Sophisticated Drinking Games: Bunco Night

Bunco baffles me. The objective is elementary and the game's complexity is comparable to "pin the tail on the donkey." Yet it took three of my friends to explain the game to me and even as we were playing I was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

I have decided that since Bunco requires some basic math skills, decent penmanship, and the strength to move from one table to another without wiping out, that it is a notch above the rest on the drinking game IQ barometer. One must be able to add without fingers or a smart phone calculator. Your W's and L's cannot look like each other. And you must consider the likelihood of moving from one table to the next before you pour that one last glass of wine.

The good news is that you don't have to stress about the materials required for the game. They can all be found in your home: dice (3), paper, and a pencil.

Here's a gist of how to play:
1. Create a scoring sheet with 6 columns of numbers, and six rows. Number each column 1 - 6.
2. Form groups of 4. Two people at each table will be partners until one individual wins or loses.
3. Roll the three dice with the intention of hitting the target number. For example, if you are beginning the game, you start with the 1 column, and try to roll ones. When you get to the 2 column, you will try to roll twos. Every time you roll a target number, you give yourself a point. If you roll three of a kind of a different target number, you get 5 extra points. If you throw the dice without rolling a target number, your turn is over and the person to your left gets a turn. Your turn continues as long as you are rolling at least one target number.

4. When someone rolls the target number on all three dice, she shouts, "bunco," and wins that round. She also gets 21 points for winning with bunco. On her score card she puts a B. The other players add up their points and the players with more points put a "W" on their score card and the other two put an "L."
5. The scores are tallied at the other tables. The two players with the highest points get to stay at their table and mark a "W" and the two players with the lowest points have to move to the next table with an "L" on their card.
6. Continue playing until every column and row has been filled. The played with the most points at the end wins.

It's a super silly game but it's fun. Give it a shot and share your experience here when you recover.