Bunco: The Game for Women Beyond Their Kickball Playing Days

Last week when I was in Houston (okay, so I'm STILL behind on my posts, sorry) I stayed an extra night to play bunco. My sister-in-law is involved in a neighborhood bunco group. They discovered that they were going to be down one person for this months game. After much arm twisting and bribing (or her just telling me it was super easy to play and there would be plenty of alcohol and food), I reluctantly (or quickly) chose to stay another day to be their substitute.

They have been doing this for a couple of years so they have it down pretty well. There are twelve players, all of them live on the same street and they all take turns at hosting the bunco game each month. The person hosting provides the alcohol and the others each bring an appetizer. Everyone pitches in $5 and they have several different pots to win at the end (including one for the person that loses. Well, they just get their money back. But pretty funny anyways). Since I was the sub, the person I was substituting for put my $5 in (which was awesome, and I still got a chance to win the pot money)!

We made the big adventurous walk three houses down with our appetizers in tow. Speaking of which, Jennifer provided both recipes (since I am not the chef...especially in the appetizer area). The one I technically "brought" (I'd use that term lightly...I pretty much just mixed the ingredients and paid for it. Jennifer had to find most of the items at the store since my skills in that area are also lacking), but it was a spicy crab and cream cheese dip. (FYI...don't google that as the name. It had a real name, but I don't remember it or how to make it, sorry.) But "my" crab dip was the big hit. Where I got numerous compliments, which I had to rightfully direct towards Jennifer numerous times.

When we showed up many of the neighbors quickly assessed that the lady throwing the party had not provided the alcohol like she was supposed to. Pandemonium quickly ensued. But not the kind of panic you would see at a college party where they run out of alcohol and everyone loudly discusses what should be done. Instead this is the silent whisper kind of panic. The kind where it's only discussed when the hostess was not in ear-shot, so as to not insult her hostess skills.

I swear it was almost as if they were prepared for such an event. It was like all they had to do was turn to each other and say, "implementing alcohol plan B, effective immediately. Go." And slowly but surely, one-by-one, they'd sneak out when the hostess wasn't looking and would run home and grab a bottle of wine/liquor/mixer. I think they were more effective and sneaky at getting alcohol in that house than some military missions are at getting supplies to military posts during war time affairs. Before I knew it, there was more alcohol than twelve people could ever drink!

The problem was what there was to drink. I had a glass of wine but then realized there was another very popular drink amongst them. It was called a Skinny Girl Margarita. Sounded great! I am always looking for a way to make a margarita more healthy so I don't have to feel guilty about drinking it! Here's the problem; the three ingredients are tequila, triple sec and fresh squeezed lime juice. No joke. Two ounces tequila (silver, aka clear), one ounce triple sec and one ounce lime juice equals 150 calories.

It also equals death... in case you were wondering.

Bunco is not a hard game at all. REALLY, it's not. By the second game I was keeping mine and my partners score. It is seriously that easy.

Winning however is not. Unless you are a lucky person. Because that is all it is based on. You really can't control whether you win or not. It is straight luck, which apparently, I don't have. I never made it to the head table (where you get to go if you are winning).

But I did make it through a few Skinny Girl Margaritas. Which with the way tequila makes me feel, that is just about the same as winning. Eventually, each sip no longer tasted like a straight shot, which was also good news. (Good news for the evening, that is. Bad news for the morning, however. Unless you like the feeling of getting hit by a truck AND getting dragged down the road.)

I did get one bunco! But we had a three way tie for the pot on the most buncos. Of course, I lost the roll off for that pot. I didn't even win the loser pot. Oh well, I did get best appetizer (no monetary gain though) and my fair share of tequila for the year (also no monetary gain, more of a general well-being loss actually)!

After the game was over, we left the now not-so-dry house for another neighbors house for a little late-night partying. I wised up on drinking the Skinny Girl Margaritas (or we just ran out of tequila, but I'd like to think I'd have enough sense to have not drank a third one of those), and I switched back to wine. We sat around and chatted for a good while and then we stumbled our way home.

I now see what mothers and/or married women do instead of playing a game like kickball with a bunch of single people. It's called bunco, and if you ask me, they have it better in some ways. You get to eat good food, have girl talk, possibly win money and at the end of it all, walk your way home with no worries of driving!

Well played women, well played.