Bunco, A Good Excuse For A Girls Night Out!

My mother's generation used to, and still does, get together to play a game we all know as bridge.  Well move over ladies, a new generation is heating up the gaming night and the game is known as Bunco.  Now I'm not sure about other parts of the country, but here in the South, Bunco is big.  Groups of twelve converge on a house to gossip, roll dice, eat, and sometimes a little wine may be involved.  I so look forward to this one night a month that some of my good girl friends and I can relax, talk as loud as we want...and we do get loud... and just catch up among friends.  Our group has been going strong for ten plus years and we see no signs of stopping anytime soon.  A few have come and gone, but the majority of us are still together.  Who knows, we may still be playing and our daughters will be talking about their mother's generation and that "boring" old game we play called Bunco.

Here are the ins and outs of Bunco... at least this is how we do it!

Food and Beverages: The host provides the food and drink.  I usually try to do a casserole and some sides to feed large groups to make it easy.  I always have wine, it just makes things more fun!  Last night, I also made those St. Germain Champagne Cucumber Cocktails I showed you all last week.  I had to leave out the mint since I didn't have any, but wow they were still delicious!

The Friends:  Again, you need twelve to play and a few extras as subs since people can't always make it.

The Game:  Dice!  Split into three tables with four at each table.  You roll three dice for ones, then twos and so on until you get to six.  If you roll all three of the same number and the number you are rolling for, that is a big Bunco.  If you roll all three of the same number and it is not the number you are rolling for, it is little Bunco.  You keep rolling and each time you roll the number you are rolling for, you add it together until you reach 21 and then the round is over.  It sounds confusing but it's so simple!

The Prizes:  One of the best parts of the night is seeing who rolled the biggest number of Big Buncos, Little Buncos, most wins and most losses.  Yes, the biggest loser gets a prize!  We do the prize system, some girls do money, but I find winning fun and unique items are the most fun.

So if you don't have a Bunco group, grab twelve of your closest girlfriends and set it up.  You'll be so glad you did!