Upon entering the lovely Gigi’s – the latest fab spot on the hill had been magnificently transformed into nothing short of the Bellagio – attendees were handed a playing card with the mission of finding four other folks within the house to make up a winning hand. A great way to meet and greet whilst all worked the room in search of four of a kind (or at least a couple of pair) and the winning hand was made up of five lucky punters who managed to meet and greet each other with A Royal Flush!

Gamblers rolled their sleeves up at the tables where some tried their luck on Black Jack, whilst others placed inside bets on Roulette. As for me (why spend a fortune on a white frock when a perfectly good table cloth will do)… I placed all bets at the Lady Luck table where we were definitely not playing Stud Poker but our dealer was definitely a stud! All bets and shirts were off when we ladies upped the ante and pooled our luck to trump the dealer. Our charming croupier – the lovely Graham of the WEP crew - had no choice but to honor his bet & get his kit off for us lucky lady gamblers.  (And here I was thinking that the term ‘stripping’ was a shuffling technique!)

The High Rollers played their hand in the Texas Hold’em Tournament - a game apparently for the serious ‘Card Sharps’ - that ended in a bit of a showdown between Nada Critchlow and Mark Hetherington. With some unbelievable luck in his cards, Mark (no… I did NOT say the cards were ‘Marked’) triumphantly took the 2009 title and donned the resplendent red Casino Royale Blazer. No doubt you will see him proudly strutting his stuff around the village in his newly coveted winner’s coat (more than likely teamed with his gold glittered glasses).

At the end of the evening two ladies with all the luck both had their eyes on the prize for holding the most chips at Midnight but ultimately our lovely Leanne Foster’s chips were down and Julia Kinder happily skied off into the White Night on her new Elan twin tips.

Thank you to all who attended, sponsored and who helped make this Big White Community School fundraiser, White Night Casino, a great night. Congrats to all the winners! Mark – looking forward to seeing you defend your title next year. Don’t get too warm in the winner’s coat... I hear there’s a few jilted high rollers keen to strip you of that striking red blazer!