If you’ve ever wanted to try your luck at casino table games without risking your paycheque, an upcoming Chamber of Commerce event has you covered.
The chamber is holding its inaugural mock casino night on Sept. 14, and it will be just like the real thing, without the risk or reward of losing or winning millions.
While the casino is listed as a sponsor, the event isn’t about promoting gambling, CEO Elise Hildebrandt said.
“It’s a way to have a little bit of fun,” she said.
“We were looking for a way to kick off our beginning of the year and wanted to find a way to take our chamber members and try to get them to introduce to young professionals in the community; and the other direction too, introducing the young professionals to our business owners in the hopes that we can start building some of the relationships.”
Since it’s not a real casino, admission covers the cost of food. Those in attendance will get a free set of chips and the opportunity to play at 13 tables. If you lose all of your chips, go back and practice and play again. At the end of the evening, a live auctioneer is going to auction off a set of mystery boxes.
“There is no actual money being gambled,” Hildebrandt said. “We just need enough to cover the scholarship and the cost of our food. No one is going to walk out winning a million. You might win a box full of popcorn, or you could win one of the more serious gifts.”
The scholarship is one distributed by the chamber to Saskatchewan Polytechnic each year for a business student. The chamber also raises money for the scholarship through the Chairman’s Night silent auction.
The table games will be manned by volunteers, including members of the Prince Albert Young Professionals, a local networking group. Volunteers will be trained by Northern Lights Casino in a three-hour session how to play and deal the games featured at casino night.
While those games are the focus of the evening, the event will also feature tables where people can just sit down and chat, as well as appetizers and a bit of a dance floor. The idea for the evening is the brainchild of the chamber’s board of directors.
“When I came on board, they said ‘hey, we want to try something new. We want to find a way to bring in the younger professionals,’” Hildebrandt said.
“ ‘We have come up with the idea of this event, can you put it together?’”
While the event is only a few weeks away, Hildebrandt said it’s not too late to help out. The chamber is still looking for sponsors to donate and volunteers to run the games.
For more information or to register, visit princealbertchamber.com or call 306-764-6222. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., games start at 8 and go until 11. The live auction is set for 11:15 p.m. Tickets are $25 for students, $30 for chamber members and $40 for non-chamber members. You must be at least 19 years old to attend.
