Responsible Gaming

DegenCity provides online casino and sportsbook entertainment for adults in New Zealand and other permitted regions, and this page explains how the platform approaches player protection and responsible gaming. It sets out the tools available to manage play, the age and eligibility standards that apply, and where to find independent support if gambling stops feeling like entertainment. We encourage every player to read this page carefully, whether they are new to online gaming or a long-standing member of the platform.

Understanding the Risks of Gambling

Gambling is designed to be entertaining, but it carries financial risk and, for some people, can become difficult to control. Games of chance, including pokies, live casino games, and sports betting, do not guarantee any outcome, and losses are a normal part of participation. DegenCity does not present gambling as a way to generate income or resolve financial difficulty, and no game on the platform is structured to produce guaranteed returns. Recognising early signs of harmful play, such as chasing losses, gambling beyond one’s means, or gambling to escape stress, is an important first step toward maintaining a healthy relationship with the activity.

Responsible gaming is a shared responsibility. DegenCity aims to provide tools and information that support informed decisions, but each player is ultimately responsible for monitoring their own behaviour, time, and spending. We ask account holders to treat gambling strictly as a leisure activity, to set personal limits before playing, and to stop if play stops being enjoyable or begins to interfere with daily life, work, or relationships.

Minimum Age Requirement

DegenCity restricts account registration and play to individuals who are 18 years of age or older, or who meet the legal minimum gambling age applicable in their jurisdiction, whichever is higher. Underage gambling is strictly prohibited, and accounts found to belong to a person below the applicable minimum age will be closed, with any further action taken in line with our verification and compliance obligations. Parents, guardians, and account holders who share devices or households with minors are encouraged to use device-level parental controls and filtering software, since these tools operate independently of any single gambling platform and can help prevent underage access to gambling websites generally.

Age verification may be requested at registration, at the time of a withdrawal, or at any other point, as part of standard identity and compliance checks. This is a routine part of operating a regulated gambling service and is not a reflection of suspicion toward any individual account holder.

Player Protection Tools

DegenCity supports a number of measures that allow players to manage their activity and, where needed, step back from the platform. These tools are made available through our support channels and are applied to an account once a request has been reviewed and confirmed.

Once a self-exclusion request is approved, the associated restrictions apply immediately to the account. During an active self-exclusion period, deposits, promotional code redemption, tipping features, and gameplay are restricted, and the account cannot be reopened before the agreed period has ended, or at all in the case of permanent exclusion. Players who wish to self-exclude should contact support directly, since this is a manually reviewed process rather than an automated toggle, and our team will confirm the scope and duration of the exclusion before it is applied.

We do not reverse an approved self-exclusion at a player’s later request during the agreed exclusion period, even if that request is made shortly after the restriction was applied. This approach is intended to make the tool meaningful and to protect players from reversing a decision made during a moment of reduced self-control.

Deposit Limits and Spending Awareness

Setting a deposit limit before starting to play is one of the most effective ways to keep gambling within an affordable range. A deposit limit caps the total amount that can be added to an account within a chosen period, such as daily, weekly, or monthly, and once the limit is reached no further deposits will be accepted until the period resets. Players who wish to set, lower, or remove a deposit limit can do so by contacting support, and any request to increase a limit or remove it entirely may be subject to a short cooling-off period before it takes effect, which is a standard safeguard against impulsive decisions.

We encourage players to treat any funds deposited for gambling as already spent, rather than as an investment or a source of future income. Reviewing account history periodically, tracking deposits against a personal budget, and avoiding the use of funds intended for essential expenses are practical habits that support responsible play over time.

Recognising Signs of Problem Gambling

Problem gambling can affect anyone, regardless of income, background, or gambling experience. Common warning signs include spending more time or money on gambling than intended, borrowing money to gamble or to cover gambling losses, lying to family or friends about the extent of gambling activity, feeling anxious or irritable when not gambling, and continuing to gamble despite negative consequences to finances, relationships, or wellbeing. Chasing losses, that is, increasing bets or deposits in an attempt to recover money already lost, is a particularly common and risky pattern that players should watch for in their own behaviour.

If any of these signs feel familiar, we encourage taking a break using the cooling-off or self-exclusion tools described above, and seeking independent support from a gambling help organisation. Recognising a pattern early generally makes it easier to address, and there is no requirement to wait until gambling has caused serious harm before reaching out for help.

Independent Support and Help Organisations

Independent, confidential support is available in New Zealand for anyone affected by gambling, whether directly or through a family member’s gambling. Services such as the New Zealand Gambling Helpline and related problem gambling foundations offer free counselling, information, and self-help resources, and can be contacted independently of any gambling operator. These organisations are not affiliated with DegenCity, which allows them to provide impartial advice and support without any conflict of interest connected to the platform. We encourage players to search for these services directly, or to ask our support team for general information on where such help can be found.

Support is also often available through general health services, including general practitioners and community mental health services, which can refer individuals to specialised gambling harm services where appropriate. Family members and friends of someone affected by problem gambling can generally access support services as well, since gambling harm frequently affects people beyond the individual account holder.

Bonus Participation and Responsible Play

Bonus mechanics on DegenCity, including the welcome package structured across the first three deposits, reload bonuses, cashback, and rakeback, are governed by defined terms and conditions rather than open-ended incentives to increase spending. The welcome package, for example, is subject to a wagering requirement of 40 times the bonus amount, a maximum bet of NZ$8 while the bonus is active, a 14-day wagering timeframe, and a maximum conversion of 10 times the bonus amount, with a minimum qualifying deposit of NZ$20. These conditions exist in part to keep bonus-related play within defined, time-limited boundaries rather than as an unrestricted extension of gambling activity.

Players who have set deposit limits or who are in a self-exclusion or cooling-off period will find that bonus features, including promo code redemption, are restricted in line with those protections, since responsible gaming tools take precedence over any bonus rule. We encourage players to review bonus terms in full before opting in, and to consider whether a bonus’s wagering requirements and timeframe are consistent with their own budget and time available for play, rather than treating any bonus term as a determining factor in how much to deposit.

Account Verification and Its Role in Player Protection

Verification checks, sometimes called know-your-customer checks, are carried out as part of our compliance obligations and also serve a player protection function. Verifying identity and age helps confirm that an account belongs to an adult who meets the applicable minimum gambling age, and reviewing account activity can help identify unusual patterns that may indicate financial difficulty or shared or compromised account access. Verification may be requested at registration, before a withdrawal is processed, or at any other time, and is a routine and expected part of using a compliant gambling platform rather than an indication of wrongdoing.

Setting Personal Boundaries Before Playing

We recommend that every player decide, before depositing any funds, how much money and time they are prepared to allocate to gambling within a given period, and treat that decision as a firm limit rather than a starting point. Using the deposit limit tools described above to enforce that decision removes reliance on willpower alone during a session, and can reduce the likelihood of spending beyond what was originally planned. Taking regular breaks during longer sessions, avoiding gambling when tired, stressed, or under the influence of alcohol, and avoiding gambling as a way to cope with difficult emotions are further practical steps that support safer play over time.

It is also worth periodically reassessing whether gambling remains a purely recreational activity. If sessions are becoming longer, more frequent, or increasingly focused on recovering previous losses, this is a reasonable point to pause, use a cooling-off period, and consider whether independent support would be useful.

Contacting DegenCity About Responsible Gaming

Players who wish to apply a deposit limit, request a cooling-off period, begin a self-exclusion, or ask general questions about the tools described on this page can contact our support team, available 24 hours a day through live chat and email. Requests relating to self-exclusion and account restrictions are reviewed and applied manually rather than instantly, in order to confirm the request accurately and apply the correct scope and duration. We aim to acknowledge and act on responsible gaming requests promptly, recognising that timely action is often important to the player making the request.

Family members with concerns about a player’s account are welcome to contact support as well, though for privacy reasons we are limited in the account-specific information we can share with anyone other than the verified account holder. General information about responsible gaming tools and independent help organisations can still be provided in these circumstances.

For further information about how DegenCity operates more broadly, including licensing and company details, players can refer to our about us page. Details of the platform’s game library, including the range of pokies and live casino tables available, are set out on the relevant sections of the DegenCity website.