The Luckiest Casinos in New Zealand

If you fancy a few spins on a pokie machine, you might want to try out one of New Zealand’s licenced online casinos, or you might prefer to gamble in person, where there’s more of an atmosphere plus dining and entertainment options. New Zealand is currently home to six casinos, the first of which opened back in 1994. 

Across the six casinos, you’ll find a variety of thousands of pokie machines and several hundred table games to provide hours of entertainment. And of course, you might just be lucky enough to go home with a little extra cash. 

But the question remains: how likely is it that you’ll actually win money at a New Zealand casino? And if so, which locations are the luckiest? We decided to find out. 

There are two ways we could have approached our little mission. One, we could have sent one of our team members all the way to New Zealand, and asked them to play slots in every single casino to see which is the luckiest. Or two, we could just trust the reviews that are already out there. We chose the second option and headed over to Tripadvisor to see which casinos had the most mentions of certain keywords like "lucky," "winning,"  "success," and "jackpot.” 

As the options in New Zealand are quite limited, we looked at these four top-rated casinos to give you some insights into which are the luckiest:

• SkyCity Auckland Casino
• Christchurch Casino
• SkyCity Hamilton Casino
• SkyCity Queenstown Casino

So, let’s count down from number four on the list to number one. 

In fourth place, we have SkyCity Hamilton Casino. With just 6.81% on our Luck Scale, only six out of 88 reviews mentioned any of our keywords. There are 330+ slots and 23 table games such as blackjack at this casino, and regular players can even look forward to VIP rewards. You might even want to indulge in one of the dining options while you’re here. 

All sounds good so far, right? Maybe not. Even one of the reviews that did mention a keyword was pretty damning. “Given the payouts, the odds of winning, and the lack of integrity, I would find another casino." Yikes.

The third luckiest casino on the list was SkyCity Queenstown Casino, which got a much better rating of 13.10%. There were seven mentions of “luck” and another seven of "won," and one person even called out a "bonus." While there are only about 80 slots here, the selection of table games sounds particularly good. 

You might also want to try out the restaurants or simply enjoy the scenic mountain views. According to one review, “Been there to try luck but not very fortunate to win big though - lucky enough not to lose anything." That’s about as neutral as you can get, so it’s no wonder this one is in the middle of our list.

Christchurch Casino snagged second place on the list, receiving 13.52%. An impressive 43 out of 318 reviews mentioned one of our keywords, with “won” coming up 17 times. “It's a nice casino. Lots of slots, etc, not too uppity, and I've actually won. If it's your birthday, you eat for free and get a drink. I did and won three hundred too...a happy birthday”. Happy birthday, dear reviewer!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. We can confirm that according to our research, the luckiest casino in all of New Zealand is SkyCity Auckland Casino. With over 20 bars and restaurants, 2,000+ pokie machines, and 150+ table games, this is a premium destination for gambling in New Zealand. 

SkyCity Auckland Casino received a rating of 14.67% on our scale, with 28 mentions of "won," 21 of "winning," and even one person referring to a "jackpot." 

Said one happy customer, “A wide variety of tables and machines got my attention at first, as I just wandered around and watched others spend their money, sometimes winning heaps back! I had a 'flutter' on the machines and won a good sum of money.”

A good sum of money? We’ll take it. 

Methodology

Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with luck to determine the luckiest casino in New Zealand. We calculated the percentage of mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews.

Keywords tracked: Lucky, Luck, Won, Winning, Success, Jackpot, Hand Pay, Winner, Bonus, Profit

Disclaimer

The information in this article is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be perceived as a factual representation of any of the establishments listed.

Our analysis considered specific keywords related to guest reviews, but individual preferences may differ.

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