What is Bunco?

bun·co also bun·ko (bung' ko)

n. pl. bun·cos, also bun·kos
1. A swindle in which an unsuspecting person is cheated; a confidence game.
2. A parlor game played in teams with three dice.
3. A winning throw in the above game; three of a kind of a specified number.

[Probably alteration of Spanish banca, card game, from Italian banca, bank, of
Germanic origin.].

Source: The Bunco Book, First Edition

Game Overview

Courtesy of: The Bunco Book, First Edition

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.

Right.

Now we're going to tell you the truth...

Bunco is a social event. It's a party. It's a blast!

Twelve of us get together once a month, leaving

the cares and worries behind, and leaving the
kids with their fathers or baby-sitters.

We fall off our diets, snacking on M&Ms, Chex-Mix, or anything else we can get our
hands on. We have appetizers, a (usually) delicious dinner, and seconds on
 dessert. We drink our favorite spritzer, Chardonnay, or Drink-of-the-night, and we
talk.

We talk about our kids. About the neighbors. About anyone who didn't show up.
About our husbands, our jobs, their jobs, the builder in our community, TV shows,
current events, and anything else that might tickle our fancy.

Oh yeah, and we play a silly, mindless dice game with wild abandon, hoping to
take home a few more sheckles then we arrived with.

The Rules Of Bunco

Ok, first things first. There ARE NO OFFICIAL RULES of

Bunco. We've seen lots of copies of official rules, and the
rules we've seen are all less than 15 years old. How can you
have Official Rules for a game that's been around over a
hundred years, just by making them up?

What we've done is gathered all the versions of the game we

could find, analyzed the differences, and stripped them down
to their core essence while keeping track of all the different • Getting Started
variations we encounter. • Game
Overview
To keep things simple, we've listed the core rules and the • Player Scoring
most common variations and options here. Trust us, this is • Tiebreakers
just the tip of the iceberg, but it should help any group that • Traveling
wants to start their own Bunco group. • Wipeout
• Weighted
Of course, in the end, Bunco is what you make it. Whatever Scoring
rules you want to play by is just fine. Our best advice to you • Scramble
is - whatever your rules are WRITE THEM DOWN - so there's
no question later.
• Prizes
Visit our Freebies section to download a copy of the
rules, suitable for printing or distribution
Getting Started

Place three dice, a BUNCO Table Tally score sheet, and pencils
on each of three tables. Place a table placard (Low, Middle,
High), on each table. Place the four sequentially numbered
seating placards, in front of each chair. A bell is placed on the
HIGH Table. A large fuzzy die (or a small stuffed animal) is
placed on the LOW table.

Prepare 12 Bunco Score Cards by writing on the back of

them. Four are labeled HIGH table, with the numbers 1, 2, 3
and 4. Four are labeled MIDDLE table, 1 through 4, and four
are labeled LOW table.

Players draw a score card at random when they arrive and sit
in the indicated place. Partners for the first round are the
players sitting across from each other.
Game Overview

There are six rounds in each set of Bunco. The High Table
controls the pace of play by starting each round and ending
each round with a ring of the bell. The scorekeeper at each
table is the first to roll.

Players earn points by rolling the three dice. In each round,

players are trying to roll the same number as the round, or
the target number (for example, rolling in Round 3) -
sometimes called a mark.

One point is awarded for each target number rolled

successfully. For example rolling in round 1 earns 2
points, in round 2, the same roll earns one point. In rounds 3-
6 this roll earns no points.

Five points are awarded for rolling three of a kind of any

number except the current target number. For example
rolling in round 3 earns 5 points.

BUNCO! is called when rolling 3 of a kind of the target

number. For example, rolling in Round 3. Rolling
BUNCO is worth 21 points, but the player has to yell it out to
get credit for it.

The player rolls as long as they score one or more points.

When they fail to roll the target number on any of the dice,
the dice are passed to the player on the left and the
scorekeeper records the cumulative score on the Table Tally
as the temporary team score.

The round is over when the HIGH table reaches 21 points,

they ring the bell and the round is over for everyone. The
other tables keep rolling until the high table rings the bell.
They may score more than 21 points, sometimes over 100
points.

When the round ends, and players at the lower tables get to
finish their roll.

Every player gets at least one roll per round.

At the end of each round the winning team from the Middle
and Low tables move up to a higher table. The losing team
from the High table moves to the low table. During the switch
partners are changed.
Player Scoring

Players keep track of their scores on their own BUNCO Score

Card.

When a player rolls a BUNCO, that player should make a line

next to the "Buncos" space on their score card. Only the
player that actually rolled the BUNCO gets credit. The
player's teammate does NOT get a score.

When a team wins a round, both players record a "W" on the

line for that round in that set.

When a team loses a round, they each record an "L" on the

line.

At the end of the BUNCO session, all the players total their
wins & losses on their scorecards for a chance at the prizes.

Tiebreakers during a Round

If both teams have a tied score at the end of a round, they

participate in a roll-off. They are each allowed to roll the dice
again for one session to accumulate additional points. Player
#1 starts off rolling first. This player will continue to roll and
accumulate points as long as they are successfully rolling the
number of that round. Each player is given a session to roll
and accumulate points for their team to end the tie.

Example, at the end of Round 2, a table's teams is tied.

Player #1 rolls and accumulates 1 point. Player #1
rolls again but does not roll any dice. The dice are passed
to Players #2 - #4 who all receive chances to accumulate
points.

If at the end of this session one team is now in the lead, the
roll-off ends. The team with the highest score is deemed
winner. If needed, additional roll-off sessions are repeated
until the tie is broken.

Traveling (Optional)

If you choose to add TRAVELING to your game, the "Fuzzy

Die" or other (preferably soft, tossable) object is added.

"Traveling" occurs whenever a Bunco is rolled. The current

custodian of the Fuzzy Die throws the die at the person who
called BUNCO.

The player holding the bag or object at the end of the game
wins the prize!
Wipeout (Optional)

When playing wipeout, each set is only played from 2 to 6.

The ones round is skipped. During wipeout, rolling three ones
is called a wipeout, and the person rolling the
wipeout loses all their points for the round (and optionally
their turn) and must start over.

Traveling Wipeout is played like regular traveling, but a

different soft fuzzy is thrown around and whoever holds it at
the end of play gets a consolation prize.

Weighted Scoring (Optional)

With weighted scoring the HIGH table uses a different color

pen (typically RED) to right down W's for wins and L's for
losses. The Middle and Low tables use a blue or black pen.

At the end of play, when scores are being totaled, High table
scores (red marks) count double, both as wins and losses.
When totaling the score each Red W would count as 2 and
each Red L would count as two. Blue and black W's and L's
count as one each.

Most W points, not most W's, wins. Most L points, not most
L's wins.

Scramble (Optional)

After anyone rolls a BUNCO, all players scramble to grab the

three dice. An additional point is scored for holding each die
after a BUNCO.

Prizes (Optional)

If you choose to set up award categories, here's some

possible categories groups have used:

 Most BUNCOs
 Most Wins - person with most "W" (Wins)
 Most Losses - person with most "L" (Losses)
 Most Wipeouts
 First BUNCO
 Traveling - last person holding traveling Die
 Traveling Wipeout - last person holding wipeout bag

HOW DO YOU PLAY?

 Every person that we have surveyed on the rules of BUNCO, seems to play a
different way, so we have outlined the two different ways. Feel free to use one of
these sets of rules or adapt some of the fun into your game. One game starts with
1’s and you roll up to 6’s and the other way is to begin with 6’s androlldown to
1’s. Whichever way you decide to play, your group will have loads of fun !!!

One’s rolling up to Six’s (Traditional)

Terms:
Bunco: Three of the same round you are on. Ie: Round 6 and you roll 3 sixes. 21
points earned.

3 of a Kind: When a player rolls three of a kind other than the round that they
are on. Ie 3 fours are rolled in round 6. This is worth 5 points.

Traveling: An object (dice, something that relates to your theme, a hat

whatever…have fun with it) that is passed when a player rolls a BUNCO. The
player that is holding the object last receives the Traveling prize.

• Set up 3 separate tables with 4 chairs each. Some groups place a small
favor that corresponds to their theme at each seat. This ensures that
everyone goes home with something.

• At each table place 3 dice, a pencil, a table tally, and a snack to munch
on.

• Take 12 score sheets and secretly mark or place a sticker (or something
that relates to your theme) on four of the sheets.
• Have each player pick a score sheet. The four that chose the sheets with
the object will begin the first round by playing at the HEAD table.
• The remaining 8 players can choose a seat either at the “middle” table or
the “losing” table.
• At each table there will be two teams. A team consists of two people sitting
across from each other on any given round. One person at each table is
responsible for keeping track of the team’s points. The scorekeeper is the
first to roll.
• The High Table controls the pace of the game by starting and ending each
round. They ring a bell or sound a horn to begin and end each round.
• Players earn points by rolling the three dice. In each round players are
trying to roll the same number of the round that they are on. Ie: you will
begin round 1 by trying to roll 1’s.
• One point is awarded for each die that is rolled that corresponds to the
round you are on. Ie; if you roll two 1’s and a 2 during the first round. This
team will get awarded two points and will roll until they no longer have any
1’s in their roll. At this time they will pass the dice to the player on the left.
If you were in round 2, this roll would be awarded 1 point. Again, you would
roll until you no longer roll any twos. Same roll, but you are on round 3;
you receive no points and pass the dice to the player on the left.

• When a player rolls a BUNCO (regardless of what table they are playing at),
that player marks a tally mark next to “BUNCOS” space on their score
card. If a player at the head table rolls the BUNCO, the round is over. Only
the player that actually rolled the BUNCO gets the credit. The player’s
teammate does not get the BUNCO as well.

• The round is over when the HEAD table reaches 21 points. They ring a bell
or sound the horn to let the other tables know the round is over for
everyone. The middle and losing table may score more than 21 points,
 sometimes over 100 points! If there is a tie at any table, the next player to
roll the number of the round of which you are playing is considered the
winning team.

• At the end of each round the team with the most points moves to the next
table (“Winners Move”). However, the losing team at the head table must
move down. The team that is left at the table must change seats so they
are not partners in the next round.

• The team at each table that won the round places a “W” for that round and
the team that lost the round places an “L” for that round.

• The game consists of 4 sets. The first 2 sets are played ( a set starts with
1’s and works up to 6’s), then a break is typically taken to refresh your
drinks, snack or some groups serve dessert at this time. Then the last two
sets are played.

• At the end of the 4 sets, the players tally their BUNCOS, wins and losses. At
this time the prizes are awarded accordingly.

Six’s rolling down to One’s

Terms:
BUNCO: First team to reach a score of 50.

3 of a Kind: When a player rolls three of a kind other than the round that
they are on. Ie 3 fours are rolled in round 6. This is worth 5 points.

Traveling: An object (dice, something that relates to your theme, a hat

whatever…have fun with it) that is passed when a player rolls a three of
the same round that you are in. Ie: Round 6 and you roll 3 sixes. 25 points
are earned. The player that is holding the object after all rounds are
completed receives the Traveling prize.

Crap-Out or Wipe-Out: When a player rolls three one’s during any round
other than 1’s. All points are discarded and that team must start tallying
their points from zero again. A circle is noted on the scorecard for the
player who rolls the crap-out (Not the partner)

• Set up 3 separate tables with 4 chairs each. Some groups place a small
favor that corresponds to their theme at each seat. This ensures that
everyone goes home with something.

• At each table place 3 dice, a pencil, a table tally, a hole punch and a snack
to munch on.

• The hostess sets a name card at each seat prior to the players arriving.
The hostess begins at the head table.

• At each table there will be two teams. A team consists of two people sitting
across from each other on any given round. One person from each team is
responsible for keeping track of the team’s points.
 • The Head table rings the bell/sound the horn to being the round. One
player at each table begins the round by rolling the dice.

• Players earn points by rolling the three dice. In each round players are
trying to roll the same number of the round that they are on. Ie; you will
begin round 1 by trying to roll 1’s.

• One point is awarded for each die that is rolled that corresponds to the
round you are on. Ie; if you roll two 1’s and a 2 during the first round. This
team will get awarded two points and will roll until they no longer have any
1’s in their roll. At this time they will pass the dice to the player on the left.
If you were in round 2, this roll would be awarded 1 point. Again, you would
roll until you no longer roll any twos. Same roll, but you are on round 3;
you receive no points and pass the dice to the player on the left.

• The round is over when one team reaches 50 points, regardless of which
table they are at. That team then yells BUNCO, each player on the team
punches a hole in their name card. The other tables stop rolling at this
point and add up their scores. In the event there is a tie, the table
continues play until the next point is scored.

• At the end of each round the team with the lesser points moves to the next
table (“Losers ‘Move”). The winning team that is left at the table must
move seats so they are not partners in the next round.

• If at any time during the rounds a player rolls a crap out (loses their team’s
points so far during the round and starts over), that player marks a circle
on their name card. The player with the most crap-outs wins a prize at the
end.

• The game consists of 2 sets. The first set is played (a set starts with 6’s
and works down to 1’s), then a break is typically taken to refresh your
drinks, snack or some groups serve dessert at this time. Then the last set
is played.

• At the end of the 2 sets, the players tally their BUNCOS, crap-outs, wins
and losses. Some groups award their prizes right away, while others serve
dessert and chat a while before the awards ceremony. The player with the
traveling object at this time is awarded the Traveling prize. The prizes are
awarded accordingly.

Below are the suggestions for prize breakdowns. You can mix and match the
different options to suit your needs. When awarding the prizes, consider the fact
that many hostesses do not win any prizes at their own Bunco. If they are eligible
for a prize, it would go to the next in line. In the event that a player is eligible for
multiple prizes, they win the most valuable prize and are out of the running for
any others. In the event that more than one person is eligible for a prize, a roll off
occurs. This means that each of these players would roll one dice, and the person
with the highest roll wins.