On the evening of Feb. 1, students at the University of Redlands tested their luck at the annual Casino Night. This event, put on by the Doing Activities With Great Spirit (DAWGS) group, provides the opportunity for students to learn and play casino games and win prizes.
Photo Credit: McKenzie Rose
“Everyone likes to go to Vegas for their 21st birthday, so learn now for free while you can,” DAWGS Advisor Heaven Rivera said.
Game stations were set up around Orton Center with craps, blackjack, roulette and poker. Each student received a $500 token upon entering, which they exchanged for tokens of various denominations at the game stations.
A craps station awaits action at the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night. Craps can be played by 20 people and involves players betting on the outcome of a dice roll. Photo credit: McKenzie Rose 
Several Blackjack stations are scattered around the Orton Center at the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night, open for student use. In this game, players compete against the card dealer to get as close to 21 as possible. Photo credit: McKenzie Rose 
A roulette station is one of the first games students encounter as they enter Orton Center at the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night. Roulette is played by betting on where the ball will land on the spinning wheel. Photo credit: McKenzie Rose 
An Ace High Casino Rentals worker teaches students how to play blackjack during the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night. Manager Lisa Coleson said that Ace High Casino Rentals provides free dealer training, as opposed to enrolling in specific programs or schools. Photo credit: McKenzie Rose 
Ace High Casino Rentals workers assist students in playing craps. These part-time positions do not require any experience, manager Lisa Coleson said, and they hire as young as 15. Photo credit: McKenzie Rose
Once students were ready to call it quits, they cashed in their tokens and each $100 was exchanged for a ticket. Students then placed these tickets into drawing bags corresponding to the prizes, which included a Keurig coffee machine, Poloroid camera, TCL 40” TV, Beats headphones, poker board game set, record player, Roku remote and DAWGS Casino Night poster, among others.
At 9:45 p.m., the gaming came to a halt and tickets were drawn. Among those on their a-game were students Jake Yim, Lane Eppenberger and Sean McCance. Yim won the Beats headphones, Eppenberger got the poker board game set and McCance walked away with the TV.
Jake Yim displays the Beats headphones he won at the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night. Photo credit: DAWGS Member Ella Janecek ‘27 
Lane Eppenberger holds up the poker board game set he won at the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night. Photo credit: DAWGS Member Ella Janecek ‘27 
Joined by friends, Sean McCance (center) holds up the TV he won at the Feb. 1 DAWGS Casino Night. Photo credit: DAWGS Member Ella Janecek ‘27
DAWGS partnered with Ace High Casino Rentals, a business located in Westminster, California that transports casino games and dealers to various functions. Lisa Coleson, a manager who has worked with Ace High Casino Rentals for five years, ran a roulette station where she shared some wisdom and advice with the students as they played.
“Once you win double your money, leave,” Coleson said. “Then you’ll start losing.”
Coleson said Ace High Casino Rentals has put on events at the World Poker Series, Jeff Bezos’ stepson’s 21st Birthday, the Oscar Awards, high school graduation nights and colleges like the University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California. Coleson, whose favorite game to play is poker and favorite game to deal is roulette, said she enjoys getting to meet new people and teach them how to play these games in a legal, relaxed atmosphere.
“They have a little stricter rules in Vegas and they’re watching you from a camera,” Coleson said. “We’re just doing it for fun here!”
This Casino Night also featured bingo run by DAWGS members and video games run by members of Esports in adjacent rooms. Keeping students fueled throughout the night was a delicious array of sweets like assorted cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, citrus cheesecake, vegan apple crumb cake with cinnamon streusel topping and a mini pound cake bar with toppings like cherry compote, sprinkles, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and strawberries.
Rivera said that Casino Night was started in 2018 by Social Affairs, a previous iteration of DAWGS, to encourage students to try something new and enjoy weekends safely. As for the spring timing, Rivera said this gives freshmen a chance to acclimate to college life and it kicks off the new semester on a high note.
Funding for this event comes from the DAWGS budget, which every student contributes to with the Student Activity Fee portion of tuition, giving even more reason to attend DAWGS events.
“That money is only used for things that benefit students,” Rivera said. “That’s why we have them open to the school, and we really try to encourage students to come.”
For students who are looking to become even more involved, Rivera encouraged them to attend the weekly DAWGS committee meetings. These take place on Mondays at 6 p.m. in the Student Involvement and Success Office on the second floor of Hunsaker. Rivera said students don’t have to be a DAWGS member to attend these meetings, but that they would love to expand their team.
McKenzie Rose is a freshman at Redlands with interests in Environmental Studies and Journalism. She worked for the last three years as a freelance journalist with the Hermiston Herald, a newspaper near her hometown of Echo, Oregon. She is looking forward to covering the interesting, the exciting, and the intriguing happenings at the university for the Redlands Bulldog!
