Can You Win Real Prizes at a Casino Party? | Fun Casino Hire London Guide
Can you win prizes at a casino party?
Expert advice on fun casino hire, prizes & planning in London and the South East.
(And how to do it properly without ruining the fun)
It’s a common question I get when people are planning a fun casino night – obviously guests can not win or lose real money with a fun casino, so what can they win? That’s easy to answer. Why not put up a modest prize, or two, or three? After decades working in real casinos and 18 years running Mock Vegas fun casino hire events across London and the South East, it works brilliantly.
It is a fun casino and we want it to feel like a real casino but it is illegal to play for real money because strict regulations apply – real casinos need licensed premises, licensed staff, ID checks for players and equipment tested to the highest standards. From my time working in real casinos, I can tell you that cards are inspected front and back, roulette wheels are balanced and dice are measured with precision tools. Everything is very controlled because real money is at stake.
Luckily for you, no regulations apply to a Mock Vegas fun casino night! A fun casino hire event is all about entertainment. There’s no real gambling, no financial risk and therefore no strict regulation required. The equipment is authentic in appearance, but designed to be portable and practical for venues and homes. Our focus is simple: fun, social interaction, and atmosphere.
So instead it’s a great idea to offer prizes. You can have some fun with categories, such as simply one prize for the luckiest player, or sometimes 2nd or even 3rd place, or the luckiest gent and luckiest lady for instance.
After literally hundreds of events my best advice is to offer simple, inexpensive prizes. A bottle of champagne or prosecco, a box of chocolates, perhaps a small trophy or engraved cup and winner sash that can be found on popular budget shopping websites. They are easy to organise yet fun to receive and perfect for the relaxed atmosphere.
It is tempting to offer generous prizes but it changes things. I’ve seen this first hand at a large corporate event in Mayfair. The prizes were high value so some guests became overly competitive and tried to play the system. Players even pooled winnings to increase their chances so it stopped being fun and became serious. We managed the situation, but ideally you want to avoid this in the first place.
From experience, some category ideas for prizes unfortunately do not work. Things like ‘best blackjack player’ and ‘best roulette player’ don’t work because guests move between games, which is exactly what we want them to do, but tracking who won what at which game accurately becomes nearly impossible! Also, avoid ‘the biggest loser’. It sounds fun but logically everyone starts with the same amount, so they would have lost the same amount. Potentially, if you have 100 guests and one winner, the other 99 guests lost their fun money, so that’s 99 ‘biggest loser’ prizes you will need! A better idea is to have the ’Unluckiest player’. There’s usually someone who builds up their chips to a substantial total but then decides to put it on red ‘one more time’……..but the ball lands in a black number. We can spot that player and let you know.
Remember, the goal of a fun casino night is not to ‘win at all costs’, it’s about socialising or networking, laughing and taking part. Keeping prizes low value ensures the event stays light-hearted.
How Winners Are Decided
You don’t need scoreboards or leaderboards, no spreadsheets or constant tracking. There’s no point, it can change literally every couple of minutes and nobody could keep up over the three hours! Mock Vegas professional croupiers (with real casino experience) keep an eye on big wins and big losses and the notable players. At the end we will identify your luckiest player(s) quickly.
A bottle of fizz is popular as a prize and other ideas could be a small engraved plastic trophy and winner sash, or branded company prizes at corporate events. For team events players can earn points for their team through gameplay.
My Top 3 Tips for Casino Night Prizes
Keep it simple. Stick to 1–3 prizes maximum.
Keep prizes fun and inexpensive. Champagne, chocolates, or a small trophy are perfect
Don’t forget to bring them! We can display prizes on the tables to build excitement.
So you can absolutely win real prizes at a casino-themed party but the secret isn’t the value of the prize, it’s the atmosphere Mock Vegas create.
Planning a Casino Night in London or the South East?
If you’re considering fun casino hire in London or surrounding areas, I’m happy to help you get everything just right.
