Tips For Your Casino Night at Home
Want to host a night to remember post lockdown? If you’re wondering how you can come back with a bang after the past year, and give your mates something to talk about, a casino night is your best bet. Every detail matters; from the cocktails to the music, it all comes together, creating the atmosphere of a professional casino. Here are some tips and tricks to start planning your classy yet fun night in, just what everybody deserves right now!
Choose Your Games
It’s best to have a few different games at your casino night, but you don’t want to overdo it. Just stick to around 3 or 4 games. The games you choose may depend on how experienced your guests are; not everybody wants to learn complicated rules while having fun at a party!
The classics are- poker, roulette and blackjack. For any poker newbies, consider handing out a cheat sheet displaying all of the poker hands. This helps to explain how the game works and is also a keepsake from the night!
You can pick up a poker table topper, but for the real deal, consider investing in a poker table. You will also need a set of poker chips. To keep things simple, stick to using about three colours. Too many colours can be hard to keep track of, especially if some guests are new to the game or had a couple of too many drinks!
You will need a roulette wheel to play roulette, but all you need is a deck of cards for blackjack! Just make sure they are of good quality. Also, a card shuffler is a great added extra to your games table to make things easier and more professional.
House Rules, NOT To Be Broken!
It’s entirely up to you to choose the house rules for your casino night, but here are a few examples:
- If you don’t want things to get too competitive, choose for no money to be involved.
- No spilled drinks on the table! (especially if you’ve invested in a poker table) If anybody spills a drink, they’re no longer allowed to drink whilst playing!
- No touching other people’s cards or chips at any time.
- Only one player to hand, no helping each other out. (Maybe don’t include this rule if some people are new to the games)
- A famously controversial rule, no sunglasses around the table.
Add Some Glitz and Glamour
To create ambience at your casino night, you want the lights down low. Create mood lighting by placing lamps around the room; remember, people need to see their cards! To make your space feel like a real casino, add some las vegas signs or neon lights.
To set the scene of a professional casino, create a red carpet into your man cave or wherever you are hosting your casino night! Your guests will feel like they’re stepping into the real deal.
You could pick a theme for the night and base your decor around this! How about a masquerade ball? Ask all your guests to wear masks. Or maybe a roaring 20s themed night, with art deco themed decor and outfits!
Buffet With A Twist
You want to avoid a sit-down meal or anything too messy. Buffet style is the best way to go; you want guests to eat as they mingle and get involved in the games!
Appetisers such as olives and cheese are great, especially on cocktail sticks, to avoid sticky fingers. Messy food like tacos and chicken wings are a no-go; you don’t want sauce all over your poker table and playing cards! Crips and dips, pizza, pretzels, and popcorn will all go down a treat.
If you want to carry on the casino theme with your food, go for black, white, and red colours. How about red peppers with cream cheese dip or black olive and tomato bruschetta? You could have cupcakes decorated with spades and hearts, get creative and have some fun with it!
Choose Your Tipple
The main thing to remember here is to make sure you have something for everyone. People have different tastes; some people drink alcohol, others don’t.
Keep things classy with whisky on the rocks and champagne for the ladies. Walking around with a martini would make everybody feel the part! If you want to push the boat out, hire a mixologist for the night! Or consider a beer tap; you won’t regret this decision. Ice cold pints at home sounds good?
Dress To Impress
As mentioned earlier, you could choose a theme for your casino night. For a roaring 20s night, think flapper dresses, feather boas and fancy suits. If you want to inject some fun and personality, let your guests take the rein and opt for fancy dress!
If you don’t fancy going for a theme, but you’d still like a dress code for your casino night, consider a black tie and cocktail dress event. Everybody will feel the part and instantly be in the mood for a great night!
Soundtrack Of The Night
Music creates atmosphere; there’s no doubt about it. To create a classy, sophisticated vibe for your casino night, go for classical music. Make a playlist of songs you know will get everybody dancing if you want the night to feel a bit more lighthearted. Consider asking all your guests to suggest songs, this way, you know everybody will enjoy the playlist!
First Impressions Count
Getting in touch via social media to let your guests know about your casino night works. Still, it doesn’t have the same effect as sending out physical invites! Sending paper invites will make your casino night feel professional. They are a great way to introduce the theme, let people know the date and time, the games they’ll be playing, what food and drinks to expect and let them know the dress code!
Hopefully, by now, you’ve already started planning your casino night to remember, time to impress all your mates! If you want any help planning your casino night at home, contact us at The Man Cave Project. We will make sure your night will be impossible to beat!
Next time you host a casino night at home, tag us in your Instagram photos @uk_mancave. We can’t wait to see what you’ve done to turn your man cave into an ambient casino!