The Student Programming Board at Southern Utah University hosted their semesterly-held Casino Night on March 19. This time, the theme of the night was Star Wars, allowing students to dress up in formal apparel or even costumes.
“The best part of the night was seeing everyone all dressed up,” one student said. “It’s fun to see what my friends wore tonight.”
Event planners worked with Common Cents Casino Parties to bring in over 50 blackjack, craps, Texas hold ‘em and roulette tables into the Sharwan Smith Student Center for students to play at. The dealers were mostly student volunteers and they were happy to teach the games to anyone who needed help.
“It’s just a fun way to play all the different games, try them all out with no stakes attached. You can just throw whatever you want in,” one student attending said. “It’s like, I don’t know what I’m doing but I’m going to try it out. I’m not actually gambling so even if I lose, it’s still worth a shot.”
For students who did not want to play the typical casino games, bingo was set up in both the Church Auditorium and Theater. Instead of prizes, bingo winners won chips which they could trade in at the end of the night for raffle tickets.
“I thought the mocktail bar was really cool,” said sophomore Patience Beh. “They even had blue milk — better than the stuff at Disneyland!”
Luck in the games went up and down throughout the night, culminating in a drawing for Star Wars-themed prizes, a TV and a record player. One student, Kam Schmitt, raised his lightsaber and cheered when he won a Darth Vader LEGO set.
“I can’t believe I won,” Schmitt said. “My little brother is going to be so jealous.”
For more information on upcoming SPB events, visit their events calendar.
Story and photos by: McKayla Olsen