokes in 2014 and passed to Entain (formerly GVC Holdings) in 2018. Entain closed it in February 2023 because it was no longer promoted and could not be differentiated from the group’s bigger brands, Ladbrokes and Neds.

Could New Zealanders ever bet with Betstar?

Betstar was an Australian-licensed bookmaker aimed at Australian customers and never held a New Zealand licence. It was not a New Zealand betting service, and under New Zealand’s current law an offshore bookmaker like it cannot legally take online sports or racing bets from people in New Zealand.

Who can legally take online sports bets in New Zealand now?

TAB NZ, including its TAB and Betcha products, is the only operator permitted to offer online sports and racing betting to people in New Zealand. A separate online casino licensing regime is being introduced under the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, with the regulated market opening on 1 December 2026.

What happened to money in old Betstar accounts?

When Betstar closed, Entain moved account balances and open bets into customers’ Ladbrokes accounts. Former Australian customers who are unsure about a balance should contact Ladbrokes to trace it. This only affects people who held an Australian Betstar account.