Thursday Social
The low-key weekly. Dinner à la carte, then a loose hosted game where nobody minds if you ask what beats what. Half the table will be checking too.
The back room · Happy Daydreams
Poker nights
at the Esplanade
Hosted poker in Oamaru, Thursday through Saturday. Three tables, patient dealers, and dinner before a single card leaves the shoe.
How it works
A poker night, hour by hour
The game changes week to week. The shape of the evening doesn't: eat first, play after, home before it gets silly.
5.00pm
Kitchen opens
The oven's been going since four. Most players eat in the dining room before they sit at the felt, since a hungry table folds too early and bluffs too late.
6.45pm
The host calls the list
Seats get read out, chips get sorted. Held seats are released at quarter to seven, so don't be the one texting from the car park.
7.00pm
First hand
Cards up from seven. Never played? The dealer gives you a ten-minute primer before you're expected to know anything at all.
8.30pm-ish
Table break
Stretch, order something from the bar, argue about the river card that should never have fallen. Fifteen minutes, roughly.
9.00pm
Late supper lands
After nine the kitchen switches to late plates you can eat one-handed: terrine, oysters, the cheese toastie our regulars write home about. Eat between hands, nobody minds.
11.00pm
Count and close
Chips get counted, the night's winner gets a small something from the bar, and everyone pretends they weren't keeping score the whole time.
Come as you are
No dress rehearsal, no entry quiz. If you can hold five cards and make a decision, you can play a Thursday.
Or just come for dinner
The dining room runs its own evening and plenty of guests eat without ever touching a chip. See what's cooking.
Three nights a week
Pick your pace
Same room, same dealer, three different tempos. Thursday is for learning, Friday is for unwinding, Saturday is for people who like a bracket.
Friday Open Tables
Cards after work, Oamaru style. Wander in off dinner or straight off the week: the room fills by seven and the game sorts itself out from there.
Saturday Tournament Social
The structured one. Blinds climb on a timer, dinner lands between rounds, and there's a proper prizegiving at close. Seats go a few days out.
Learner's Seat
New to poker? Take the learner's spot on a Thursday and the dealer walks you through your first hands properly: blinds, betting, when to fold and mean it.
Ask about itGot a group of eight or more? That's a whole table right there: talk to us on the contact page and we'll set one aside.
The card room
Three tables, no screens, nobody on a phone
The back room keeps its own hours. Green felt, chips with some actual weight, a dealer at each table and a host keeping the list. Poker here happens face to face, the way the game worked before apps got to it.
- A host seats you: no hovering at the rail hoping
- A dealer runs every table, every hand
- Drinks and the late menu come to your seat
- Coats, bags and outside chips wait at the door
Cards up
7pm sharp
7pm sharp
0
poker tables
0
seats at each
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nights a week
0min
intro for new players
First time?
Most of our regulars couldn't tell a flush from a full house once
Most Thursdays start with someone who's never touched a chip. The dealer runs a quick rules pass before the first hand: blinds, betting, the part where you fold and feel good about it. And the regulars stay patient with beginners, because every one of them was one.
- A proper intro before your first hand
- Play every hand or fold all night, your pace
- Folded early? The bar's about six steps away
- Nobody keeps score of your evening but you
Every poker night here is social and played in person. The longer answers sit in the FAQ below, and the story of how the room started is on the about page.
From the felt
Scenes from a Thursday
From the rail
Overheard at the tables
Came for my husband's birthday dinner and got talked into the Thursday poker game. Lost every chip, won a toastie, and now I've got a standing seat. Still haven't won a hand.
SW
Sarah W.
Oamaru
Tidiest card night I've sat at in a long while. The dealer runs a tight table and the kitchen keeps you fed.
DM
Dave M.
Waimate
We booked the learner's seat for our son's 21st. The dealer taught him, the table cheered for him, and he took me out on the last hand of the night. He's been dining out on it ever since. Great evening.
KT
Karen T.
Dunedin
Guest notes off the bookings board. Unedited, unbribed.
Questions
Asked at the door
The stuff people ring us about, mostly. Anything else, ask through the contact page.
Still unsure?
Ring us on +64 9 352 8417 and you'll get Mo or Dan — the people who actually host the poker nights.
They do. The host calls the seat list at 6.45 and the first hand goes out at seven. Running late? Ring us and we'll hold your seat through the first few hands.
Please do. Thursday is your night and the learner's seat exists for exactly this. The dealer gives you ten minutes before the first hand, and asking what beats what won't get you laughed at.
No. We're a restaurant with a social card room at the back. The poker is played between guests, in person, at a real table. Nothing online, nothing on a screen.
Yes, and you should. The kitchen's late menu runs till close: plates built to be eaten between hands. Drinks come to the table too, so you never have to leave a good seat.
Smart casual covers it. Half the room comes straight from dinner in the dining room, the other half straight from work. Nobody's checking lapels.
Yes. Three tables means 24 seats at most, and Saturdays fill a few days out. Thursdays are kinder to the spontaneous, but a booking still beats hopeful.
The fine print
Played properly, kept friendly
Poker nights here are social evenings at a restaurant, full stop. We take the rules around them seriously so you don't have to think about them.
Please note: Happy Daydreams is not an online casino or betting platform. All poker is in-person, social, and venue-based.
18+, always. Bring ID if you're lucky enough to get asked. Keep it fun: if the cards stop being fun, tell the host and take the night off. The Gambling Helpline NZ is on 0800 654 655 if you ever need it.
Thu–Sat
from 7pm
from 7pm
Plates cleared.
Cards up.
Three tables means seats go fast, Saturdays especially. Grab dinner, a poker seat, or both, and we'll keep a chair warm.
Or ring +64 9 352 8417 and talk it through with the host.