Format 09 · Dinner
A dinner with something to do between the courses
A seated meal, a tournament-style round between each course, and a structure built around your caterer’s service times rather than fighting them.
- 18+
- Offline event entertainment
- No real-money gambling
- No betting
- No cash prizes
- No online casino
Why it works
The dead time at a seated dinner is the gap between courses
Fifteen minutes, three times over, with a table of eight who have already covered the weather and the drive in.
A seated dinner is a social format with one structural flaw: once a table has exhausted its small talk, the gaps between courses stretch. Guests check phones. Conversation splits into pairs. By dessert the energy has gone somewhere else, which is why so many dinners end abruptly rather than tailing off.
A hosted round between courses fills that gap with something that generates its own conversation. It lasts exactly as long as the kitchen needs, finishes on a result people want to talk about, and leaves the table in better shape for the next course than it was for the last one.
The practical requirement is coordination rather than cleverness. We take your caterer’s service times, work the round lengths backwards from them, and give both of you a run sheet showing exactly when tables break. Nobody is clearing plates around a live hand.
- Rounds are timed to your kitchen. We plan backwards from service, not forwards from the tables.
- One run sheet. Your caterer, your venue and our crew all work from the same document.
- No buy-in, no settlement. Chips are free, equal and symbolic from the first round to the last.
The structure
A three-course evening, round by round
Adjusted to your service times, but this is the shape it usually takes.
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Reception
Guests arrive, receive their chip stacks and get the layout explained at a standing table before anyone sits down.
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Round one
Seated. A short, deliberately gentle round while starters are being plated. Nobody is eliminated at this stage.
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Main course
Tables break cleanly. Crew steps back entirely and the room is simply a dinner for as long as service takes.
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Round two
The competitive one. Rotations move guests between tables, on your seating plan if you have given us one.
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Final table
The guests with the largest chip stacks play out a last round while dessert and coffee are served around them.
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Close
Standings are read, any recognition you have arranged is handed over, and tables either strike or reopen for informal play.
Planning
What we need from you and your caterer
From you
- Confirmed service times for each course
- A seating plan, if guests are to be placed deliberately
- Table sizes and the number of covers per table
- Whether you want open play after dessert
From your caterer
- How long each service window actually needs
- Whether plates are cleared between courses or at the end
- Access routes for staff that do not cross the tables
- A contact we can call on the day
Fixed, in every case
- Symbolic chips only, issued free and equally
- No buy-in, no top-ups, no settlement
- No cash prizes and nothing exchangeable for value
- Adults 18+ only
Dinner questions
Timing, seating and stakes
Does this work with a plated dinner, or only a buffet?
Both, and plated is actually easier to plan around because the service times are fixed. We build the round structure backwards from your caterer’s schedule, so tables break cleanly as plates come out rather than halfway through a hand.
A buffet needs a slightly different approach, since guests leave the table whenever they like. We run shorter rounds and keep seats open.
How long does the whole evening take?
A three-course dinner with rounds between courses usually fills three and a half to four hours. Running time can extend to up to 6 hours if you want open play after dessert, which many clients do.
Is there a buy-in?
No. There is no buy-in, no entry stake and no settlement at the end. Every guest receives the same stack of symbolic chips at the start, free of charge, and nothing can be purchased, topped up or exchanged for money or for anything of monetary value.
If you want a final table with recognition for the guests who finish with the most chips, that is easy to arrange — as a trophy or a toast, never as a payout.
Can we seat people deliberately?
Yes, and for a corporate dinner we would encourage it. Send your seating plan and we will structure rotations so that guests move between tables in a pattern you have chosen rather than at random — useful when the real objective is getting two departments talking.
Request a quote
Send your service times and we will build the structure
Four fields to start the conversation. The round plan comes back with your quote, inside one business day.
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