Play Bunco Online

What is Bunco?

Bunco is the dice game that turns a living room into a party. Three dice, six rounds, a bell, and a room that cheers whenever somebody throws three of a kind.

This is the whole game, played by the standard party rules. You sit down at the Head table with a partner and two opponents, ring the bell, and roll for ones. Two more tables of computer guests play beside you at the same moment, so nobody waits for anybody.

Win and you stay at the top. Lose and you move, swap partners and try again with the next number. At the end of the night the prizes come out: most wins, most Buncos, the last Bunco and a booby prize.

There is also a quick game for one table, against the computer or with two to four people sharing a screen. It is free, with no download and no account.

How to play Bunco

1. 

   1Ring the bell to start

   The party is ready the moment the page opens. You are the gold star at the Head table. Press Ring the bell, tap the green felt or hit Space, and round one begins at every table.

2. 

   2Roll for the round’s number

   When the dice come to you, press Roll. The chip in the corner shows the number you want. Every die that matches is a point for you and your partner, and you roll again.

3. 

   3Shout Bunco

   Three dice on the round’s number is a Bunco for 21 points. The table erupts, confetti flies and the fuzzy die travels to your seat. You hold it until somebody else rolls a Bunco.

4. 

   4Watch the room

   The other tables roll at the same time as yours. The cards on the right show every table’s score, and the bar under the Head table fills as it closes in on 21 and the bell.

5. 

   5Win, lose and change tables

   After the bell you get a stamp for the round, the result at every table, and where you sit next. Winners climb towards the Head table and you meet a new partner each time.

6. 

   6Check your score sheet

   Press Sheet or S for the paper tally: a W or an L for every round, your points, and a little die for each Bunco. The room tab ranks all twelve guests.

7. 

   7Collect the prizes

   When the sixth round is done it is prize time. The champion is crowned, the prizes go round the room and your own night is added to the club record. Play again with one press.

The rules in full

1. A game of Bunco is six rounds. Round one is rolled for ones, round two for twos, and so on up to sixes. The number you are rolling for is shown above the table all the time.
2. Four players sit at each table. The player opposite you is your partner for that round, and the two of you share one score.
3. The Head table rings the bell and every table starts rolling. Press Ring the bell, tap the felt or press Space.
4. On your turn you roll all three dice. Each die that shows the round’s number scores 1 point.
5. Three dice all showing the round’s number is a Bunco, worth 21 points. Three of a kind of any other number is a Mini Bunco, worth 5 points.
6. Keep rolling for as long as you score. A roll that scores nothing passes the dice to the player on your left.
7. The round ends the moment a team at the Head table reaches 21. The bell rings again, the other tables finish the turn in hand, and the higher score wins each table. A tie is rolled off.
8. Everyone marks a win or a loss on their score sheet, along with any Buncos.
9. Then the room moves. Head table winners stay where they are, and the Head table’s losers go down to the Last table. At every other table the winners move up one table and the losers stay. Everybody takes a new partner.
10. After the sixth round the prizes are given out for most wins, most Buncos, the last Bunco, most Mini Buncos and most losses. A tie for a prize is rolled off.
11. In the quick game there is one table. The first side to reach 21 wins the round, the most rounds won takes the game, and a tie goes to total points.

Bunco tips and strategy

• Bunco is pure luck. There is no best move, so relax, roll fast and enjoy the noise.
• Rounds at the Head table are the short ones. A single Bunco there ends the round on the spot.
• Stay at the Head table and you ring the bell every round. Lose there and you start again from the Last table.
• Away from the Head table there is no target to reach. You are simply trying to be ahead when the bell goes.
• A Mini Bunco is worth five ordinary matches, and you still keep the dice afterwards.
• Turn on Auto-roll when you want to sit back, and change the pace to Lightning for a night that is over in a few minutes.
• The fuzzy die is only yours for now. Whoever rolls the last Bunco of the night keeps it and takes a prize.

Bunco rules: the standard party game

This version plays Bunco by the rules most groups use at home: tables of four, partners sitting opposite each other, six rounds from ones to sixes, and a Head table that controls the bell.

A round lasts until a Head table team has 21 points. That makes the Head table the clock for the whole room, which is why every other table plays to be in front rather than to reach a number.

Bunco scoring: points, Buncos and Mini Buncos

One point for each die that shows the round’s number. Roll two fours in round four and your team has two points, and the dice stay with you.

All three on the round’s number is a Bunco. It scores 21 at once, which at the Head table wins the round outright.

Three of a kind of the wrong number is a Mini Bunco, worth 5. Three fives in round two is a Mini Bunco; three twos would have been the real thing.

A full Bunco party against the computer

Party night seats you with eleven computer guests at three tables: Head, Middle and Last. You can also play with eight guests at two tables or sixteen at four.

All the tables roll together. While you throw, the cards beside the felt show the other scores ticking up, so the room feels busy and the round never stalls.

A night is one set of six rounds, and you can stretch it to two sets or four. Relaxed pace lets you follow every roll, Lively keeps things moving and Lightning finishes a round in seconds.

Quick Bunco for 2 to 4 players on one screen

The quick game is Bunco for a small group. It uses a single table and the same scoring, with two, three or four seats.

Play it alone against the computer, or share the screen. Each seat can be a person or a computer player, so two friends can take on two computer guests, or four people can play as two partnerships.

House rules you can switch on

Mini Buncos can be worth 5 points or not played at all. Many groups score only the round’s number, and that is one tap away.

After the bell, the other tables can finish the turn in hand, which is the usual way, or stop at once.

The travelling fuzzy die can follow real Buncos only, or move on any three of a kind so that it changes hands more often. New rules start with the next game, so a night in progress is never upset.

Fair dice and no skill levels

Most games here let you choose how strong the computer is. Bunco cannot, and we would rather say so plainly. There are no decisions in Bunco, only rolls, so the only way to make a computer player “harder” would be to fix the dice.

We never do that. Every seat, yours included, throws the same fair dice, and the faces you see are the real result.

In place of Easy, Medium and Hard you get the choices that really change a night: how many guests, how many sets, the house rules and the pace.

The score sheet, the fuzzy die and the prizes

The score sheet looks like the paper tally from a real Bunco night. Each round shows the number rolled for, the score and a W or an L, with a small die drawn for every Bunco.

The fuzzy die sits beside whoever rolled the most recent Bunco, and the player holding it at the end wins the Last Bunco prize.

Prize time names the champion and hands out Most wins, Most Buncos, Last Bunco, Most Mini Buncos and the booby prize for most losses, plus extras such as Fifty-fifty and High roller. Ties are rolled off, just as they are at a party.

Your own results go into a club record on your device: nights played, wins, Buncos, your best night and seven badges to earn.

A short history of Bunco

Bunco grew out of an English dice game of the 1800s. It crossed to San Francisco in 1855 as a gambling game, and the rough parlours that ran it gave American English the word “bunco” for a swindle.

In the 1920s it was played in speakeasies, and the police squads sent to raid them were called bunco squads.

The game we play today took off in the 1980s as a friendly night for twelve neighbours with snacks, small prizes and a bell. It is also spelled Bunko, and the rules are the same.

Free Bunco on your phone, tablet or computer

The game runs in the browser on any screen. On a phone you tap the felt or the big button; on a computer you can play a whole night with the Space bar.

Other keys: S opens the score sheet, N starts a new game, M turns the sound on or off and the question mark opens the rules.

Your game is saved as you play. Close the page in the middle of round four and it will be waiting for you when you come back.

Bunco FAQ