The house rules · 1 Esplanade, Oamaru
Terms and conditions
at Happy Daydreams
These are the terms and conditions for Happy Daydreams, the restaurant and social card room at 1 Esplanade, South Hill, Oamaru. Written in plain English, because that is how we would want to read them.
Before the fine print
The short version, first
Nobody reads a terms page for fun, so here is the shape of it up front. Book a table and we hold it till 6.45pm. Come along on a poker night and you need to be 18 or over, with ID if we ask. The poker is social, hosted, and played in the room between guests. Everything further down is those same ideas said properly.
If a line here reads oddly or you want it talked through, ring us on +64 9 352 8417. A person answers the phone, and a person wrote this page, so a person can explain it.
- Bookings, running late and the 6.45 rule
- Poker nights: seats, ID and how the game runs
- Responsible play, the bar, and group hire
- The website itself, plus the legal bits at the end
plain words
Bookings
Tables, seats and the 6.45 rule
The dining room and the card room are both small enough that a booking is a promise on both sides. Keep yours and we will keep ours.
Holding your table
Booked for dinner? Your table waits till 6.45pm. After that it goes to the waiting list, because someone else always wants it.
Running late
Ring +64 9 352 8417 as soon as you know. The kitchen and the seat list both run on time, so the earlier the call, the more we can do.
No-shows
Plans change, just tell us. A quick call frees the seat for someone waiting. Repeat no-shows mean we may not be able to take the next booking.
Changing numbers
Two became six? Give us a heads-up before you arrive and we will shuffle the room to fit. A poker seat counts as a booking too, same rules.
Booking requests go through the contact page or the booking button. Nothing is confirmed until we say so back.
Card nights
Poker nights, term by term
Thursday to Saturday the back room plays hosted poker from 7pm. Sitting down means agreeing to how the room runs, so here is how the room runs.
- Poker happens Thursday to Saturday, first hand at 7pm
- Eight seats a table, a dealer at every one
- The house sets the structure and blinds; the dealer's call at the table is final
- Seats are held till 6.45pm, then the waitlist takes them
- Coats, bags and outside chips wait at the door
Strictly 18+, verified
Every poker evening is adults only. We ask for ID at the door and may request it again for anyone taking a seat at a poker table. No ID means no seat, and that part is not negotiable.
In the room, face to face
Poker at Happy Daydreams means cards on felt across from a real person. No online tables, no betting apps, nothing played on a screen.
Hosted, house-run
A host keeps the list and dealers run the tables. It is social poker played properly, with dinner first and a prizegiving on Saturdays.
The serious bit
Looking after the room
Poker nights here are social evenings at a restaurant, and we keep them that way on purpose. The guardrails below exist so the room stays friendly.
The plain version: Happy Daydreams runs no online casino and takes no bets over the internet. Every poker game happens inside the venue, between guests, at a table you can reach out and touch.
Keep it a good night. We check ID at the door and keep the right to refuse a seat. If poker stops feeling like a good evening, tell the host and step away from the table. The Gambling Helpline NZ is on 0800 654 655, free to call, any time.
The host and the dealers are there for exactly this sort of conversation.
responsibly
At the bar, and for groups
Wine, beer and taking the room
We are a licensed restaurant, and we act like one. Alcohol is served responsibly and legally every night, and we will slow things down or stop pouring if the evening calls for it. A guest who has had enough gets water, a toastie and a taxi number, in that order.
Hiring the room, or a whole poker table of eight seats, for a private night works a little differently. Dates, numbers and any food and drink arrangements get agreed in writing beforehand, so everyone knows what the evening looks like.
- Responsible service of alcohol applies all night, every night
- Private and group hires run to their own written terms, settled before the date
- Under-18s are welcome at earlier sittings; once the cards come out it is strictly 18+
For anything bigger than a family dinner, start the conversation on the contact page.
The rest of it
Website use and the legal bits
This website
Everything on this site is here to inform, and we keep it accurate as we can. Menus change with the market, evenings change with the season, and occasionally a typo slips through. If a detail matters to your night, ring us and confirm it.
Liability
Nothing on this page takes away your rights under New Zealand consumer law. Beyond that, we are not liable for things outside our control: weather, road works, the harbour doing something dramatic, or a third-party site getting our hours wrong.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the room evolves. The current version always lives on this page, and the version posted here is the one that applies to your visit.
Governing law
These terms sit under New Zealand law, and any disputes get handled there too.
Questions about any of it
Anything unclear, or anything you think we have missed, the contact page reaches one of us. There is also a privacy page covering what we do with your details.
Talk to a person
+64 9 352 8417
happydaydreams@gmail.com
1 Esplanade, South Hill,
Oamaru 9400, New Zealand
Context, in pictures
The room these terms describe
Real room, real tables. The terms above are just how we keep it running smoothly.
Come eat
Anything unclear?
Ask a person.
If a line on this page raised a question, or you want to talk through a booking or a card night, get in touch. You'll get a straight answer either way.
+64 9 352 8417 · happydaydreams@gmail.com