Responsible Gambling and Gambling Help in New Zealand

Gambling help in New Zealand is free, and nobody asks you to explain yourself before you use it. The Gambling Helpline answers on 0800 654 655 and takes free texts on 8006, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. We have spent the past weeks reading the public pages of the 27 casinos in our table to see which of them publish their limits and exclusion tools, and the rest of this page covers the support services, the signs worth watching, the controls you can set yourself and the rules arriving with the new licensing regime from 2027.

Free gambling help in New Zealand

These are the services we would point anyone to first. The Gambling Helpline provides free support to anyone affected, including people worried about the gambling of others, and whatever you call it, gambling harm or gambling addiction, the same numbers apply. All of them are free to use, and all of them take contact from people in New Zealand.

Gambling Helpline – call 0800 654 655 or free text 8006, 24/7. Run by Whakarongorau Aotearoa / New Zealand Telehealth Services, and it operates the line for the Government’s Safer Gambling Aotearoa campaign. Specialist lines: Māori Gambling Helpline 0800 654 656, Vai Lelei Pasifika Gambling Helpline 0800 654 657, Gambling Debt Helpline 0800 654 658, Youth Gambling Helpline 0800 654 659. gamblinghelpline.co.nz
PGF (Problem Gambling Foundation) – free counselling, advice and support on 0800 664 262, text 5819, email [email protected], or live chat. The team is available 8.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday, with offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. They publish a “Test my gambling” tool and run Touchgrass for people 24 and under. pgf.nz
Asian Family Services, part of PGF Group – Asian Helpline 0800 862 342, Monday to Friday 9am – 8pm, with support in English, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi and other languages. asianfamilyservices.nz
Safer Gambling Aotearoa – the government campaign site, with “Know the signs”, “Staying in control”, “Test your gambling” and “How pokies work”, plus a directory of local services. safergambling.org.nz
Gambling Therapy – international online support, information on residential treatment, and a section for family members. gamblingtherapy.org

PGF answers by phone, text, email and live chat during office hours; the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 covers nights and weekends. Asian Family Services exists for people who would rather talk in Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese or Hindi. If you want a face-to-face appointment, PGF has offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Signs that gambling is becoming a problem

Warning signs usually show up in the bank account and the calendar before they show up in how someone talks about betting. Safer Gambling Aotearoa keeps a full “Know the signs” page, and the short version covers six patterns.

Spending more than planned.
Chasing losses with bigger bets.
Borrowing money, or using money set aside for bills.
Hiding gambling from family.
Feeling anxious or irritable about gambling.
Gambling to escape other problems.

Behavioural signals like those are easier to act on early, and gambling harm at that stage is easier to reduce than it is after a year of chasing. If you are worried about gambling in your own week, an online self-test takes a few minutes and gives you something concrete to work from.

Tools you can switch on at an online casino

We checked the public pages of the 27 casinos in our table on 10-12 Oct 2026. Fifteen of them explain their limits and exclusion tools somewhere a player can find; the other 12 do not, which leaves a support message as the only way to ask. The published examples are worth knowing, because you can request the same things from any operator.

Lucky7, LuckyVibe and Spinjo list deposit, loss, wager and session limits, cooling-off of 1 week to 6 months, and self-exclusion up to indefinitely. 7Bit offers deposit, loss and bet limits, cooling-off from one day to six months, and self-exclusion for 6, 9 or 12 months or permanent closure. 31bet has limits, a time-out and self-exclusion from 1 week to 1 year. CristalPoker sets deposit limits, a 24-hour to 30-day time-out and 6-month or permanent self-exclusion. SpinCity takes weekly deposit limits, time-outs of 12 hours to 7 days and self-exclusion from 15 days to 3 years. WinSpirit has deposit and loss limits, a 24-hour cooling-off and self-exclusion from 1 day to indefinite. Playmojo sets limits, cooling-off of one day to six months and self-exclusion, all through a request to support.

If your casino hides those settings, ask for them in writing: deposit limit, loss limit, session limit, a cooling-off period and self-exclusion. Keep the reply. Playmojo, for example, sets every one of its tools through support rather than an account menu. We compare these features as part of how we review online casinos, and the safe online casinos guide explains what a licence is worth. Spintown.nz shows a responsible gambling notice on every page and an advertiser disclosure above casino tables.

Steps you can take today

Set a deposit limit before your first deposit.
Set a time limit so the session closes itself.
Take a cooling-off break of a week or more.
Self-exclude if the shorter tools keep getting overridden.
Remove saved cards from casino accounts so a deposit takes deliberate effort.
Talk to someone you trust about the amounts involved.
Use an online self-test: PGF “Test my gambling” or Safer Gambling Aotearoa “Test your gambling”.

Helping someone else

The Gambling Helpline takes calls from partners, parents and flatmates as well as from players, and PGF welcomes whanau into counselling. There is a line for those worried about someone else’s gambling, and you do not need that person’s agreement to start. Gambling help works the same way here, whether the pressure comes from your own gambling or the gambling of someone close to you. Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora works with the gambling harm sector, and the Gambling Helpline can refer you on to a counselling service near you. Gambling Therapy runs family support and covers what recovery looks like when the gambler is not ready to talk. Call 0800 654 655 or free text 8006 and say who you are calling about.

What the new law adds

From 2027, licensed casinos will have to build in limits on time, deposits and spend, a break after 60 minutes, time-outs of 24 hours to 3 months and self-exclusion that cannot be shortened. A national self-exclusion register is due by 1 Dec 2027. Online play is 18+, and land-based casinos require 20+. Our gambling law section tracks the timetable and lists the rules licensed casinos will have to follow. Unlawful gambling advertising can be reported to DIA at [email protected].

Questions people ask

Is the Gambling Helpline free?

Yes. Calls to 0800 654 655 and texts to 8006 cost nothing, and the line runs 24/7. The specialist numbers – Māori 0800 654 656, Vai Lelei Pasifika 0800 654 657, Gambling Debt 0800 654 658 and Youth 0800 654 659 – are free too. PGF services provide counselling at no charge, by phone on 0800 664 262, text 5819, email at [email protected] or live chat, and the Asian Helpline 0800 862 342 is free as well.

Can I exclude myself from online casinos?

Yes, and the published terms differ more than you would expect. 7Bit runs 6, 9 or 12 months and permanent closure, 31bet 1 week to 1 year, CristalPoker 6 months or permanent, SpinCity 15 days to 3 years, WinSpirit 1 day to indefinite, and Lucky7, LuckyVibe and Spinjo up to indefinitely. From 2027 self-exclusion will sit inside the licence conditions and cannot be shortened, with a national register due by 1 Dec 2027.

What if someone I know is gambling too much?

Start with the warning signs above, then call or text the helpline yourself on 0800 654 655 or 8006 and describe what you are seeing. You can also ask PGF about counselling for whanau, or read the family section at Gambling Therapy. The challenges you may run into are practical ones: money, mood, and the arguments that follow both.