Bunco

Last updated

Bunco
Three six-sided dice.jpg
GenresDice rolling
Players2 or more, usually in teams of two
Setup time1–5 minutes
Playing time30 minutes to multiple hours
ChanceHigh
Age range4 and up
SkillsCounting and simple mathematics

Bunco (also spelled bunko or bonko) is a dice game with twelve or more players, divided into groups of four, trying to score points while taking turns rolling three dice in a series of six rounds. A bunco is achieved when a person rolls three-of-a-kind and all three numbers match the round number which is decided at the beginning of the round.

Contents

History

Bunco was originally a confidence game similar to three-card monte. [1] [2] It originated in 19th-century England, where it was known as "eight dice cloth". [3] It was imported to San Francisco as a gambling activity in 1855, where it gave its name to gambling parlors, or "bunco parlors", and more generally to any swindle. After the Civil War, the game evolved into a popular parlor game. During the 1920s and Prohibition, bunco was re-popularized as a gambling game, often associated with speakeasies. Law-enforcement groups raiding these parlors came to be known as "bunco squads". Bunco saw a resurgence in popularity as a family game in the 1980s. [4]

According to the World Bunco Association, the game saw a resurgence in popularity in the United States in the early 21st century; in 2006, it was claimed that during the previous year "over 59 million women have played bunco and over 27 million play regularly". [5] Members of bunco clubs often take turns hosting, providing snacks, refreshments and the tables to set up the games. Small amounts of money can be involved as well. Bunco is sometimes referred to as the "housewife's drinking game". [6]

Rules

Each game consists of six rounds, numbered one to six in the order played. Players take turns rolling three dice. One point is awarded for each die rolled that matches the current round number, 5 points are awarded if all three dice match each other, but do not match the current round number, and 21 points if all three dice match the current round number (a "bunco"). If any points are scored, the player gets to roll again, continuing to add to their score. If no points are awarded, the player's turn ends and the dice are passed to the next player at the table. Each round ends when a player has scored 21 points, which makes rolling a bunco an instant win. The game ends when all six rounds are complete. The player with the most rounds won is the overall game winner, with ties typically broken by comparing total points scored.

In larger-scale tournaments, the game will typically be played in teams of two, and multiple tables will play simultaneously, with the highest-ranked table known as the "head table" or "queen's table". After each round, the winning team at a table will move to the next-highest-ranked table while the loser at the head table will move down to the lowest-ranked table.

World championship

The first bunco World Championship was held in 2006; it was broadcast on the Oxygen Network and sponsored by Procter & Gamble's (P&G) anti-heartburn medicine Prilosec OTC, benefiting the National Breast Cancer Foundation. [5] In October 2008, P&G discontinued its association with the Championship after three years. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backgammon</span> Board and dice game for two players

Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Persia. The earliest record of backgammon itself dates to 17th-century England, being descended from the 16th-century game of Irish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craps</span> Dice game

Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other or against a bank. Because it requires little equipment, "street craps" can be played in informal settings. While shooting craps, players may use slang terminology to place bets and actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yahtzee</span> Dice game by Milton Bradley

Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley. It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier dice games such as Poker Dice, Yacht and Generala. It is also similar to Yatzy, which is popular in Scandinavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shut the box</span> Game of dice

Shut the box is a game of dice for one or more players, commonly played in a group of two to four for stakes. Traditionally, a counting box is used with tiles numbered 1 to 9 where each can be covered with a hinged or sliding mechanism, though the game can be played with only a pair of dice, pen, and paper. Variations exist where the box has 10 or 12 tiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pig (dice game)</span> Dice game

Pig is a simple dice game first described in print by John Scarne in 1945. Players take turns to roll a single dice as many times as they wish, adding all roll results to a running total, but losing their gained score for the turn if they roll a 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cee-lo</span> Chinese-American gambling game

Cee-lo is a gambling game played with three six-sided dice. There is not one standard set of rules, but there are some constants that hold true to all sets of rules. The name comes from the Chinese Sì-Wŭ-Liù (四五六), meaning "four-five-six". In America it is also called "See-Low," "Four-Five-Six," "The Three Dice Game," "Roll-off!," and by several alternative spellings, as well as simply "Dice." In China it is also called "Sān Liù Bàozi" (三六豹子), or "Three-Six Leopards". In Japan, it is known as "Chinchiro" (チンチロ) or "Chinchirorin" (チンチロリン).

Don't Go to Jail is a 1991 Parker Brothers dice game for two or more players inspired by Monopoly. The game is played by rolling ten dice and attempting to roll matches to score points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dice 10000</span> Tabletop game

Dice 10,000 also Greed, Dix Mille, Reload, 5-Dice is the name of a family dice game played with 6 dice; it is similar or identical to the commercialized Farkle. It also goes by other names, including Cargoose, Zilch, Zilchers, Foo, Boxcar, Bogus, Lewis' Dice, Crap Out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gul bara</span> Mediterranean tables game

Gul bara is a tables game, an ancient genre of board games that includes Backgammon, Trictrac and Nard. It is also called Rosespring Backgammon or Crazy Narde. The aim of the game is to move all of one's men around the board and bear them off. The first player who bears off all his or her men wins. The game is popular in Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Greece, Turkey and North Macedonia.

Mexico is an elimination-style dice game, in which several players agree to play a set number of rounds. After each round, one player is eliminated. When all players but one have been eliminated, the remaining player wins the game. Owing to its extremely simple play-structure, it is generally pursued as a method of gambling, whereby the final remaining player wins the amount of money wagered by each person who was eliminated in earlier rounds. A variant of the drinking game liar's dice known as Mexican or Mia uses similar dice rolls, but has very different game mechanics.

<i>Kismet</i> (dice game) 1964 dice game

Kismet is a commercial dice game introduced in 1964. The game's name is the Turkish word for "fate". E. William DeLaittre holds the trademark on the game, which was originally published by Lakeside Games, and which is currently produced by Endless Games. Marketed as "The Modern Game of Yacht", the game play is similar to Yacht and Yahtzee, with a few variations. A primary distinction is that in Kismet, the sides of the dice have different colored pips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosmic Wimpout</span> Dice game

Cosmic Wimpout is a dice game produced by C3, Inc in 1976. It is similar to 1000/5000/10000, Farkle, Greed, Hot Dice, Squelch, Zilch, to name but a few. The game is played with five custom dice, and may use a combination score board and rolling surface, in the form of a piece of cloth or felt available in various colors and designs. Players supply their own game piece for score keeping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tapa (game)</span> Bulgarian and Macedonian tables game

Tapa (Тапа) is a tables game played in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. It is also played in Greece, where it is known as Plakoto. The word tapa means bottle cap.

A number of related games under the Yahtzee brand have been produced. They all commonly use dice as the primary tool for game play, but all differ generally. As Yahtzee itself has been sold since 1954, the variants released over the years are more recent in comparison, with the oldest one, Triple Yahtzee, developed in 1972, eighteen years after the introduction of the parent game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balut (game)</span> Dice game

Balut is a game of dice, similar to Yahtzee, created by United States soldiers as an alternative to poker, and is a popular pastime of businessmen overseas.

Dead Man's Dice is a pirate-themed game, played with dice, employing luck, strategy, and the accumulation of points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mutschel</span> German bread

The Mutschel is a traditional star-shaped bread from Reutlingen, Germany. The pastry, and the corresponding Mutscheltag, have probably existed since the 13th century. Mutscheln are roughly star-shaped and come in various sizes: usually approximately six inches in diameter, but bakeries often offer breads three or more feet in diameter. The most common Mutschel is made of wheat, yeast, a small amount of fat like lard or butter and eggs. They are sometimes made in sweet varieties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yacht (dice game)</span> Dice game

Yacht is a public domain dice game, similar to the Latin American game Generala, the English game of Poker Dice, the Scandinavian Yatzy, and Cheerio. Yacht dates back to at least 1938, and is a contemporary of the similar three-dice game Crag. Yahtzee is a later development, similar to Yacht in both name and content.

The Genius: Rule Breaker is the second season of The Genius, which debuted on tvN on December 7, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crag (dice game)</span>

Crag is a dice game similar to Yacht and Yahtzee. It is played with three dice. The game is quicker to play than Yahtzee, and in Clement Wood and Gloria Goddard's 1940 Complete Book of Games, it is described as a game that "shares with Yacht the supremacy among sequence dice-casting games".

References

  1. Farmer, John Stephen; Henley, William Ernest (1890). Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: A Dictionary, Historical and Comparative, of the Heterodox Speech of All Classes of Society for More Than Three Hundred Years. With Synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, Etc. subscribers only.
  2. Eldridge, Benjamin P.; Watts, William B. (1897). Our Rival, the Rascal: A Faithful Portrayal of the Conflict Between the Criminals of this Age and the Defenders of Society, the Police. Pemberton.
  3. Byrnes, Thomas (1886). Professional Criminals of America. Cassell.
  4. bunco history World bunco Association official site. Retrieved 19 January 2010
  5. 1 2 "Prilosec OTC, Actress Marg Helgenburger and Thousands of Women Roll the Dice to Raise Money for Breast Cancer Research". News Release /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network. Procter & Gamble. 10 February 2006. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013.
  6. Chandler, Michael Alison (4 February 2007). "Suburban Moms Forge Bonds Over bunco". The Washington Post . Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  7. "So Long bunco". bunco Central - Prilosec OTC. Procter & Gamble. Archived from the original on 19 September 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2010.