The Walter Peak Room
One room off the lobby, named for the peak on the far shore. 34 gaming machines, 6 tables and a bar service window, open 12pm to 2am, seven days a year round.
It is a hotel gaming room rather than a gaming hall: two hundred and ten square metres, a low ceiling, carpet rather than tile, and enough space between the tables that the room does not get loud. Guests staying in the hotel and visitors from outside it are admitted on the same terms.
Everything happens in the room. Watermark Point Hotels Ltd runs no website games, no application and no remote service of any kind. Nothing on this site can be staked, and no account can be opened here.
Table games
Six tables, all dealt by staff trained here rather than hired in for a season. Minimums are posted on the table sign and on a board at the door, and they move with the day of the week rather than with the mood of the room.
| Blackjack | 2 tables | NZ$10 minimum, NZ$25 from 7pm Friday and Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Roulette | 1 table | single zero, NZ$5 minimum on the inside |
| Baccarat | 1 table | NZ$25 minimum, dealt from 6pm |
| Three-card poker | 1 table | NZ$10 ante |
| Texas hold’em | 1 table | dealt Thursday to Sunday from 7pm |
A live dealer runs every table. There are no electronic table terminals on the floor and no plans to add any.
Gaming machines
34 machines along the two long walls: thirty-one modern video slots and three classic three-reel cabinets that stayed because guests kept asking for them. Denominations run from five cents to two dollars. Ticket in, ticket out; the cage is at the entrance and staffed whenever the room is open.
Return-to-player figures are displayed on each machine, as required under the Gambling Act 2003. There are no cash machines on the gaming floor and none will be installed.
The Nicholas Table
A separate room behind the main floor with one table, eight seats and its own service. Blackjack or baccarat, dealt on request, with a minimum of NZ$100 and a table maximum agreed before play starts rather than discovered during it.
The room is booked rather than walked into: twenty-four hours of notice, a minimum party of four, and the same photo identification as the main floor. There is no membership, no annual fee and no tier scheme; the room is either free on the evening or it is not.
Guests of the hotel may charge food and drink taken in the room to their account. Gaming itself is never charged to a room account and never extended on credit.
Getting in
- Open
- 12pm to 2am, seven days
- Age
- 20 and over, without exception
- Identification
- NZ driver licence, passport or Kiwi Access card, checked at the door
- Dress
- Smart casual after 6pm: no work boots, no high-visibility clothing, no gang insignia
- Payment
- Cash and EFTPOS at the cage. No credit, no room charging, no cash advance
- Cameras
- No photography or filming anywhere on the floor
Under-20s may not enter the room for any reason, including to collect an adult. Staff will ask for identification from anyone who appears to be under 25, and will decline entry where it is not produced.
How the room is run
Every member of floor staff completes host responsibility training before a first shift and refresher training each year. The programme is written to the Gambling Act 2003 and to Department of Internal Affairs guidance.
A clock is visible from every table and every bank of machines. There are no cash machines on the floor. Staff are trained to notice a guest who has been in the room since it opened, to approach that guest, and to record what was said. The floor closes at 2am regardless of who is still playing.
Free, confidential support
- NZ Gambling Helpline — 0800 654 655, 24 hours
- Need to Talk? — call or text 1737
- Problem Gambling Foundation — 0800 664 262
- Text 8006 · choicenotchance.org.nz
Stay the night
The floor is one room in a 64-room hotel with a restaurant, a bar, heated pools and three hire spaces. The lift from the lobby reaches all of them.
