My trip to Las Vegas: Inside ACE’s Casino Night
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As the clock approached 9 p.m. last Friday, I followed groups of well-dressed students on their way to Las Vegas. Well, sort of.
These students were headed to the third annual Casino Night in Dodd House, hosted by All Campus Entertainment (ACE) on Mar. 1. This year, the event was themed “Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!” Students tried their luck at gambling tables throughout Dodd Living Room and the Gibson Room. At the event, ACE provided snacks, non-alcoholic beverages, live music, a photobooth, and an Elvis impersonator. Donning my nicest sweater — do they wear sweaters in Vegas? — I spoke to students, members of ACE, and the legendary Elvis Presley as they rolled the dice in Sin City.
Upon entering Dodd Living Room, I was greeted by a game of craps to my left and roulette to my right. Four tables in the middle of the room hosted rounds of blackjack. Students played Texas Hold ’em in the Gibson Room (much to my dismay, it was not Beyoncé’s new song).
Near the blackjack tables, Kurt Oelschlager ’24 expressed his excitement about the ACE event as an experienced — but unlucky — attendee. “I’m loving Casino Night,” he said. “I [came] last year, played a lot of poker, and lost a lot of fake money. I’m about to get my chips.”
Students signed up for the event ahead of time to reserve game chips. According to Will Ding ’24, former co-president and current member of the ACE executive board, the 175 available spots filled up quickly. “We were really excited about that,” he told the Record. “It really is an event that people look forward to.”
ACE members welcomed students who did not reserve chips by adding them to a waitlist upon arrival. Given my inability to play any card game successfully, I opted out of the waitlist and enjoyed the refreshments and live music. Ashrita Iyengar ’24 also embraced the role of spectator but admitted that the night is more exciting with chips. “I am just here for the vibes, but I think it’s more fun when you know someone who has chips,” she said. “It is very gambling-centric.”
“As someone without chips, it’s still fun to watch other people gamble,” Iyengar added.
Ding helped plan the first Casino Night in 2022. “It was the first year after [COVID-19] and, from our perception, a lot of institutional history had been lost,” he said. ACE introduced Casino Night to revive this sense of community and to bring a new, fun evening to the College. They hired the company Party People Inc. to bring the tables and brought in catering from Olde Forge Restaurant.
According to Ding, students responded enthusiastically to the first Casino Night, and ACE quickly made the event a new campus tradition. “We’ve brought it back every year because it is one of people’s favorite events,” he said.
Emma Hennessy ’26 echoed this sentiment while watching a game of roulette. “Casino Night is a cherished Williams tradition,” she said. “I love ACE events. Everyone who staffs [the events] is always so much fun and they’re so into it, so they should totally do more.”
Each student receives the equivalent of $3,000 dollars in chips. If, at the end of the night, they place among the top 25 players, they were eligible for a prize. “To make [Casino Night]inclusive, it’s not actual money, but there are some prizes on the line,” Ding said. These prizes included Beats headphones, a gift card to any Spring Street establishment, a projector, a speaker, a blanket, and a poker set, naturally.
Oelschlager has little experience gambling but seemed hopeful for the night ahead. “I’m looking for an ego boost, so I think the way I’m going to get there is by winning a lot of fake money and then telling other people in this room that I made a lot of fake money,” he said.
Most students embraced the glamor of Vegas by dressing in their best attire. While watching a game of blackjack, I noticed a group of students wearing the same shirt: a collared, blue button-down with dice as its design. Proclaiming themselves “The Dice Boys,” the group is composed of members of the men’s cross country and track and field teams.
Henry Alexander ’27 — a member of the gambling group, as well as men’s cross country and men’s track and field — revealed that the shirt did not provide any advantages to his performance. “It’s been rough,” he said. “I came in without any money, I was given some money, I lost all that money. But I was given this very beautiful shirt, and I am very grateful for that.”
While talking with Jinwoo Kang ’24 — another member of The Dice Boys, as well as co-captain of men’s track and field and a member of men’s cross country — I realized that the blue shirt may bring bad luck to the wearer. “I put it all on red, and I lost it,” he said.
Despite their defeats, both Alexander and Kang both said that theyappreciated the evening. “I’m enjoying it,” Alexander said. “It’s exceeding my expectations.”
“It’s cool and a lot more crowded than I expected,” Kang quipped. “Hopefully I can get chips from some of my friends and put it all on red again.”
On the periphery of the playing tables, red and white decor adorned Dodd House, with playing cards as a thematic motif on posters and streamers. I saw students pose with props in front of a banner that read “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada” while grabbing myself a Shirley Temple. (Don’t worry, I posed too.) According to Ding, students in ACE decorated Dodd Living Room themselves.
Kaan Coffin ’26, a member of ACE board, commended his colleagues’ planning. “Super regimented, super organized — everybody knows what they are doing,” he said.
Coffin took his responsibilities further by assuming the role of Elvis Presley for the night. Advertised on Daily Messages as “the real Elvis,” he greeted guests at the door and smiled with them for pictures — myself included. “But I can’t help falling in love with you,” he sang into my recording phone.
“Blue suede shoes,” he added. He repeated this phrase several times, regardless of the question.
Although Coffin — I mean, Presley — serenaded me with his voice, a group of jazz players held down the musical ambiance as dealers dolled out cards and broke attendees’ hearts. The band consisted of Avery Allen ’27 on the keyboard, Sachin Kirtane ’26 tapping the drums, Josh Lipp ’24 strumming the guitar, Will Royce ’24 shredding the bass, and Adithya Vaidhyan ’24 showing off onthe saxophone. Although they are not an official band, when asked to explain the relationship, Vaidhyan described the group as “the Avengers of jazz.”
Using their musical superpowers, the band members took requests and flawlessly launched into bluesy renditions of pop songs. My friends and I requested “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, obviously.
Vaidhyan said he was happy to see students dancing and enjoying the music. He hopes for more paid opportunities like Casino Night for student-musicians on campus, he said. “Historically, ACE has been the best vehicle — one of the only vehicles — [for student-musicians], but it would be great for others to follow suit,” he said.
For the third year, members of club volleyball worked as dealers. Allison Geis ’24, co-captain of co-ed club volleyball and captain of women’s club volleyball, wrote in an email to the Record that about 16 people worked. “We get paid a nice amount of money to go towards club expenses … mainly [to] help our men’s club team who are going to nationals in Kansas City soon,” she wrote.
“I loved working the event with my team,” she added. “It’s basically a tradition now.”
Sally Neugarten ’26 attended last year’s Casino Night and eagerly awaited Friday night. “It’s nice to see everyone come together and just have fun,” she said. “I think [ACE] did a really good job planning, and it’s nice that so many people are showing up, dressing up, and caring for [it].”
For Coffin, Casino Night made a lasting impression. “I think my normal self has been completely lost,” he said. “I am only Elvis.”
As for me, I plan to book “the Avengers of jazz” for my future wedding. It’s the least I can do after forcing my friends to hear my saxophone impression as we left the event around midnight. Viva Las Vegas.
