by On a Friday night at the University of Minnesota there’s always something to do, but there isn’t always a casino on campus.
Recently, Student Unions and Activities transformed Coffman Memorial Union into a casino for students to come and enjoy. Plus at this kind of casino you can only leave with more than what you came in with.
“Well it’s funny money, right? people show up and you just hand them fake money so it’s not like it’s your mortgage or your house payment or your college fund that is on the hook,” explained Beth Ann Henning one of the employees of the party company hired by the university to put on this event.
Students were given fake money upon entering the event which they could use to bet in games around Coffman’s Great Hall. If students win their games they are rewarded with tickets that they can use to enter a raffle for prizes.
“It’s just like chill, it’s not super high stakes just because you’re not really losing anything, and you know it’s a raffle so it’s just kinda fun to test your luck,” said sophomore Ash Smith.
So while you aren’t going to see any changes to your bank account at this kind of casino you may still win some prizes like a bob ross chia pet, candles, or a hydro flask water bottle.
Students munched on some free food and learned new games throughout the evening while also hitting the jackpot for meeting new people and having a good time.
Sophomore Katharine Strickland explained, “It’s easy to just like have conversation just like at the table while you’re playing”.
And it wasn’t just undergraduate students who were getting in on the fun, graduate student Arnav Solanki heard about the event from his friends and decided to take advantage of it.
“It’s something that’s fun and social right, and it’s something new so it allows you to break the boring loop you may have going on otherwise” said Solanki.
While the semester is coming to a close it’s not too late to join in on the events that Student Unions and Activities has planned through May, for more information on SUA events visit the SUA website.
