We book casino tables for Christmas parties across the UK, from a dozen people in a restaurant private room to a few hundred in a hotel ballroom. It's all fun money, so there's no real gambling, and the croupiers will teach anyone who hasn't played before.
Book early. Really.
December is the busiest month of the year for fun casinos, and the Fridays and Saturdays before Christmas go first. If you've got a date in mind, it's worth asking in the summer or early autumn. Weeknights in late November and early December tend to have more choice, and they can be cheaper too.
Already left it late? Still ask. Partners sometimes have a table free when you'd least expect it, and we'll tell you straight away if we can't help.
How it fits into the evening
Most Christmas parties open the tables after the main course or once dessert's cleared, and run them for two to three hours alongside the DJ. People drift between the dance floor, the bar and the tables, and the casino keeps a steady buzz going in the corner.
Some companies hand out the fun money with the crackers, so everyone finds a stack at their place setting. It's a nice little moment. Towards the end, the croupiers count up and the top players are announced, usually just before the last big push on the dance floor.
If you've got a hotel package with a set running order, send it over. The croupiers will fit round the meal and the speeches, and they'll pause for any awards so nobody's talking over the MD.
Good for people who don't drink
Not everyone wants their Christmas party to be all about the bar. A casino gives the drivers, the non drinkers and the people who'd just rather keep a clear head something proper to do. It's also a decent leveller. The new starter can beat the finance director at blackjack, and everyone enjoys that.
And for the ones who are drinking, it's a handy way to slow the pace a bit. Ten minutes at the blackjack table is ten minutes not at the bar.
Festive touches
Prizes don't need to be pricey. A hamper, a bottle of something nice or a voucher for the local pub is plenty to get people competitive. There's no need to go overboard on the rest either, but a few things work well at Christmas:
- Fun money personalised with your logo and a festive message
- Prizes wrapped and put on show near the tables all night
- A Christmas jumper rule for the croupiers, if they're game (ask us)
- A raffle style draw for the top players, done during the last hour
Shared parties and smaller teams
If you're a small team, a single roulette table is often all you need, and it keeps the cost down. For bigger parties, two or three tables (roulette, blackjack and poker is the usual mix) handles most crowds. As a rough guide, allow one table per 15 to 25 guests playing at a time.
If you're booking for a venue running its own Christmas party nights rather than for one company, that's fine too. Tell us how many guests and how many nights, and we'll see what partners can do. You'll find more on group sizes in our corporate casino nights page.
Roulette table hire
Blackjack table hire
Poker table hire