Age restriction
You must be at least 18 years old, or the minimum legal gambling age where you live if that is higher, to gamble at any real-money operator. Operators require identity verification and can close an account and void winnings where underage play is discovered.
Signs it might be a problem
- Spending more time or money gambling than you planned to.
- Chasing losses by increasing your stake or borrowing to keep playing.
- Hiding the amount of time or money spent gambling from people close to you.
- Feeling anxious, irritable or low when you try to cut back or stop.
- Gambling to escape stress, boredom or a difficult mood rather than for entertainment.
Noticing one or two of these on their own is common and not necessarily a sign of a serious problem. Noticing several together, or noticing them getting worse over time, is worth acting on.
Tools you can use today
Deposit limits. Most operators let you cap how much you can deposit daily, weekly or monthly from your account settings. Set one before a session, not during one.
Time-outs. A short cooling-off period, usually a few days to a few weeks, that temporarily blocks your account without closing it permanently.
Self-exclusion. A longer-term block, typically six months or more, that most licensed operators offer directly and that some jurisdictions also run centrally across multiple operators at once.
Reality checks. An on-screen reminder at a set interval showing how long you have been playing and, on some platforms, how much you have spent that session.
Help lines for New Zealand
Placeholder notice: we have not independently confirmed the current phone number and hours for the primary New Zealand gambling helpline at the time of writing, so we are not printing one here to avoid publishing an incorrect number. Replace [NZ-HELPLINE-PLACEHOLDER] below with the current number and web address from an official New Zealand health authority source before this page goes live.
National gambling helpline (New Zealand): [NZ-HELPLINE-PLACEHOLDER], free and confidential, available for the person gambling and for family or friends affected by someone else's gambling.
If you are in immediate distress, contact emergency services or a general crisis line for your area without waiting to confirm gambling-specific support first.
A note on this page
This page carries no ranked list, no welcome offers and no calls to action toward any operator. Its only purpose is information and support.