Who says you need to buy a plane ticket to Las Vegas to live the high-roller lifestyle for an evening? Throwing a casino night event can be a fantastic way to bring some of that Nevada glitz and glamour to your hometown, complete with games, drinks and silver-tray appetizers.
Whether it’s a corporate team-building event or community fundraiser, casino nights help rally people around a common goal. However, before you go booking blackjack dealers, there are a few things you need to consider.
In the lead-up to your event, planning will be the ace up your sleeve. Here’s how to coordinate, craft and execute the perfect casino night.
Get Your Licenses, Certifications and Approvals in Order
Most states have strict regulations surrounding gambling and alcohol service. Typically, you need pre-approval for controlled games, a daily alcohol service license, and certified alcohol servers working the event.
Let’s use the state of California as an example. The Bureau of Gambling Control of the Department of Justice requires casino nights to apply for pre-approval – which shouldn’t be too challenging, especially if your casino night is a fundraising event.
Next, you will need to ensure your venue has the proper alcohol serving license through the Alcohol Beverage Control, which permits the service of beer, wine and distilled spirits.
Finally, you need to ensure that whoever’s serving the alcohol has completed RBS training and certification in California and passed the ABC exam. RBS, or Responsible Beverage Service, training is required for all servers and managers of servers in the state and is readily available. (Training through Userve takes a matter of hours and costs under $20.)
Choose the Right Venue
Truthfully, the “right” venue is whatever venue is large enough – and available enough – to host your event. If you plan on decorating with lights, rented game machines and other electronics, ensure that your venue meets your power requirements (the last thing you want is to blow a fuse mid-event). Alternatively, you can rent a power generator for the evening.
Get Glitzy with the Decorations
A casino night should convey opulence, luxury and excitement. String lights are a fantastic way to add flair to an otherwise empty room. Metallic-coloured decorations, like gold and silver pennants, streamers and napkins, help evoke the glamour of the Las Vegas strip. Alternately, go for a black-and-red motif to match the card suits at your tables.
Lastly – and this is an essential requirement – roll out the red carpet, so guests feel like they’re getting the VIP experience.
Make Creative Invitations
Your invitations don’t just serve as RSVPs, but as marketing tools as well; at their best, they entice prospective guests with a bit of wit and charm.
Mock up invitations that look like playing cards. Or create invitations that look like a plane ticket to Vegas, complete with the guest’s name in the “passenger” field of the ticket, and the time of the event in the “departure” field. Or, if you aren’t that proficient with graphic design software, you can find several free casino night invitation templates online.
With your certifications in order, your red carpet rolled, and your venue ready to receive guests, you can sit back and enjoy the evening – comfortable in the knowledge that whichever way the dice rolls, you’ve already won.
