Last night my girlfriend had a Bunco (Bunko) Party. It was so much fun-plus it was just great to get out without the kids and hang out with the girls. (well, the girls plus Steve, my friends husband-poor guy, having to spend the evening with 7 lovely ladies. . . )
Bunco is an easy to play dice game for groups in a multiple of 4. It is one of those games that sounds complicated when you try to explain it, but is really easy once you play. It is also very, very inexpensive to play!
The supplies needed to play are easy-a set of 3 dice for each “table” (you need a minimum of 2 tables and 8 players to have a game), some sort of bell or buzzer (although you could probably just yell), paper and pencils (one per table). Optional equipment include something to “toss” when some has a bunco (I’ll explain that later) and a prize of some sort for the most buncos.
Here is how you play. (or at least how we play, rules vary depending on where you are and who you play with) I swear to you, it is nowhere near as complicated as it will sound. Get a few people and try it, you’ll see!
Each player takes a piece of paper and folds it in half like a card. They write their name on the front. This is their scorecard which they will carry around with them. We like to use the kids crayons and decorate ours, just for fun.
One table is designated the “Head Table”, and they get the bell. The when the “Head Table” has a team reach 21 points, they will ring the bell (or honk a horn or something) and the round is over. All other tables keep playing until that happens, even if they get more than 21 points.
At each table the people sitting across from each other are a team for that round. One person at the table is the scorekeeper. The scorekeeper keeps track of “us” (the scorekeeper and the person opposite) and “them” (the other two people at the table).
Each “round” you are rolling for a specific number, starting with ones, and obviously going up to sixes. So, in the first round the first player picks up the 3 dice and rolls. If they roll any “ones”, their team gets a point for each “one” showing, and they get to roll again. When they roll and don’t get any “ones” they go to the next player.
Special rolls:
A Bunco: If you roll all three dice with the number for that round (in this example that would be rolling 3 “ones”) you get 21 points for your team. You yell “Bunco” and you get the bunco object (in our case it is a plastic dice-in other places I’ve lived it’s a beanie baby or something) tossed at you from whoever had the last bunco. Then you carry the object around until the next person gets a bunco. You also mark a “B” on the inside of your scorecared. If you are at the “Head Table” then a bunco obviously brings the round to a screeching halt and you ring the bell. If you are at any of the other tables you keep playing.
A Triple: Three of any number that is NOT the number you are rolling for in the round. For our example, if you rolled 3 “fours”. A triple is worth 5 points and you get to keep rolling.
Once the “Head Table” rings the bell and the round is over, the winning team at each table marks and X in their score card and folks rotate to a new table.
Since we usually have only 2 tables, we simply have the “Head Table” as the winners table, and the other table as a losers table. So the team that won moves from table #2 to the “Head Table” and the losers from the head table move to table #2. If you have more tables, then the winners stay at the head table, but the rest need to have the losers stay put and the winners rotate in some sort of order, like to the next table clockwise. If there is a tie at your table, you each have another turn as a tiebreaker. If the “Head Table” rings the bell while someone is rolling, they get to finish their turn.
When you get to your new table folks have to switch seats so that you are not partners with the same person you were in the last round. Now you start rolling for “twos”.
Usually we play from 1-6 twice, and that takes about an hour and half or so. You can play more or less depending on your time frame.
At the end you figure out who has the most wins, who has the least, and who has the most Buncos. The way we play, each person pays in $5 to play, and then the most Wins gets $20, $12 for second place, $7 for third, and the loser gets $1. The most Buncos gets a door prize provided by the host/hostess.
Of course, you don’t need to pay to play or have cash prizes. You could play just for honor and glory, or you could play for a dollar each and have corresponding cash prizes, or play for little dollar store gifts etc. It’s up to you.
