Move over Yahtzee, Bunco's rolling through

Bunco is a game that requires no talent, skill or brainpower. And that, say the dice game's most ardent devotees, is exactly why they love it.Lewette Wacker, 48, has been riding the highs and lows of shaking some bones with her monthly Bunco group for about 13 years."It's just a game of chance," Wacker, a Roseville resident, said. "I can handle that."Her Bunco sisterhood started when friends who enrolled children at the same nursery school over a decade ago formed the group, and it has been a tradition ever since.Bunco nights out have provided opportunities for many women to gossip, chitchat and bond. Wacker enjoys the chat, without involving intense amounts of gray matter used during her fulltime job as a mother."It is a chance for all of us moms to get away from our kids and not use a lot of our brains," Wacker said.Dice rattling circles have formed all around the world. Births, deaths, graduations, marriages and divorces have all been tearfully talked about on Bunco nights."It's mostly a female thing," said Laurie Balbi of Granite Bay. "We get together with girlfriends and have a fun relaxing night. It is really a very mindless game."Most of the brainpower goes into the girls'-night-out preparation. Bunco parties often have themes that carry over into decorations and prizes that are handed out to top die shakers.The dice game dates back to the late 1800s. Reportedly, it was transplanted from the United Kingdom by a traveling gambler.Now "Bunco Babes" can purchase their official gear on E-Bunco.com, among other online outlets.Over the last century the game has turned from grungy parlor game to female dominated social activity."...Some of the men did things such as shaking the table to make the die turn over and cheating on the score sheets," said Jane McNally of Alpha Delta Kappa.Bunco, aka bunko, is also popular for female oriented charity events. The Roseville Beta Eta chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, International Honorary Organization for Women Educators, sponsors a Bunco event every year to raise money for scholarships in the Roseville Joint Union High School District.This year's event will be hosted at Buljan Middle School on Thursday. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event will begin at 7 p.m.