Ready to set a Bunco world record? You’ll need 1,600 people to beat the most Bunco players at once
The unlikely connection between Bunco, Oprah, and a Guinness World Record in Tulsa
If you have 1,600 friends you can beat the Guinness World Record for most people playing Bunco at the same time.
Set in 2016 by fans of popular Tulsa, Oklahoma jeweler Rustic Cuffs, the group seemingly has little to do with Bunco. Rustic Cuffs was started by Jill Donovan in 2011 and now sells cuffs and cufflinks to over 250 stores across the United States with a Facebook Group, “Addicted 2 Cuffs”, that has 32,000 members and hundreds of smaller, local spin-off groups for other communities around the world.
The Facebook Group helped facilitate the migration to Tulsa’s Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center to break the record with 1,599 participants. The same Group helped beat the largest number of people playing Monopoly at the same time in 2017.
The brand is arguably best known for their Stacks & Sets Collection, a series of customizable pieces and pairings for cuffs that enables people to create a virtually unlimited number of options for jewelry. But their connection to Bunco seems to be more for fun.
Breaking a Bunco world-record
The rules for the most people playing Bunco at the same time have some strict requirements:
- Everyone must play for at least 30 minutes.
- Everyone must be actively playing — meaning they can’t use their phone, get up to use the restroom, no trips to the bar or water fountain, etc.
- The group must supply volunteers to help count and track players, along with policing who is actively engaged.
- Everyone must be in the same venue, and logistically that means everyone has to be in the same room.
Anyone who has hosted a Bunco party knows piling together all the necessary supplies, food, drinks, and table settings can be a challenge for a mere dozen people. But Rustic Cuffs fans managed to set up 225 tables and 56 “head tables” for Bunco players to move around. The logistics for such an event required nearly 170 dice with players ringing the customary Bunco bell in near unison.
A prior record set by students at California State University a little earlier in September 2015 included 748 participants, which broke the previous record of 250 players. Proving that Bunco is a great social game for all ages, the CBU record was designed in part to help students meet each other in what was described as a “version of speed dating.” Rustic Cuffs beat the record five months later in February 2016.
A little help from Oprah a couple of years earlier set the stage for a global Bunco x Cuffs crossover
Donovan started her cufflink empire in her garage in the style of many American business success stories. Her big break, however, was an appearance on Oprah where she gained fame for promoting the notion of “regifting”, something that drew controversy from scores of Oprah watchers and no doubt many Midwesterners who felt too polite to consider re-gifting as anything but rude.
Donovan managed to spin this controversy by creating cuffs for friends, family, and even some celebrities, likely using jewelry, earrings, and other trinkets into new forms. In a delightful twist, a Rustic Cuff bracelet that Donovan had gifted to Gayle King was worn by Oprah herself on the cover of Oprah’s own O magazine. Fans quickly realized King regifted the cuff to Oprah. In 2016, the Rustic Cuff Dallas 1/2” Metallic Stingray was named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things. It all added up to an epic crossover of Oprah fans, jewelry fans, and, apparently, Bunco players.
You might not have the Oprah touch to get your fanbase started. But, if you’re up for a new Bunco challenge, there is currently no known world record set for "Most Buncos in a single game."