Why is Bunco so popular? It’s deceptively simple.

The three-dice gambling game finds a new audience

The Bunco dice game’s rules haven’t changed at all in the century since its introduction to San Francisco during the California gold rush. Plays still take three dice and take turns rolling for 21 points across six rounds. One point is awarded for each die rolled that matches the current round number. The game still starts with a head table, and the game ends when the team with the most Buncos scores 21 points playing the round number they’re rolling on.

It was the same back in the 1880s gambling parlors found the game tantalizingly addictive. It’s said the gambling game was introduced to the US from England by a crooked gambler and huckster. Despite the ease at which people were separated from their money by trick dice and shady practices, the game was irresistibly popular. Gambling parlors became Bunco parlors as players flocked in for a drink and the deceptively simple dice game.

Bunco Squads came from this like-minded gold rush, and Bunco clubs spread across the country. In prohibition times, Bunco (sometimes incorrectly spelled ‘Bunko’) remained a popular game to pass the time while one table of four players or more shared a drink.

As the world turned to war in World War I and World War II, Bunco parlors dried up amid the Great Depression and conflict. After WWII, Bunco’s reputation as anything but a family game kept it out of people’s minds. The social game was typically played with twelve people in a room, which became challenging the suburbanization of America spread people out, too.

Subsequent wars in Korea and Vietnam and the Cold War terror of the 1960s dampened the popularity of the game in favor of other activities. Culturally, it’s hard to know precisely why play declined. It’s possible men who were deployed overseas spent years whiling away time between missions playing nothing but cards and dice games. A generation of soldiers gladly turned in their dice and cards for golf clubs and footballs back home.

But Bunco’s simplicity and easy-to-understand rules make for a fun social game. By the 1980s, Bunco began its second renaissance, primarily with women.

The World Bunco Association is formed to take the game further

Bunco's popularity began to rise again with women in the 1980s forming teams and taking turns hosting players at home. The game was more of an excuse to gather friends together and have social fun than a serious tournament.

Formed in 1996, the World Bunco Association was chartered and began to take the game into more mainstream popularity for two new generations who had likely forgotten or never heard of the game. Bunco garnered popularity in pop culture and TV sitcoms like Desperate Housewives, further raising its awareness. Groups added prizes, involved kids, and sipped refreshments for hours with a casual game to bind everyone together.

Mark Twain's adage that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme is true for Bunco. The rules and simplicity are a selling point, but just as young gamers today enjoy casual mobile gaming on their phones, it's precisely that simplicity that proves hard to resist.

The game is best played and enjoyed as a way to casually pass the time without the investment of long-play games like Monopoly or skill-based games like Scrabble. While both are undoubtedly popular, they serve a different group of players. Bunco, in a sense, is the casual mobile game of the century and you can imagine how anyone interested in getting together with friends or family today can forget about its gambling game roots.

Play the Bunco dice game anytime online

You can play Bunco online anytime at PlayBunco.com. Virtual AI players take turns rolling, and it works on any device—no apps or software to install.