Seniors know when to hold 'em at casino night

"Dealer has 21."

That's one of the worst things a gambler can hear at the Blackjack table, but Friday night, the smiles and fun didn't stop with the dealer clearing out the players' chips.

The Golden Hour Senior Center hosted a casino night to raise funds for the center.

Seniors would buy a money bag with $250 worth of casino chips for 10 real dollars. Seniors could then decide to play table games and to more chips or change their chips in for raffle tickets.

Raffle tickets could be placed in a variety of bags, which at the end of the night were drawn from for prizes.

Charlene Miller, one of five people playing Blackjack, said she enjoyed the time she spent gambling, though she wishes more people would have shown up.

Sipping on a nonalcoholic pina colada, Miller was slowly making gains at the table, thinking about going to the Texas Hold 'em table later.

"I'm enjoying it," she said.

Students from Western Wyoming Community College, representing a number of on-campus organizations, served as the dealers for many of the games.

"They asked ASG (Associated Student Government) and the clubs to volunteer," WWCC student Vanessa Hernandez said. "Volunteering is our priority."

Many of the students hadn't learned the games they would be dealing until shortly before the night started.

However, this didn't hamper the event in any way.

"(The center) has a friendly atmosphere and a lot of people have come up and explained the games," WWCC student Brandon Witherspoon said.

Card games and roulette wasn't the only thing offered that evening, many seniors sat in for several rounds of bingo as well.

The two bingo callers, WWCC students Bailey Bowen and Kelsie Garrard said they enjoyed the experience and were impressed with the center's electronic bingo-calling machine.