The 2025 rendition of Casino Night took the Golden Grizzlies on a tour around the Caribbean and aboard a luxurious cruise field with poker games, mocktails and circus performers.
Oakland University students abandoned their heavy winter coats for Hawaiian shirts and straw hats to compete in casino games with a chance at winning a PS5, a 50” TV and many other prizes.
“It was a lot of fun. I met lots of new people and I’m just waiting for my price,” Cristina Delgado, a marketing student, said after hours playing blackjack. “It’s my second time at Casino Night and I think this year they had cooler stuff like the live music.”
The Oakland Center’s Winter Garden transformed into a seaside foyer where students could chat at the foot of a live band playing Caribbean renditions of pop classics. The saxophone and steel pan drums stood out as the emblematic symphonies of the night.
“The jazz singer upstairs is also good,” Owen Bricker, a mechanical engineering student, said. “I also think the mocktails are an improvement over the oxygen bar from last year.”
A common theme among recurrent attendees of Casino Night was the improvement in themed attractions, highlighting the new spa room installed in the Gold Rooms, balloon-twisting and even a Magic show at The Habitat.
Classic attractions also made a comeback from last year’s Hollywood theme — caricatures, theme photo opt and name-printing art. However, the bingo hall was not offered at the cruise, so some students pitched game ideas for future occasions.
“They could have UNO, winner takes all, no limits but you have limited time, like the second half of the night,” Bricker said. “That could be fun because you got the staple of the gambling games but having a bit more variety could also be cool.”
Thus, the hallways of the main and second floors were brought to life with artists performing juggling competitions, balance shows, monocycle performances, gymnastic acts and other acrobatics shows.
The second floor of the OC housed the jazz lounge and casino tables with a dim atmosphere accompanied by a WXOU-curated playlist for the poker faces and high rollers of the night.
From 7 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. OU students tried their luck at poker, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and craps to win chips and later trade them for tickets into the 23 different prize draws including a Goff Jersey, mini fridge, an air fryer and Bose headphones, among others.
“Honestly, I had one ticket, and I was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna go in for the TV, that’s the only thing I need,’” Aman Kaqvi, a psychology and communications senior, said after winning the 50” TV. “As soon as they called the number, I looked, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute.’ I had to re-hear the number again and I popped up — greatest feeling.”
The next biggest prize was a brand new PS5, won by Gibson Penrose, a mechanical engineering student. What took Kaqvi one ticket to win, required 42 tickets from Penrose and three other friends.
“We all combined it on the PS5, these are all my boys’ efforts,” Penrose said, PS5 in hand and embraced by his friends. “We all came in together and we won this, and last year we did the same with the mini fridge.”
Two hours worth of roulette and blackjack paid off for the team that won the latest generation console.
“It was just straight-up good cards, I hit blackjack, and just kept hitting,” Michael Masser, Penrose’s friend, said. “Every time you know, they have a 21 when you hit a Delta 10 or an ace, you double down — that is how you win a PS5.”
15 past midnight, the SPB cruise arrived back at OU, after delighting students with strawberry shortcake shooters and Cuban black beans and rice for dinner. A staple of OU character, Casino Night, once again, brought out the passion and enjoyment of the Golden Grizzlies during another winter semester.
