Posted by Sean Lukasik on Tue, Oct 06, 2009 @ 03:37 PM
If you're planning on holding a fantasy casino night, either as a fundraiser or social event, there are plenty of cheap ways to "do it right."
- Put together a mix of popular lounge music to rotate throughout the evening. If you are planning on having a DJ, request some artists like Michael Buble, Norah Jones, and Frank Sinatra.
- Dim the lights just enough to create the right mood. You don't have to order anything special - although white holiday lights could also go a long way!
- Ask some volunteers to be your cocktail waiters and waitresses. This could be fun, even if you're only serving pretzels and punch.
- Decorate the room with flashy, but cheap, accessories. It's easy to find garland, mardi gras beads, plastic masks, and more at your local party store. Tell them what you're doing and what your budget is and they might be able to put together a nice package for the evening.
For more tips and fantasy casino information, visit
BobbyK.com/fantasy-casino-index-page.
Posted by Sean Lukasik on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 @ 02:40 PM
If you've run a Fantasy Casino or casino night party before, you know there are some organizational skills required to keep the event running smoothly. Here are some "prize-winning" ideas (no, really... they're ideas for awarding prizes) to help take some of the thought out of event planning and give you more time for creativity!
Top Winners
Award prizes to the top 3-10 finishers in order of money won. Prizes can be simple and local businesses are often supportive in donating them.
Auctions
Give everyone a chance to walk away with something at the end - allow participants to bid on prizes with the money they have won.
Raffle Tickets
Raffle off prizes at the end of the night. Sell raffle tickets to participants for $1,000 to 5,000 each. If someone doesn’t want to participate in the casino, they can still buy tickets with the starting money. If a participant gambles and wins a lot of money, they will obviously get more raffle tickets.
Chinese Auction
Same as above, but participants put their tickets in a different raffle bin in front of each prize. Each winner is then drawn from respective prize bins.
Combinations
Perhaps the top three money-winners get the "big prizes," and everyone else is allowed to compete through raffles or auctions.
NOTE – Sometimes it is important to enforce a “win only once” rule to truly give everyone a chance!
For more suggestions and ideas, visit the Fantasy Casino page at BobbyK.com.
Posted by Bob Kramarik on Tue, May 19, 2009 @ 07:52 PM
Fantasy casino can be a fun part of a fundraising event when incorporated as the entertainment component. NYS law frowns upon events that are strictly fantasy casino and does not allow for additional purchase of chips at events.
The structure of your event should be as follows:
- Your event should incorporate other entertainment (band, dj, music) along with appetizers or a meal. Some groups include an open bar.
- The event should be upscale, low ticket prices seldom result in profits for your group.
- For each ticket purchased, your patron receives $5,000 in play money to use at various casino tables. We can help you choose the appropriate mix of tables. Fantasy Casinos usually last two to three hours. The event may last longer.
- Companies can provide dealers for your event, but you can also use "volunteer celebrity" dealers to increase your crowd size and minimize your expenses. Most dealers can be trained in 15-30 minutes and pit bosses can supervise the dealers during the casino.
- Prizes for the Casino do not have to be extravagant. People look to have fun but do want to be rewarded for winning. There are several ways to award prizes, the most common method is to "sell" one raffle ticket to the winners for each "$5,000" in play money they have at the end. You may want to allow winners to only win one prize and purchase no more than ten tickets with their winnings. You may also get the prizes donated, saving even more money on your expenses.
Another way to defray expenses is to sell sponsorships of each table (amounts from $50 to $150 are common, it depends on your sponsor base). This is similar to selling tee signs for golf tournaments. You can also sell event sponsorships or sponsor the prizes. Your creativity is the only limitation. In fact, you can custom print the play money with your logo and that of a sponsor.
For more information, contact Bobby K Entertainment @ www.bobbykcasinos.com.
Posted by Bob Kramarik on Tue, May 19, 2009 @ 06:46 PM
When planning a fantasy casino, one of the most important considerations is how to award prizes so everyone has fun and feels they are fairly distributed. Here are some of the methods we have used with success and the pitfalls associated with the method:
TOP WINNERS - Award prizes to the top 3-10 finishers in order of money won. (Pitfall - sometimes people pool their money to win top prizes)
AUCTION - Have participants bid on prizes with the money they have won. (Pitfall - sometimes people pool their money to bid on top prizes)
RAFFLE TICKETS - Sell raffle tickets to participants for $1,000 to $5,000 each (sometimes the fewer the better). If someone doesn't want to participate in the casino, they can still buy five tickets with the $5,000 starting money. If a participant wins a lot of money, they get more raffle tickets. Tickets are done to award prizes. Participants may win only one time. It is sometimes convenient to limit the number of tickets someone can win to 10 or 20 (imagine counting out $350,000 worth of tickets, and yes, that sometimes happens).
CHINESE AUCTION - Same as above, but participants put their tickets in a different raffle bin in front of each prize. Each prize is then drawn for from only its raffle bin.
COMBINATIONS - Some popular combinations have the top three finishers winning the grand prizes and then other's participating through a Raffle or Chinese Auction.
NOTE - Sometimes it is important to enforce a "win only one time" rule so one participant does not win too many prizes. It helps to collect the tickets they have left over so they cannot get someone else to win prizes for them.
Bob Kramarik,
bob@bobbyk.com
www.bobbyk.com them.