Blog

How to host a fun casino night (without real money)

I run Mock Vegas and I worked in real casinos for 30 years as a croupier and supervisor. In addition I have been hosting and running fun casino nights for 17 years – so decades of experience! I run fun casinos with professional croupiers with real casino experience dealing on the tables. I have organised fun casinos for birthday parties, fundraisers, corporate events, and weddings. I have run literally hundreds of casino nights.

Rather than just sell you casino games, I can advise which games will be best for your event. Some do not work well in very loud environments, such as the DJ and your music, and some are rather slow so less guests have a chance to play - I want you to get the best entertainment value from your casino night. The croupiers will explain the rules of the games and are friendly and welcoming. Depending on the game you can have eight, nine or ten players at a table and I can advise how many tables you would need over the three hours for the number of guests at your event so everyone has a chance to play.

The two games I always recommend are blackjack and roulette. They are easy games to learn and play very quickly. I have other games such as the Wheel of Fortune, Casino Stud Poker, Craps and Texas Hold'em Poker.

Some games do not work very well with loud music. Craps is a complicated game but we do simplify it and it works well at small, quieter events. Texas Hold'em Poker, such as you see on TV and films, is a slow game again played at quieter events. When Bond was playing

Le Chiffre in Casino Royale they were not shouting over Lady Gaga banging out 'Poker Face' in the background!

The usual scenario for a fun casino night is that we will arrive and set up your casino tables before guests arrive. Your guests will receive fun money, so everyone starts with the same amount. It's a competition to see who can be the luckiest with their fun money. Players can move between tables, but we ask them to cash out from each table as we need those chips on those tables. Their cashing out cheque also helps us find the prize winners. At the end of the night, we will find your luckiest player or players and inform you so they can be presented with a prize.



Often guests ask throughout the night, who is winning?! The winner will be the one with the most value in chips at the very end of the three hour casino. It will not be decided until the very last turn of a card or the last spin of the ball on the roulette table. Sometimes we can advise how a player can be the winner on the very last spin.

If you are running a fundraiser for charity, for instance, a good way to raise funds would be to ask for a donation in exchange for fun money and to give guests a good deal. For instance, if you sold one fun money note, which is worth 20 chips at the tables, for £5, but a £10 donation gets three notes worth 60 chips - much the better deal. It is a good idea to have a cashier for your collecting the funds and giving the guests the fun money to play at the tables.