Although not everyone at Boston University is of gambling age, the School of Management’s Casino Night on Friday gave students the opportunity to play games while raising money for charities.
About 700 people attended the 14th annual Casino Night, held at Metcalf Hall, which raised about $2,000 for the Terrace Arts Project and Charity Water.
The two charities help people in low-income areas of the country get back into the world through the arts, and bring clean, drinkable water to developing nations, respectively, according to the charities’ websites.
Two hundred volunteers from 15 BU groups and funding from five organizations helped make the night possible.
The attendees tried their luck at blackjack, poker, wheel, roulette, high/low and dice tables.
Each student also received 10 raffle tickets upon entry which gave them the opportunity to win prizes.
“We have an Xbox 360 Kinect; we have a night stay at the XV Beacon Hotel, a signed picture from Jason Varitek. Those are probably our three bigger ones,” event coordinator Taylor Riley said.
Last year, 800 people attended Casino Night and Riley said SMG was expecting closer to 1,000 people this year.
“However with the ticket prices increasing 50 percent and over three feet of snow on the ground that was not the case,” Riley said.
The amount raised was also decreased from last year, but the two organizations still receive a great donation, Riley said.
“I think the biggest surprise is the attendance numbers which for the future will just need to be a balancing act between what we sell tickets for and how much we spend on everything to maximize revenue,” Riley said.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman David Bartlett went to Casino Night just for the sake of getting out and playing some blackjack. However, he said he and his roommate had their eyes on the Xbox.
CAS freshman Thue Tran worked the front table, collecting tickets. She got the call to volunteer through a Facebook message and decided to help so she could “see all the people who are going to potentially lose money.”
“Everyone’s going to be so intense, like the World Poker Tour, with their game faces and their sunglasses,” Tran said.
The room quickly filled up with people playing poker, eating from the assortment of food provided by the School of Hospitality Administration, and being entertained by DJ Kevin Wang, as well as three other performing groups throughout the night.
Many people attended for a fun night out with their friends, such as Marcus Lee, a junior in CAS, who started the night by playing blackjack.
“It’s not going good for me, I’m just running out of chips,” Lee said.
After the tables closed, the raffle began, with many hopeful recipients awaiting prizes.
“I put tickets in for the hockey puck and the Red Sox picture,” Lee said. “I’m not putting tickets in for the Xbox, because everyone’s going to go for the Xbox.”
The overall atmosphere of the night was fun and energetic, with a very relaxed attitude toward the gambling. Some students were trying to rack up chips, while others gambled without inhibition.
“It’s fake money, what’s the difference!” exclaimed a student playing poker.
Other students were lured into attendance because of the idea of gambling legally.
“We’re all babies, we’re not allowed in real casinos,” said School of Education freshman, Michelle Cruz.
Upstairs from the main floor was a 21 and up section, for which catering provided $3 beer, according to Riley.
“Most people knew each other so people were playing black and jack and poker, but also other random games that the table agreed on,” Riley said. However, according to Massachusetts laws, no prizes could be awarded in exchange for chips.
Riley thanks everyone who attended all the volunteers and sponsors, and especially the SMG Government advisers as they were there all day and night helping us set up and making sure things ran well during the evening.
“It was crazy, but necessary [to work with so many different student groups],” Riley said. “The people that were leading the groups are a great group of people to work with and they really were really to help.”
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