We’re not sure where the pressure for making the perfect New Year’s Eve plans came from, but we know how to plan a party, especially a theme party. A Casino Night is great for any time of the year, but we see this these parties popping up the most around the holidays, especially New Year’s Eve. What takes a party from good to great is the details so staying on point with the planning starts by getting specific with the theme. This isn’t any ol’ casino party!

Define The Event: You’ve decided on a Casino Party, now figure out exactly what that means. We’ve had fun planning casino parties that are based on a city. Vegas is the obvious choice, but the gambling capital of the world is actually Macau, China. You could put a cool twist on the night with Chinese traditions, food and more. If you go with Vegas, you could be as specific as choosing a hotel on the strip, like Caesar’s Palace or pick a movie about gambling to build your theme around. Being dialed into your theme actually brings out more creativity and ties everything together to wow your guests with your attention to detail.

Encourage Guest Participation: When you send out the invitations, provide the suggested attire for the night. If you go with a movie theme, you could be black tie with the James Bond film Casino Royale or your best tourist attire for the movie National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation. If you can offer a prize for best dressed, that shows people that you are serious about your party theme.

Pick the Appropriate Games: Obviously your budget is the biggest factor when it comes to selecting the games, but if you can hire a company, it is definitely worth it to provide that professional feel. It is a lot of work to DIY, but it is possible! If you do everything yourself, picking the National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation theme would make for a fun night. You could even have a table where people can play War like they do in the movie.

Bring In The Experts: The rental companies can help you pick the right games for the number of guests, but we find that for 50-75 people, two blackjack tables, two craps tables, one poker table and one roulette table work great. These companies usually bring along helpful tip sheets for those who might not know how to play so that everyone can enjoy the night. Another easy game to add for those who might not feel comfortable with the serious games is BINGO. Depending on your theme, this might fit in well and will allow you to include everyone in the fun.

Book Additional Entertainment: Even with all of these games, you still might have a few people who don’t want to play. This is where your music comes in. For most themes, you can go with the high energy DJ and/or live music. You could even end the night with karaoke.

Give Away Prizes: I’m sure you have some competitive friends, so when you put them in this environment they will be looking to cash in their winnings. The best way to do this is to give raffle tickets to everyone based on the amount of money won they won that night. Once everyone has cashed out, you can draw numbers to award the prizes. We also suggest giving away a prize to the person with the highest winnings.

Theme the Food: People usually expect a buffet at casino parties, so you can pick the perfect items based on your theme. This is where you can get creative!

Dazzle Them With Drinks: Drinking and gambling just go together, so you can create signature cocktails with fun names to bring it all together. In addition to having a standard bar with bartenders, you can have a server walking around with beer and wine on a tray so they don’t have to get up from their tables to get a drink. That’s the Vegas way! You can switch. those drinks to glasses of champagne when you get close to midnight for the New Year’s toast.

With so much that goes into planning a party, defining your theme will keep you on task so you don’t waste your time or energy on things that don’t make sense for the event. Make your guests part of the story for an unforgettable night as you head into 2022!

If you need some help getting started, send us a message at Marketing@rBARapp.com. We love to help people have fun! We can even bring the drinks! You can also follow us on social media and sign up for our email newsletter to get more tips right in your In Box. There we go saving you time again!