The Casino Room
Gaming Pavilion

Blackjack — four tables

Six-deck shoe, dealer stands on soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2. Minimum NZ$15 on weeknights, NZ$50 after 9pm on Friday and Saturday. One table is kept at the lower minimum all evening, whatever the night.

Roulette — two wheels

Single zero, French layout, with la partage on even-money bets. Minimum NZ$10 inside and NZ$20 outside. Maximum straight-up NZ$500.

Three-card poker — one table

Ante from NZ$10, pair plus paid on the posted scale, six-card bonus available. A good table for anyone learning the room.

Baccarat — one table

Punto banco, minimum NZ$25, commission 5% on banker. Big road and bead plate are displayed above the table.

Texas hold’em — one table, Thursday to Sunday

A cash game from 7pm, blinds NZ$2 and NZ$5, nine seats, rake capped at NZ$10 a pot. Seats are taken at the cage; the list is called in order and never sold.

The card room is arranged in advance with the duty manager — twenty-four hours is usually enough, longer over the ski season. The stake is agreed in writing before the night, and the room is dealt to the same rules as the main floor; nothing about the game changes behind the door except who is in earshot.

A host stays with the room for the whole session. Phones may be used in the room but not at the table, and no photography is permitted anywhere in the pavilion — a rule we apply to guests and staff alike, and the reason the room exists in the first place.

Hours

Six in the evening until three in the morning, seven nights. Last entry is 2.30am. The floor is cleared and the cage closed at three; there is no lock-in and no after-hours play.

Age

Twenty and over, under the Gambling Act 2003. Government-issued photo identification may be asked for at the door, and entry is refused where it is not produced — including to guests staying in the hotel.

Entry

Complimentary. House guests show a room key, visitors sign in at the desk inside the door. There is no membership, no annual fee and no minimum spend.

Dress

Smart casual after 6pm. No work boots, high-visibility clothing or hoods up in the room. Coats and bags go to the cloakroom, which is free and staffed all evening.

Money

Cash and eftpos at the cage. There is no cash machine anywhere in the pavilion and staff cannot advance money, hold cheques or extend credit against a room account.

Getting there

Ninety seconds on foot from reception along a lit path, gritted through winter. Forty parking spaces at the hotel; the Queenstown taxi ranks run to Arthurs Point until about 3am on weekends.

A trained duty manager is on the floor for the whole of every shift, not on call from the hotel. Staff are required to approach a guest who has been at a table for a long stretch, who is chasing losses, or who asks about money — and to keep approaching, rather than to note it and walk on. Anyone who appears intoxicated is not served and is not dealt to.

Written self-exclusion can be arranged with the duty manager at any hour the room is open, in confidence and without a discussion on the floor. It runs from three months to two years, applies to the whole pavilion, and can be extended but not shortened. We hold a photograph only if you ask us to hold one.

There are no cash machines in the building. There are clocks on the walls of both rooms, visible from every seat. No alcohol is given away to anyone who is playing. Deposit limits, cool-off timers and the rest of the online vocabulary do not exist here, because they belong to a kind of gambling we do not offer: play is at a table, in this room, with a dealer in front of you.

Gaming at Yukon Grove is on the premises only. No game is played through this website, and we run no online, mobile or remote gambling of any kind. Nothing on this site takes a stake or a deposit.

Free and confidential help, any hour:
NZ Gambling Helpline — 0800 654 655
Problem Gambling Foundation — 0800 664 262
Need to Talk? — call or text 1737
Text the Gambling Helpline — 8006
choicenotchance.org.nz · safergambling.org.nz