Gambling Going Global!

OK, not quite, but I liked the alliteration Today was II's Confectionary Casino Afternoon, the first event I've organised since I joined the committee. It was going to be a card game day, only with gambling using chocolate coins. Seeing as entry and chocolate were free, I figured we wouldn't need a gambling license or anything.

So on Monday, Tim and I went over to the Original Lolly Store in Melbourne Central to check out some coins. Tim managed to negotiate a discount for us, so we ended up getting 2kg of chocolate coins (about 300 coins; 160 big coins and 140 small coins) for $51. The best part is, the student union is footing the bill - we hope (well, I dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's, the forms are in Tobais' hands now (he's the treasurer)).

This morning, I had that horrible feeling, the one you get where you know something is going to go wrong, and you don't want to get out of bed. But, as the keeper of the chocolate, and the fact that I was my event anyway, I had to get up and go to uni. I'd been worrying about it since Tuesday. See, I didn't actually want this position, it's just that the person that last held this position nominated me. She did a really good job, and everyone loved her, only she's no longer a student at Melbourne Uni. so she had to turn it over to a current student.

I have passed the mantle to the one person I thought deserved it. She'd better keep my club alive godsdamnit.

~Louise

Quoted from her livejournal (I'm sure she won't mind me borrowing it *cough* stealing it *cough*). The first part is nice, but the second part.... :S

So I hope that explains my nervousness. I fully expect them to be willing to hold another AGM (Annual General Meeting) just to get rid of me.

Talking to Rob while going to get the drinks was very calming though, as I forced myself to pay attention to everything that he was saying. By the time we got back from Safeway, I was a feeling a little more ready to run this thing. Then I got up to Mary Cooke and looked at the mass of people there. I panicked. If it weren't for the fact that people started saying, "Hey Anna! Is that the chocolate in your bag?" I think I would have run. Turns out that most of them were from MUOSS (Melbourne Uni Overseas Students' Society) whose lounge is right next to Mary Cooke.

[Oh, a side point. I now get greeted by a bunch of people that I don't know. So I'll walk in and some people will say hello, and I'll look at them, smile and say, "Hey....you!" I don't know if they can tell that I don't know their names yet, but I'm sure they'll pick up on it soon. I just never thought it'd be important to learn their names as they'll probably all graduate soon and I'll never see them again anyway. Argh, why can't everyone be called Anna? It'd make it much easier for me to remember my name, too.]

When the Casino Afternoon officially started, I had about 5 people there. And one of those 5 people was me. But I reasoned that the Star Trek AGM was being held at the same time, so people would start coming after that. While it was nice and small, we had a game of Blackjack going. As dealer, I was doing pretty well. Most people either bust, or were under what I had. I managed to get Blackjack a few times, too. Then it broke into games of 500 and poker. By the first hour, there was at least 15 people there (we needed to have at least 21 students there to cover our costs; we got 24, though that doesn't mean we make a profit, unfortunately). Then Tobias showed up and I got him to start a game of Magic: The Gathering so that more people could be playing at a time (we'd run out of decks of cards).

In the last hour, it looked like everyone was having fun. I was so relieved. All the coins were gone from the bank though, so Graham was kind enough to share his with me so that we could bet on a game of Magic. As everyone got to go home with some chocolate, I'm sure they were all happy. There was one coin leftover, so I took it home and gave it to Amanda.

Someone had left their bag in the room, so I said that I'd drop it off at her place on the way home. It was a good chance to take a walk and clear my head. I'd been so worried about the casino afternoon that I hadn't had a chance to process things that have happened this week. I was able to come to terms with something based on the fact that it's the logical thing to do. I just have to hope that the rest of my mind follows soon. I still feel guilty about it, but there's nothing I can do to change that.

On the not-so-plus side, there has been a call for an II pizza night. More organisation, whoopee!