Bunco

Well I was close to right. The name of the game I had mentioned in an earlier post is acutally Bonco or Bunco. Though my memory did fail me a bit. It is acutally a dice game not a card game. I decided to do some research upon the game becasue I was currious as to just where it came from and such.

Here is a basic overview of the game:

Strictly speaking, Bunco is a game of dice, played in rounds. Players take turns rolling the dice and trying to accumulate as many points as possible to win each round. The game is played at tables of four in competing teams of two.

Players score points by rolling three dice and trying to match the number they're supposed to roll for that round. They get a point for each die that rolls the number, and if all three roll the number they score 21 points. They also score 5 points for rolling three of a kind of any other number. They get to keep rolling as long as they score one or more points with each roll. Once they fail to score they pass the dice to their left and the opposing team gets a chance to score.

During each round the teams at the Head Table try to score 21 points. The first team to score 21 points wins the round and play stops. At all other tables play stops when the Head Table play stops and the team with the highest score at each lower table wins the round.

At the end of the round players change seats, the winners at each of the lower tables move up a table, and the losers at the head table move to the lowest table. Players also switch partners at the end of the round, so you never play with the same partner twice in a row.

During play, players track the number of rounds they win and lose as a team, and the number of Buncos scored individually, on their personal scorecard. At the end of the night wins/losses and Buncos are tallied and prizes awarded.

Here is a little history on the game:

Bunco dates back to the late 1800's and was played by groups of women, school children, and couples. The old fashioned game of the future is becoming ever more popular at parties, social events, and new groups are popping up across the country.

This progressive dice game, under it's original name of 8 - Dice Cloth was played in England during the 18th century. It was unknown in the United States until 1855, when it was introduced into San Francisco during the Gold Rush by a crooked gambler. This shady character, traveling from the East to West coast had made many stops in route to the California gold fields. He also made various changes to the gambling game he called Banco. After a few years the game and activity was re-christened Bunco or Bunko. During this same period, a Spanish card game, Banca, and it's Mexican derivative, Monte, were also introduced to the population of San Francisco. Bunco Dice and Bunco Cards were combined to form a more efficient method of separating the hard working citizens from their money at numerous gambling locations. These locations were known as Bunco parlors. Hence, the word Bunco came to be a general term that applied to all scams, swindling and confidence games. After the civil war and into the turn of the century, Bunco flourished as the population grew and the economy recovered. Between 1870 & 1880 in virtually every large city in the country, Bunco- Banco games were in operation. Some Bunco locations were furnished elaborately while others resembled professional offices.

During the 1880's and into the mid 1890's, Bunco was played in Texas & Oklahoma, through Kansas & Missouri, in towns and cities along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers , and from New York to the Great Lake states. Through the Victorian era and prior to WWI, Bunco had achieved permanent placement as a traditional family or parlor game, promoting social interaction. During this period Bunco groups consisting of 8-12 people and as many as 20 people enjoyed an evening of food, drink, conversation, and friendly competition. During prohibition and the roaring 20's, the infamous Bunco gambling parlors resurfaced in various regions of the US The most notorious speak-easies and Bunco dice parlors were located in and around Chicago, Illinois. The term "Bunco Squad" referred to the detectives who raided these establishments!

After prohibition Bunco group activity declined in the major cities of the country, but spread to the suburbs as housing development and the migratory population expanded nationally. Not much was heard about Bunco activity from 1940-1980. (WW II, Korea, Vietnam.) Since the early 1980's Bunco group activity has increased due to a combination of circumstances; a return to traditional family values , a sense of neighborhood & community and, the desire & need for social interaction. Traditionally most Bunco groups consist of 12 players (usually groups of women & occasionally couples.) Kids are even beginning to play at parties & other social events. Playing Bunco is great way to maintain relationships and make new friends.

This was just amusing, it is the dictionary difinition of the word Bunco:

A swindle in which an unsuspecting person is cheated; a confidence game.

5:06 PM - 5/15/2008 - post comment

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