Have you gone Buncos or what?

We played Buncos with the Medieval Studies folks this afternoon. Has anyone else played this game?

Buncos is a dice game that involved four tables with four players at each table. There were two teams at each table, with the two players sitting opposite each other, making up each team. Table 1 was the controlling table. When everyone was ready, a player at Table 1 would ring a cowbell, and players would start taking turns rolling three dice. The players worked through the numbers on the dice each round. For example, in Round One, players were rolling for ones. Each time one or more of the dice landed on One, the team got a point for each dice showing One. If three ones were rolled, that was a Buncos, worth 21 points, and the player had to wear a Joker’s hat. If a player rolled three of a kind on any other number, that was a Baby Buncos worth 5 points. The dice landing on 1, 2, and 3 were worth 15 points. When one of the teams at Table 1 got 21 or more points, a player would ring the cowbell again to signal the round had ended. Some of the players moved to different tables according to the instructions for the winning and losing teams at each table. The players had to form new teams when they changed tables. When the cowbell was rung again, the players started rolling for twos. The sequences and table changing went on until the players had rolled for sixes.

We played two complete rounds through the sixes, took a dinner break, played two more complete rounds, and then had dessert. I had an even 12 games won and twelve games lost and tied for the most Buncos. I lost the roll-off for top Buncos.

Player’s scorecards and dice.

Every time players rolled a Buncos, they had to wear a silly Joker’s hat.

Game table number 3.

A Steel Panther on my lap before game time.