Level One · Adults 20 and over
The Casino at Copper Bluffs
Gaming and entertainment on one floor of the hotel: slot machines, blackjack, roulette, poker and baccarat, and a private room for higher-limit table games. On-site only, every day of the year.
Overview
One room, properly done
The gaming lounge occupies the whole of Level One, above the lobby and below the guest floors. It was built as a single room rather than a warren, so you can see the whole floor from the door and hear yourself think at a table.
There are ten tables and a bank of gaming machines along the eastern wall, under windows that look down the lake. Between them sits a small bar serving the same list as the Nevis Lounge downstairs, and a handful of low tables for people who came up to watch rather than play.
This is casino entertainment as part of a resort, not a gaming hall with rooms attached. The casino games on the floor are the traditional ones — nothing here needs an app or an account. Most of our guests spend an hour in the room after dinner and the rest of the week on the water. The floor is licensed and staffed for that pace: dealers who explain the game if you ask, minimum stakes that start low, and no pressure to stay past the point where you were enjoying it.
Entry is restricted to guests and visitors aged 20 and over, in line with the Gambling Act 2003. Hotel guests under 20 are welcome everywhere else in the building.
The Gaming Floor
What you will find upstairs
Ten tables, forty-eight machines and one private room. Table availability varies by day and season — the current schedule is posted at the door and held at reception.
Slot machines
Forty-eight machines in total: modern video slots, a short row of classic three-reel machines for people who prefer them, and four linked progressive units at the end of the run.
Denominations start at 5c. Every machine displays its return-to-player information and a session clock, and the bank shuts down with the rest of the floor at closing.
Table games
Blackjack and roulette run whenever the lounge is open — four blackjack tables and two roulette wheels, one American and one single-zero European.
Poker and baccarat run to a posted schedule, generally Thursday through Sunday and daily through the winter season. Three-card poker and a Caribbean stud table come out on busier evenings.
Live gaming
Every table on the floor is a live table with a professional dealer. There are no automated table terminals here and nothing is played against a screen.
Our dealers are licensed under the Gambling Act 2003 and trained in host responsibility as well as the games themselves. If you have never played roulette, say so when you sit down — they will walk you through it before the first spin.
The Bendigo Room — VIP gaming
A private room off the main floor with two tables, its own bar and a view straight down the lake. It takes bookings for higher-limit blackjack, roulette and baccarat.
The room is reserved by arrangement rather than by walk-in; VIP gaming enquiries go through reception or the enquiry form. High rollers staying in the Cecil Suite or the Bluffs Penthouse have first call on it.
Practical Information
Before you come up
Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday, 2pm until 2am. Friday and Saturday, 2pm until 3am. Open every day of the year, including public holidays.
Age and identification
Entry is restricted to people aged 20 and over. Photo ID is checked at the door for anyone who looks under 25 — a New Zealand driver licence, a Kiwi Access card, or a passport. Photocopies and photographs of documents are not accepted.
Dress code
Smart casual. No high-visibility workwear, no gang insignia, and shoes must be worn. Ski gear is fine before 6pm in the winter season and not after.
Who may enter
Hotel guests and visitors alike, subject to age and ID. Entry is free and there is no membership. The duty manager may decline entry, and does so occasionally.
On the floor
No photography or filming. Phones on silent at the tables. Cash and eftpos at the cage only — there are no cash machines on the gaming floor, by design.
Getting there
Take the lobby lift to Level One. The lounge has its own reception desk where ID is checked and coats can be left.
Host Responsibility
Gambling should stay a night out
Copper Bluffs operates its gaming lounge under a host responsibility policy required by the Gambling Act 2003. Every member of the gaming team is trained to recognise when play has stopped being entertainment, and to step in without making a scene about it.
You can ask to be excluded from the lounge at any time, for any period you choose. It is free, confidential, handled by the duty manager, and does not affect your room booking, your dining reservations or anything else at the hotel.
Set yourself a limit before you come up, and treat what you brought as the cost of the evening rather than a stake you expect back.
Free, confidential help
NZ Gambling Helpline — 0800 654 655
Free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Need to Talk? — 1737
Call or text, any time, to speak with a trained counsellor.
Problem Gambling Foundation — 0800 664 262
Text 8006 · choicenotchance.org.nz
Plan Your Visit
Stay the night, make an evening of it
Dinner in Bannockburn, an hour upstairs, and a lift back to your own floor. Our stay-and-play packages bundle the room, breakfast and a dining credit; the gaming lounge itself is always free to enter.