Bunco, bingo and remembering to the end

A Virginia City event doesn't have to be big to be fun. Weekly and monthly events take place at local saloons that are a hoot, if only for the antics of the locals and tourists that participate in them.

The Fourth of July event was memorable, but another memorable event took place Tuesday at the Ponderosa Saloon - Ladies' Bunco Night.

Bunco, a dice game, is held the third Tuesday of every month at the saloon. It's for women only, played with three dice and requires the players to divide into teams of four, drink, make fun of their husbands and the bartender's attempt at disco dancing, all the while trying to keep their minds on the game.

I am a novice Bunco player, playing for the second time. I had to relearn everything because I had so much, uh, fun the first time I didn't remember how to play.

As it was explained to me, score sheets are kept. One group is deemed the "head table" and that table begins and ends games by ringing a cow bell. There are six rounds, one for each number on a die. Players get one point for each die showing the round number, five points for all three dice showing the same number and 21 points for three dice showing the round number. You keep rolling until someone gets to 21 points at the head table, making them the winner for that table and ends the round. Whoever had the most points at each of the other tables wins their rounds, but can't win until someone at the head table wins.

If you throw three dice with the round number, you call out "Bunco," but the game goes on unless you are at the head table.

Make sense? Try learning it after you've had a few.

Tuesday included local residents Terri Henry, Kristin Chandler, Tami Migan, Barbara Benner, Kathy Wade and Garden Grove, Calif., resident Patti Kohler, in town to visit a relative and help with babysitting duties.

Five dollars gets you in to Ladies Bunco Night, and small amounts of prize money can be won. I must have caught on, because I won eight games and $10 for the night. Of course, I spent $15 to join the game, have a few drinks and tip Larry, the disco-dancing bartender. But it was great fun, and good for women to take over the bar for a change.

•••

Another fun night is Wednesday at the Delta Saloon and Casino for Blowout Bingo. It's just like regular bingo, except you have to cover the entire card and insult Bob Moody, who calls the numbers.

The game cost a few bucks a card, and the jackpot could be $200 or more, depending on the number of players. The next two games are regular bingo, with $10 prizes. After the bingo games, a lottery number is given to all those who were playing the slots at 8 p.m. is drawn, and the winner gets 100 pulls on either Megabucks or Wheel of Fortune.

I won once, but had to split the $240 or so prize money with three other people. Like all gambling, most of the time you don't win.

The fun part is being with your friends and neighbors and any tourist who is a good enough sport to hang out. It's also fun harassing Bob. If he calls out "I-25" some smart aleck will yell, "You wish, Bob, you're older than that." Often you'll hear "Come On Bob," "Stop screwing around, Bob, call my number," and sometimes offering him bribes. It's good natured, as are the universal groans when someone gets bingo.

•••

For my final bar story, we have the case of the late Don Johnson, a classical guitarist who died recently of lung cancer, and was remembered at Musicians Jams in his honor at three different bars; Kitty's Longbranch, the East 50, and the Washoe Club. He performed in all of them, and they all wanted to say good-bye. About a dozen musicians made one or more of the jams and we all toasted Don and autoharpist Daniel Yuhasz, who died around the same time.

A teary Tom Zachry, who was the last to see Don before he passed away, told of how the dying guitarist introduced him to a nurse, patted his hand, said "This is my best buddy."

Don remembered all his buddies by leaving a good-bye gift at the East 50 - he knew his days were few, so before he went to the hospital for his final days, he left enough money at the bar for two rounds of drinks for the house at his memorial. He apparently knew it would be well-attended, and it was.



• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.