Grand Casino Dunedin: Opening Hours, Games and Entry Rules
Grand Casino Dunedin sits at 118 High Street, inside the Scenic Hotel Southern Cross. The building carries a Heritage 1 listing and went up in 1883 as the Grand Hotel; the casino opened on 6 October 1999, back when it traded as Dunedin Casino. Entry is 20 and over. Doors open at 12pm daily. Staff ask for photo ID from anyone who looks under 25, and the phone number on the official site is 03 477 4545. We read that site on 28 October 2026.
Everything below comes from the casino’s own pages and from the Gambling Act 2003, which applies to every casino in the country. We have not walked the floor, so the description of the room and of the restaurant is the operator’s. Where two numbers on the site disagree, we point it out.
When the Grand Casino Opens, and When It Shuts
The published opening time is 12pm, every day of the week. The venue is closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday, and section 172 of the Gambling Act 2003 names the same two dates as days when casino gambling cannot run. Anzac Day carries its own restriction: no casino gambling between 3am and 1pm. That window overlaps the listed noon start, so if Anzac Day matters to your plans, ring 03 477 4545 and take the answer from the venue rather than from a web page.
Getting In: Age, ID and What to Wear
Twenty is the legal age to enter a casino, according to the Department of Internal Affairs. Entry rules at the Grand Casino add a lower ID threshold at the door: appear to be under 25 and you will be asked. Three document types are accepted, a current New Zealand or overseas passport, a current New Zealand or overseas photo driver’s licence, or another current government photo ID showing your date of birth.
Presenting false ID carries a trespass of up to 2 years and a fine of up to NZ$2,000.
Dress runs to two words on the site, neat and tidy. There is no further detail on what counts.
One more step you may meet at the desk. The casino is a reporting entity under AML/CFT rules and verifies the identity of everyone who plays. That can mean a request for proof of address, payslips or bank statements. Foreign exchange is available on site, with fees.
What You Can Play on the Floor
Four table games are named: blackjack, American roulette, baccarat and Caribbean Stud Poker. If you want the rules sorted before you sit down, we have walkthroughs for blackjack, roulette and baccarat. Caribbean Stud Poker is the only poker-format table on the published list, and our live poker guide covers how poker rooms elsewhere in the country run their tables.
Then the machines. The games page lists 180 electronic gaming machines with denominations from 1c to $1. The home page gives a different figure, over 150. Both come from the same site, so treat the machine count as approximate and ask at the desk if a particular stake matters to you.
The Rewards Card and Freeplay
Grand Rewards is free to join for anyone 20 or over. New members are offered $30 Freeplay, and the casino’s app carries your points balance. What a point converts into is not stated on the page we read, so the sensible move is to ask at the rewards desk before you plan a session around it.
Eating and Drinking on Site
Grand Bar & Restaurant is the venue the site names, open from 12pm daily and 20 and over, the same building as the Grand Casino. You can eat without leaving the property, and the age rule matches the one at the casino door.
Staying in Control: Limits, Breaks and Exclusion
Self-exclusion here runs from 3 months up to 2 years, and once it is in place it cannot be shortened. You can also request a national exclusion covering all New Zealand casinos. The self-exclusion form adds a third option, a multi-venue exclusion from gaming machines in bars and clubs. Separately, section 310 of the Gambling Act 2003 requires a casino, on request, to issue an exclusion order barring a person from the gambling area for up to 2 years.
If a casino handles gambling badly, DIA casino gambling inspectors deal with public complaints. For support, the Gambling Helpline is 0800 654 655, and you can free text 8006. Our responsible gambling section lists the rest of the tools.
Pub Pokies Around Dunedin
Outside the casino, Dunedin has 24 venues with pub and club pokies, counted by the Department of Internal Affairs in June 2026. The Grand Casino on High Street holds the city’s casino licence, and DIA states that no new casino venue licences will be issued, so the machines in bars and clubs are where a shorter session happens. We keep a list of pokies venues in Dunedin, with a wider pokies near me index for the rest of the country.
Online Casinos and New Zealand’s New Licences
The online side moved in October 2026, when the Department of Internal Affairs auctioned the right to apply for up to 15 online casino licences. Eleven entities hold that right, and the DIA list includes SkyCity NZ Online NO1 Limited and SkyCity NZ Online NO2 Limited. Licences are expected from early 2027. We track the detail on the gambling law page and in the new online casinos section, with background on land-based operators under NZ casinos.
Questions Visitors Ask
What time does the casino open?
12pm, daily. Christmas Day and Good Friday are closures. Anzac Day falls under the statutory ban on casino gambling between 3am and 1pm, which sits on top of the normal noon opening time.
Do I need ID if I look young?
Anyone who appears to be under 25 gets asked, so bring one of the three accepted documents even if you are well past 20. The ID has to be current, with a photo and your date of birth. False ID means a trespass of up to 2 years and a fine of up to NZ$2,000.
What counts as neat and tidy?
The site stops at those two words, so we cannot hand you a list of banned garments. What we can say is that the entry rules are enforced at the door, and the door is the only place that answers this one for a given night.