Wharf Casino Queenstown (Closed): The Former Lasseters Casino at Steamer Wharf

This casino is permanently closed. Wharf Casino Queenstown shut its doors in March 2020 and formally surrendered its casino licence on 28 March 2024. The only operating casino in Queenstown today is SkyCity Queenstown on Beach Street.

Wharf Casino Queenstown was a DIA-licensed boutique casino at 88 Beach Street, in the Steamer Wharf precinct on the Lake Wakatipu waterfront. For most of its life it traded as the Lasseters Wharf Casino, and from 2013 it was owned by SkyCity Entertainment Group. It was one of two casinos that once operated in Queenstown, alongside SkyCity Queenstown two blocks west on Beach Street. The venue closed during the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, never reopened, and its licence was surrendered to the regulator in March 2024.

When Did Wharf Casino Queenstown Close?

Wharf Casino stopped trading in March 2020, when New Zealand entered its first nationwide Covid-19 lockdown and all casinos closed. Unlike the other SkyCity venues, it never reopened. SkyCity exited the Steamer Wharf lease in early 2023, and the casino’s venue licence was formally surrendered on 28 March 2024 and cancelled by the Gambling Commission. The upstairs premises at Steamer Wharf have since been re-leased as a waterfront bar and restaurant.

What Was Its History?

The casino opened on 11 September 1999 under a 25-year venue licence, operated by Otago Casinos Ltd — a subsidiary of the Singapore-based Lasseters International group — and traded as the Lasseters Wharf Casino. It was a small boutique venue, licensed for six gaming tables and 74 gaming machines, set in an upstairs space within the Steamer Wharf complex with views over Lake Wakatipu.

In 2013, SkyCity Entertainment Group acquired Otago Casinos Ltd (cleared by the Commerce Commission) and rebranded the venue SkyCity Wharf Casino, running it as the smaller of its two Queenstown casinos alongside the main Beach Street venue. The Wharf venue had long faced the difficult economics of a small casino in a high-rent waterfront location, and after the 2020 closure SkyCity consolidated all Queenstown gaming onto the Beach Street site.

Where Can I Gamble in Queenstown Now?

Queenstown has one operating licensed casino: SkyCity Queenstown at Level 2, Stratton House, 16-24 Beach Street, open 11am to 1am daily. For licensed pokie venues across Queenstown and the wider Otago Lakes area, see the Casinos in Queenstown directory. For the full national picture, see casinos in New Zealand.

If you or someone close to you is affected by gambling, Gambling Helpline NZ is free and confidential on 0800 654 655, 24 hours a day. See responsible gambling in New Zealand for the full list of support services.

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