Grab a deck of cards and dice and get ready to play this Vegas gift exchange game! This fun game incorporates elements of black jack and craps to determine if you steal, pass, or freeze the gifts! It’s a great game option for an office Christmas party, adult Christmas party, or even with the family with a few simple adjustments! No gambling involved, just a lot of fun!
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I can’t begin to count the number of times people ask me for Christmas party games that would be great for an office party or a group of adults getting together. People often want gift exchange games but something different than the same ones they’ve played every year.
This fun Vegas inspired gift exchange incorporates elements you’d fine in a Vegas casino – Black Jack and craps – in a fun gift exchange game that’s part luck, part skill, and just a lot of fun! I’ve shared a dice gift exchange and a deck of cards gift exchange before, this game combines both in a super fun game that everyone will love!
So invite some friends over for a few Christmas games and you may just get lucky and love this Vegas gift exchange more than any you’ve played before!
Why people will Love This Vegas Gift Game
- Unique game – I can guarantee that no one has ever done a gift exchange like this before since we literally made it up this year!
- Familiar but different – Most adults will have played a game of Black Jack or Craps before so the play will be familiar for many but combined with a gift exchange.
- Fun until the end – you never know where the gifts will end up until the very person has taken their turn.
Supplies
You really only need a few things to play this Vegas inspired gift exchange game.
- Deck of Cards – You’ll need at least one deck of cards but if you have a larger group, you may want to get 2-3 decks of cards so you don’t have to shuffle in between. Make sure to remove any jokers in the decks.
- Dice – you’ll need two dice. I recommend having larger dice like these ones that everyone can see the roll but you can always use a regular set as well.
- Table – you’ll want a table that you can play the rounds of Black Jack on, this needs to be setup at the front of the room.
- Wrapped gifts – have everyone bring a wrapped gift for the gift exchange. You can do something themed (here’s huge list of themed gift exchange ideas) or not but make sure everyone knows a budget and whether you want to do white elephant gifts (not recommended) or real gifts. I also recommend people get gender neutral gifts since the gifts may end up anywhere.
Tip!
I highly recommend having a few extra gifts in case someone forgets to bring one and still wants to play. I always have a few extra gifts on hand. If you need some gift ideas, here are some of my favorite gift exchange gift ideas!
How to setup the Vegas Gift Exchange
Start by setting up a table at the front of the room. Place the deck(s) of cards, one of the game key printouts, and the set of dice on the table.
Choose someone to be the dealer (they won’t be playing) and they should stand behind the table. Everyone else should sit in a circle in the area behind the table.
Note!
If you don’t want to have an all-time dealer, you can always rotate people through who are willing to deal each individual game. It’s pretty easy to deal so you could always just do something like the person to the right deals to the person playing. This does make it more complicated but it allows the person who is dealing to still play the game.
Randomly hand out the wrapped gifts to everyone until everyone has a gift that’s not their own. Once everyone has a wrapped gift, you’re ready to play!
How to play this Casino Gift Exchange
The basic idea is that everyone is going to get a turn. On their turn, they are going to play one hand of Black Jack (or War for kids) against the dealer and then roll one set of dice. The result of the game of Black Jack and the result of the dice changes what happens to their gift and gifts around the circle!
Here’s how it works!
1 – Unwrap Gifts
Before you start playing the game, have everyone unwrap their gifts and show them to each other so that you know what you’re playing for.
Why wrapped gifts?
While technically you could have everyone bring unwrapped gifts, unwrapping gifts is just part of the fun of a gift exchange! Plus, it takes pressure off people because no one knows which gift they personally brought! The unwrapping part should only take a minute or two and well, it’s just fun!
2 – Start the Gift Exchange
Choose one person’s name out of the bag of names – they’ll be the first one to take their turn.
Part 1: Black Jack
For a turn, each person will go up to the dealer and start by playing one game of Black Jack against the dealer. Their gift swapping depends on the results of the hand:
If the player gets Black Jack (or 21) – they can choose to swap their gift with anyone else AND leave the game with their gift OR if they already like the gift they have, they can leave the gift with the game. They’re no longer in the circle and that gift is no longer available for passing or stealing.
If the player wins – they can choose to swap their gift with anyone else
If the player pushes – they keep their gift and move onto the craps portion
If the player loses – starting with the person to the player’s left (back in the circle), other people can switch with the player. So if John has a portable speaker and loses his game of Black Jack, the person sitting next to him (Jane) can decide if she wants to switch her gift for the portable speaker. If Jane decides to not switch, it would go to the next person (Mary) in the circle and Mary could choose to switch for the portable speaker. Keep going around giving everyone in the circle a chance to swap for John’s gift until someone switches for it or you get through the entire circle.
Black Jack Notes
- This is a modified version of Black Jack so no splitting or doubling down allowed. It is just one hand of straight up Black Jack.
- If the player busts, they lose regardless of if the dealer also busts.
- If someone doesn’t know how to play Black Jack or if you’re playing with kids, you can also opt for a game of War instead. One card per person, highest card wins. Same card = a push result.
Part 2: Craps Roll
Once gifts have been swapped, the same player (John in our example above) will roll the dice once and depending on how they roll, another action might take place.
- Roll 7 – everyone passes their gift to the right (including the person who rolled)
- Roll 11 – everyone in the circle passes their gift to the left (including the person who rolled)
- Roll 2 or 12 – they can choose to swap their gift with anyone else AND leave the game with their gift OR if they already have a gift they want, they can just choose to leave the game with that gift.
- Roll anything else – nothing happens and they just go sit down with their gift
Note!
If someone rolls a 7 or 11, the person who rolled the number should get back into the circle to pass the gift in their hands (even if they just swapped with someone else during Black Jack) to the left or right just like everyone else – so they may very well lose something they just traded for. It’s the luck of the dice and why this game is so fun – you never know what’s going to happen!
Note!
If someone gets a Black Jack (21) during the first part of their round, they still have to roll the dice but their gift is not included since it’s out of the game. The roll should still happen even if they’re not technically included in it! If they roll a 2/12 during the roll, they wouldn’t do anything.
After they’ve rolled and gifts have either been passed or swapped (or not), that person goes back and sits in their spot in the circle and it’s time to move onto the next person’s turn.
Pick another person’s name out of the bag and they play through their Black Jack and craps game.
How does the game end?
Keep playing until everyone has had one turn. Once everyone has had their turn to go up and play through the Black Jack hand and craps roll, the game is over and everyone keeps the gifts in their hand (or they can trade if they want).
Vegas Gift Exchange Game Video
Want to see a visual of how this works? Watch the video that shows the game in action
Game FAQs
What happens if someone swaps a gift from someone?
If someone’s gift is swapped, they are stuck with whatever gift the person gave to them. There is no additional swapping happen but luckily a lot of times gifts will be passed around the circle any way so gifts will still change hands!
Is there a limit to how many times gifts can be swapped?
This one is up to you. We didn’t put any sort of limit on how many times a particular gift could be stolen since they were often being passed around randomly (based on the die roll) anyway but if you prefer to not have the same best gift passed around over and over again, you can freeze gifts the third time they’re swapped (but not passed)!
What if someone doesn’t know how to play Black Jack?
If people would prefer to play a game of War instead of a game of Black Jack, they can. One card goes to the dealer and one to the player – flip them over at the same time and the highest card wins. If the cards are the same, it’s a push.
More Gift Exchange Games
If you love gift exchange games like we do, try out one of these next!
- Christmas price is right game – this fun price guessing game inspired by the game show will be a hit with all ages!
- The brick gift game – choose to swap gifts or go for a brick in this hilarious risk and reward style gift game!
- Chews your gift exchange game – the sweetest gift game ever!
- Grinch gift exchange – a Grinch version of a traditional right left Christmas game!
- Never have I ever Christmas game – a gift exchange variation on a classic never have I ever game!
Download the Vegas Gift Exchange
Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable free download PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes. Print on card stock and you’re on your way.
If you’d prefer to not provide your email address, you can get a copy in my shop here.
If you do not see the form, click here to get to it.
If you do not see the email with the printable design templates immediately after you fill out the form, make sure to check your promotions, spam, and junk folders!
The file will include:
- Instructions
- One-page PDF with the game/dice result key
- Use policy – all files are for personal use only
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