Casino Themed Party Ideas
Casino themed parties are a great way to mark a big occasion with everyone able to get involved in the thrills and spills of gambling even if you aren’t a regular visitor to the big casinos in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Casino parties are a perfect choice when it comes to celebrating a big birthday or providing a fun and engaging focal point for a bachelor or bachelorette party.
They are a strong option for a fundraiser or charity event as you could use all the money taken by “the house” and put it towards your chosen cause. In this article, we are going to take a look at some casino themed party ideas to inspire you to implement them at home or on a grander scale at a bigger venue as well as the best casino party games for your guests to play.
Casino Party Ideas at Home
You don’t have to rent a big venue to have a fun casino party, it is possible to transform your own home into a sophisticated casino area. In this section, we will look at some great casino themed party ideas at home to wow your guests in your own space.
Invitations
For an extra slice of glamor, you can’t beat a printed invitation that you can send out to guests. Stir some excitement around your upcoming casino party and get people in the mood with designs involving cards, dice, and more. We love the idea of personalized poker chips coming with the invitations that could be used for guests when they get to your gaming areas. There’s a huge range of options for themed invitations to choose from such as James Bond 007, the Great Gatsby, classic Las Vegas, Alice in Wonderland, and more.
Casino Themes
We’ve just touched on themes when it comes to invitations, but you could implement a specific casino night theme party overall. Everyone’s favorite spy James Bond makes for an excellent casino night theme option with the men trying to replicate Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, and Daniel Craig by wearing fancy tuxedos and the women following in the footsteps of famous Bond girls over the years like Halle Berry, Eva Green, and Berenice Marlohe with glamorous long cocktail dresses and plenty of sequins. You could even suggest that those who don’t fancy glitz and glamor opt for a James Bond fancy dress style costume with brilliant options from films like Oddjob, Jaws, and Dr No. Of course, you will have to serve Bond’s favorite drink – Martini, shaken not stirred.
Another fun casino party theme is the roaring 20s and while champagne towers with bubbly pouring down them might not be the best of casino party ideas at home, you could dim the lighting to replicate a prohibition feel, play music from that period, and offer classic bites like prawn cocktail and classic cocktails like whiskey sours. Women can accessorize their outfits with over-the-top pearls and feathers, while men could add fedoras and suspenders to their garms.
A classic Las Vegas casino party might have a big ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada’ sign upon entry or a giant balloon arch as well as oversized playing cards and poker chips. You could have imagery of renowned casino hotels on the Strip in Sin City, neon signs, rope lights or put down a red carpet to make every attendee feel like a high roller. Other funky ideas include retro 80s, tropical Hawaiian island or Hollywood themes.
Color Schemes and Decorations
Black, red, and white are your classic casino colors so you could choose to adorn your space with mainly these to keep a consistent feel. There are an array of choices when it comes to decorations with playing cards and dice likely to feature heavily in the form of balloons, giant inflatables, and signage.
Drinks and Snacks
Gambling is hungry work so make sure you have a good plan for food and drinks to keep your visitors fuelled for a fun evening of games. Prosecco or champagne would be a delightful way to greet people as they arrive, with a glass of fizz adding that sparkly touch of elegance to pave the way for the night ahead. A selection of cocktails is sure to go down well, we’ve already mentioned a Martini and you could also offer your guests the option to have it shaken or stirred as a bit of a talking point. Other classic choices include Margarita, Old Fashioned, and even Sex on the Beach.
When it comes to food it’s probably a better idea to have small appetizers and finger food instead of a sit-down dinner. You’ll want your guests to be able to mingle with each other and take on the different casino games available so it would be a distraction to serve a three-course meal. Sophisticated appetizers would be a good route to choose and you can either prepare these yourselves beforehand or hire catering staff to take care of all that.
Dress Code
As we’ve already discussed, a dress code will depend on what you want your casino night theme party to feel like. A casino party is a great chance for your guests to wear their most glamorous suits and dresses, but you might also prefer a more casual theme. Fancy dress is an option but may mean there’s too much going on with all the games too. If you do opt for a specific dress code, be sure to make your guests aware of it with plenty of time before your event, ideally included in the invitations you send out so they have ample opportunity to find the right outfit.
Photo Booth
These are an easy way to get your guests to bond and have some fun away from the casino tables. You should be able to rent a photo booth from an events company or you could even set up your own station with a themed backdrop and your own instant-print camera. Make sure you have some good casino props here to be included in shots and let your guests have a chance at playing the photographer if they want.
Suitable Soundtrack
You’ll want some suitable music to go with everything else at your party so do some research into the best tracks for your theme. A James Bond theme is an easy winner as you can pick from all the 007 movie soundtracks from down the years, while classic jazz or even some rock and roll wouldn’t go amiss to getting your guests in the mood.
Other Casino Themed Party Ideas
If you don’t fancy hosting at your own home or you want to wow your guests with a big exciting venue, then there are a host of other casino themed party ideas available to you.
Venue Choices
Picking a hotel could instantly transport your guests to Las Vegas or Atlantic City with hotel ballrooms a perfect space for a casino party. Their open-plan layout encourages mingling and there will be specific areas for food and drink. Bars are another solid choice of casino party venue, but you could use restaurants, event halls, community spaces and more. Getting some help with your party from event planners is another option if you are pushing the boat out.
Drink Servers
To replicate the feel of a genuine casino floor we highly recommend having drink servers handing out beverages to your guests. This will add an elevated feel to proceedings and will allow the games to run smoothly with people having drinks brought to their seats.
Live Entertainers
This is for those who are really trying to add extra excitement to your casino night theme party – how about live musicians or magicians? An Elvis Presley impersonator carries that classic Vegas feel, while magicians tie into the playing card angle. These may add to the cost but they will definitely provide more entertainment for your guests.
Casino Themed Party Games
When it comes to casino themed party games there are lots to choose from, evoking the excitement that comes with gambling on the casino floor. Here we will take a look at each casino game in more detail.
Poker
Poker requires strategy as well as luck for you to win, with the most important facet for players to understand being the hand rankings. At your poker table it is a good idea to leave printouts of the hand rankings around for your players to read and familiarize themselves with. Texas Hold’Em is a favorite for social play as it is a fairly straightforward game where players are dealt two cards face down and then five community cards on the table face up across three stages. You’re aiming to make the best five-card hand possible with the total of seven cards at your disposal. Someone will need to be the dealer and manage the game.
Blackjack
Blackjack is a great party game option as the premise is simple – players aim to beat the dealer by getting as close to 21 as possible with the value of your hand without going bust. Again you will need a dealer to run the game but could have seats for multiple players at once. Players will get two cards face up to begin with and can choose to “hit” and receive another card or “stand” and keep their hand as it is.
Roulette
Roulette is a unique game that does not require any skill to play and therefore will be easy to encourage people to try at your party. The roulette table has options for numbers 1-36 as well as zero (0) and double zero (0) for American Roulette and a host of other bet types. You may need a confident croupier who is able to explain how to play to people if they need help, but the aim of the game is actually nice and simple.
You bet on where you think the small white ball will land after it has been spun in the roulette wheel. This game is perfect for creating a fun atmosphere and you can have absolute beginners and those who regularly play online roulette or at roulette tables in the casino playing together. You should be able to easily rent or buy a roulette wheel and table felt beforehand and you could even switch out the bet chips for shots and play shot roulette!
Slots
Slot games are probably the most recognizable element of casinos and you could look into renting one for your event or just set up some virtual slot machines for players to play on your laptop or tablet devices.
Craps
Not everyone will be familiar with craps but it is a fun game for larger groups so therefore may be a good choice for your party. The aim of the game is to correctly predict the numbers that will be rolled by a pair of dice, with players either placing bets on the ‘Pass’ or ‘Don’t Pass’ line. You will need a knowledgeable croupier to keep things organized and run the game.