Bunco began as a swindle in 19th-century England under the name “eight dice cloth” and reached San Francisco around 1855, where “bunco” became slang for a con. After the American Civil War it turned into a parlour game, and during Prohibition in the 1920s it resurfaced in speakeasies. From the 1980s it became a popular club and family game in the United States, where hosts take turns holding bunco nights with many tables.
Sources: Bunco