Raffles
How the chips turn into prizes.
Nobody bets money at our tables. Chips come back as raffle tickets at the end of the night, and those go toward prizes you picked out yourself. Here’s how hosts actually run it.
How it works
- How does the raffle work?
Your guests play with chips all night. At the end they turn those chips in for raffle tickets, and the tickets go toward prizes you’ve chosen and brought along. The better someone’s night went at the tables, the more tickets they’re holding when the drawing comes around.
- Who supplies the prizes?
You do. They’re your prizes, picked for your guests, which is why they land better than anything we could bring. Gift cards, a hotel night, restaurant vouchers, something donated by a business you work with. We handle the chips and the tickets.
- Do we have to run a raffle?
No. Some hosts put up a single prize for the biggest stack and leave it there. Some finish on bragging rights alone. Raffle tickets come with your booking either way, so you can decide late.
- What’s included?
Tables, dealers, chips and raffle tickets, all in the one payment. You bring the prizes and decide how the drawing runs.
Money and chips
- Can guests bet real money?
No, and not in a technical, look-the-other-way sense either. Utah law prohibits gambling and we don’t work around it. Nothing is wagered at a table, nothing is won or lost at a table, and there is no cashing out. The games are real and so are the dealers. The stakes are the made-up part.
- Can guests buy chips?
No. Chips aren’t sold. They’re handed out, they have no cash value, and they can’t be turned back into money at any point in the night. If someone busts out early the dealer stakes them again. That’s the advantage of a night where none of it is real.
- Then what is money used for?
Getting in the door, and buying raffle tickets if you decide to sell them. Both of those are yours to run, and neither happens at a table. The casino floor sits outside the money entirely.
- Can someone win a prize at a table?
Not at a table, no. Winning a hand gets you chips. Prizes only come out of the raffle at the end, from the pile you brought.
- What happens to the chips at the end?
Guests trade them in for tickets, and then they come back to us. There’s nothing to cash in, and nobody leaves with anything but a prize you put up.
Running the drawing
- How many prizes should we put up?
Several good ones beats one big one. A single grand prize means one delighted guest and a room full of spectators. Five or six worthwhile prizes keeps everybody listening while the numbers get read out.
- When should we draw?
At the end, once the tables close — and announce the time early in the night. It’s the most reliable way we know to keep a room together at the end of a party.
- Who runs the drawing?
You do, or whoever you’ve got on the microphone. Our dealers run the tables; the drawing is your moment. We’ll close the floor at whatever time you set so nobody’s mid-hand when it starts.
- How many tickets will we need?
It depends how generous the tables have been and how long you play. Tell us your headcount and how long you want the floor open, and we’ll bring plenty. Running out is the one thing that spoils it.
- Can we use the raffle to raise money?
It’s the most common reason hosts run one. How you structure it — admission, selling tickets, sponsor-donated prizes — is your call, and worth checking against your own situation before you commit to it.
Planning the raffle around your event? Tell us how you want to run it and we’ll set the floor up to suit.
Give the night an ending.
Tables, dealers, chips and raffle tickets in one payment. Tell us the date and we’ll put a bid together.