Royal Vegas Get Help

Gambling Helpline NZ

Free, confidential and open 24/7 on 0800 654 655. Counsellors are trained specifically for gambling-related calls. The conversation can be as short as you want, and you don't have to give your real name.

You can also chat online or text 8006 from any NZ mobile. The website is at gamblinghelpline.co.nz with self-help tools you can use privately at home.

Mapu Maia

Pacific-focused gambling support on 0800 21 21 22. Counsellors speak Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Maori, Fijian and Niuean alongside English, with sessions built around Pacific cultural frameworks rather than Western ones.

Both individual counselling and family-focused sessions are available, in person or over the phone.

The Salvation Army Oasis

Face-to-face counselling at locations across New Zealand including Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch. The Salvation Army runs both individual sessions and family programmes, and there's no requirement to share their faith.

Find your nearest centre at salvationarmy.org.nz or call 0800 530 000.

PGF Services

Problem Gambling Foundation Services run nationwide group programmes for both gamblers and the family members affected. They also offer one-on-one counselling and a 24-hour helpline on 0800 664 262.

Their family-focused programmes have a strong reputation for helping partners and parents navigate a difficult conversation.

Self-help tools you can use right now

Set a deposit limit in the Responsible Gaming tab in your Royal Vegas account. Activate a session timer. Trigger a 7-day cool-off. Self-exclude for 6 or 12 months if a stronger commitment feels right.

If finances are part of the worry, MoneyTalks on 0800 345 123 offers free budgeting advice with no link to gambling services.

Worried about someone else?

Every helpline above also supports family and friends of someone whose gambling has become a problem. You don't need the gambler's permission to call.

If you're worried about a Royal Vegas account specifically, you can use the Affected Other contact form via support@royallvegas.net.

What to expect on a first call

The counsellor introduces themselves and asks what's brought you to the call. You don't have to give your real name. There's no script, no list of mandatory questions, and the conversation can be as short as you want.

Most first calls last 15 to 30 minutes. By the end you'll usually have one or two practical next steps: a deposit cap to set, a self-exclusion period to consider, a follow-up call to book, or a referral to a face-to-face service.

Calls are free from any New Zealand landline or mobile and they don't show up on phone bills as anything identifiable.

Talking to your GP or a Kiwi mental-health service

A GP visit is a sensible first step if gambling concern sits alongside anxiety, low mood, sleep disruption or alcohol use. Your GP can refer you to a publicly funded counsellor, prescribe short-term support for sleep or anxiety where appropriate, and connect you with Te Whatu Ora services in your region.

Free national mental-health support is also available through 1737, the Need to Talk line, by call or text 24/7. Counsellors there are not gambling specialists but they can hold the conversation and link you to a specialist service the next morning.

Kaupapa Maori services such as Te Rau Ora and the Maori Wardens network in many regions can be the more comfortable first call for Maori whanau. Pasifika players are well supported by Mapu Maia and by The Fono in Auckland.

Free financial counselling alongside gambling support

Money pressure and gambling concern almost always travel together, and the financial side often feels more urgent because bills do not wait. MoneyTalks on 0800 345 123 is the national financial-mentor service. The mentors are independent of any creditor or operator, the service is free, and the conversation is confidential.

If you are already behind on power, rent or essential bills, your local Citizens Advice Bureau on 0800 367 222 can negotiate directly with creditors on your behalf and arrange short-term hardship grants where they apply. A financial mentor can also sit down with you and the bank to convert credit-card debt into a more manageable loan structure once gambling spend has stopped.

Talking to family, employers and landlords

Telling someone you live with is usually the hardest call and almost always the one that helps the most. Helpline counsellors will rehearse the conversation with you in advance if that is useful. The most successful conversations focus on the impact and the next step rather than a long list of past mistakes.

If gambling has affected work performance, most Kiwi employers have an Employee Assistance Programme that covers free confidential counselling sessions outside the formal HR process. EAP counsellors are not gambling specialists, but they can hold the conversation and link you to one. Landlords and Work and Income are usually more sympathetic to a player who has already engaged with a support service than to one who has not.

Whatever the context, the conversation almost never goes as badly as you fear. The relief of saying it out loud is usually larger than the cost of the awkwardness.

Online and after-hours options

If a phone call isn't realistic, the Gambling Helpline runs a live chat at gamblinghelpline.co.nz and a text service on 8006. Both are staffed by the same counsellors as the phone line.

If you're up at 3am and don't want to talk to anyone, set a deposit cap of $0 for the next 30 days. That's effectively a 30-day cool-off and it takes ten seconds. The conversation can wait until morning.

Free legal and tenancy support in New Zealand

If gambling has affected a tenancy, an employment situation or a relationship, free legal advice is available through Community Law Centres on 0800 529 482, with offices in every major centre. The first appointment is free, the lawyers are independent of any landlord, employer or creditor, and they can step in on letters and calls that have become aggressive.

Tenancy Services on 0800 836 262 handles disputes through the Tenancy Tribunal without the cost of a lawyer. Work and Income hardship grants are available for essentials including food, power and emergency housing, and a recent gambling-related disclosure does not disqualify a claim. A financial mentor at MoneyTalks can sit alongside you for any of these calls.

Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission runs sorted.org.nz with free budgeting tools that work well alongside a deposit cap and a cool-off. The combination of an active responsible-gaming control on this side and a written budget on the other is the single most reliable way Kiwi players recover financial stability inside six months.

What recovery actually looks like over six months

Most players who engage with the Gambling Helpline and set a strong deposit cap or self-exclusion describe a similar arc. The first two weeks feel restless and the urge to log in returns at the same times of evening you used to play. By week four the urge thins out and is replaced by a low background irritation that fades over the following month.

By month three the financial picture starts to recover visibly. Bills are paid on time, the savings account starts to grow again, and the relief inside the household is usually obvious without anyone having to say it. By month six the original concern feels distant rather than present, and most players have settled into a much smaller, much calmer relationship with casino play or none at all.

None of that is automatic. It requires the call, the cap, the cool-off and the willingness to keep using them. The good news is that none of those steps requires you to be brave more than once a day.