Responsible gambling
Gambling should cost what entertainment costs. If it is costing more than that, these services are free and confidential.
Get help now
Gambling Helpline: 0800 654 655 — 24 hours, free, confidential. Phone or text 8006 from anywhere in New Zealand.
If you are in immediate danger, call 111. For crisis support at any hour, Lifeline Aotearoa is on 0800 543 354 (or text 4357).
Free help in New Zealand
Every service below is publicly funded and costs nothing. Most offer phone, text and in-person options; the Gambling Helpline is the 24-hour front door and can refer you to the others. They are not only for the person gambling: Asian Family Services, for example, describes its counselling as free for anyone affected by gambling harm, and answers in a choice of languages.
| Service | Contact | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Gambling Helpline | 0800 654 655, or text 8006 | 24 hours, free. Run by Whakarongorau Aotearoa. Specialist lines: Māori 0800 654 656, Pasifika 0800 654 657, youth 0800 654 659, gambling debt 0800 654 658. |
| PGF Services (Problem Gambling Foundation) | 0800 664 262 | Free, confidential face-to-face and phone counselling across New Zealand. |
| Asian Family Services | 0800 862 342 | Monday to Friday 9am–8pm. Pick a language from the recorded menu; free for anyone affected by gambling harm. |
| Lifeline Aotearoa | 0800 543 354, or text 4357 | Crisis support, 24 hours. Call 111 if life is in danger. |
| MoneyTalks (FinCap) | 0800 345 123, or text 4029 | Free financial mentoring for debt and budgeting. |
Self-exclusion and blocking
New Zealand has no national self-exclusion register for online casinos, so exclusion is done site by site through each casino’s own account tool. Blocking software works across all of them at once. BetBlocker (betblocker.org) is free, run by a Scottish registered charity, and blocks more than 450,000 gambling sites and around 1,900 apps on phones, tablets and computers. Gamban (gamban.com) is a paid subscription after a seven-day trial and covers every major platform.
Bank gambling blocks. Kiwibank, ANZ NZ and Westpac NZ let you block gambling transactions on your cards, with a wait of up to two working days before the block comes off; ASB and BNZ do not offer a gambling-specific switch. Details are in our guide to banks that block gambling transactions.
Money and debt
MoneyTalks on 0800 345 123 (or text 4029) is FinCap’s free financial mentoring line; a financial mentor is independent, not a debt-consolidation salesperson. The Gambling Helpline also runs a dedicated Gambling Debt Helpline on 0800 654 658 for the money side of a gambling problem specifically.
Tools every casino on this site offers
Deposit limits (daily, weekly, monthly), loss limits, session reminders, time-outs of 24 hours to 6 weeks, and permanent self-exclusion. If a casino we list removes these tools, it is removed from the site.
Signs to watch for
Chasing losses, gambling with money set aside for bills, hiding how much you play, and feeling restless when you are not gambling. If two of these sound familiar, call the number above; it is what it is there for.