BUNCO!

Before:

Am I ready for this?

A friend is hostessing the BUNCO* group at her house this week. They are missing some players and I have been asked to be a substitute. How hard can it be? [I would be banned from any game requiring too much thought these days. I used to be fairly good at "spades" and "hearts," but have not played games in so long.]

The last time I played BUNCO was at a friend's birthday party when I was 10 or 11. I vaguely remember that you roll dice and try to get certain numbers. And you move from table to table depending on whether you win or lose.

I think it may be something like Yahtzee,** but with fewer dice, maybe?

In any event, I have baked banana bread and a chocolate cake for dessert. I know of few of the other ladies who will likely be there and I enjoyed the time I have spent with them in the past. I just don't know if I am cut-out for "gaming." But I will let you know.***

After:

Eleven women showed up. We antied up and found a seat at one of the three tables. We needed four per table, but were missing a player so we had a "ghost." We called him "Patrick" as in Swayze. I will not repeat the jokes made at poor Patrick's expense.

Yeah, this didn't happen much, but I did manage to get two of 'em. Only after I got home did I think about the significance of triple sixes. It didn't seem an issue for anyone at the party.

This is more like it...

If you throw three of a kind, not sixes, you get to roll again - a "do over." [No, we did not use these dice, but I love them and so used them for the example.]

We rolled sixes for two hours. OK. We did not really roll that many sixes. Some of these dice were cold. They wouldn't roll a six for love nor money. Each table had its own personality. There was a wooden table (the #1) where the dice rolled a bit as expected. The number two table was an older card table with a bump and a couple of sways. Keeping the dice in play was a little more challenging. And on the # 3 table the dice bounced and scattered in three directions.

Players moved from table to table as the bell rang and scores were tallied. There was a good deal of "trash talking." A strange stuffed animal flew through the air and rested on a new shoulder each time someone yelled, "BUNCO!"

It is surely some kind of a cult, but it was great fun.

I was home before curfew with enough leftovers for the rest of the week's lunches.


NOTES:

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunco - I am not sure these were the same rules we played by.
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahtzee
***I am actually supposed to be working on a project that requires time and attention - something I have not enjoyed in the past few weeks of work - too many interruptions and things only I could do. I have threatened to stay late or come in early or, heaven forbid, go in on the weekend. So, taking an evening for a bit of gambling sounded irresponsible...and absolutely necessary.