MORE SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

• You’ve heard the term “bunco squads” on TV and movie police shows. The game of bunco is deeply ingrained into the history of America. The game, originally called 8-dice cloth, began in 18th century England.  It was introduced in the San Francisco, California area in 1855 by a gambler who made his way across North America, including multiple visits to California during the gold rush. Along the way he changed a few of the rules, and renamed it banco. A few years later the name evolved to bunco or bunko.

• Around the same time that bunco was being played, a Spanish card game called banka was also making its rounds within gambling communities. The combination of bunco dice and banka cards soon showed up at the gambling facilities. These locations soon became known as bunco parlors. Since many gamblers found themselves parted from large quantities of money at these parlors, the word “bunco” became synonymous with scammed and swindled.  

• After the Civil War and into the new century, bunco thrived as the economy recovered and the population grew. Nearly all the large cities in the U.S. had bunco games in operation between 1870 and 1880. All levels of society took to the parlor game ... some located in plush, lavish surroundings, and others in more stark surroundings, or offices.

• A wonderful and fun way to promote social interaction, the traditional family or parlor game of bunco flourished throughout the Victorian Era and prior to World War I. Groups generally consisted of 8-12 people, with as many as 20 people enjoying an evening of friendly competition, as well as drink, food, and conversation.

• Bunco gambling parlors resurfaced in various regions of the US. during the prohibition period and the roaring 20s. Chicago, Illinois had the most gambling parlors and speak-easy’s. And, who were detectives who raided these parlors? You guessed it! … they were called the “bunco squads.”