LeROY - Now and then, a joyful howl rises from the bunco table. Someone has rolled three sixes, a "bunco."

Now and then, there comes a moan. Someone rolled a one, two and three. That resets a score at zero.

The dice game is bunco or bunko or bonko. The rules vary. But at the club based in LeRoy, it's spelled bunco and this rule applies: If you are there to win, if you think this is about rolling great scores, then you obviously don't get it.

Everyone here gets it.

The best part of the game is at break time, when the women saunter into the kitchen to fill plates, and after the rolling ends, when they socialize.

As Helen Beaty explains, "We don't play to win. We play to eat."

After playing 15 games, each lasting about five minutes, they congregate at the head table, where they regale each other with stories of the past and present. When times are tough, the friends share troubles and lend support. They give updates about kids and grandkids.

On a cozy December night, Carolyn Conn is taking her turn as bunco host, at her home just outside town.

Conn is the only one left of the original eight who started the club, for no particular reason, in 1972. But three other members have been coming monthly since the '70s: Evelyn Johnson, Beaty and Bev Beecher.

They've never adopted a formal name, although they've been dubbed the Bunco Squad by the husbands, who never attend a game night but join for parties and community theater outings.

Most club vacancies result from someone moving.

Helen Ester joined in 1991; Bev Hamblin, away on vacation on this night, came in 2000. Gail Hanafin entered the club in 2003 and at age 55 is the youngest member.

Carol Chevalier of Normal is the latest addition and the only one living outside LeRoy and its vicinity. She used to be a substitute player. In 2006, Marcia Long died. She was Chevalier's best friend and her sister-in-law. Chevalier filled Long's spot.

Marcia's death prompted the only cancellation of a bunco night in recent memory. Her name comes up in conversation; her memory produces smiles and lumps in the throat.

The game itself is taken seriously - half-seriously, maybe. The scores are supposed to be accurate. There's an air of frustration at moments.

In this group, the gist of bunco is to roll sixes.

"We lost the sixes on our dice," Beecher complains at one point.

At another, Beaty announces, "I'm going to throw left-handed next time."

Bunco is raw luck. And that's attractive in this setting, because bunco lends itself to catch-up talk while a game is in progress.

"I want coasters like these," Chevalier mentions between rolls. "I think these are lovely."

"I got them from Tuesday Morning," said Conn, touching off discussion on the store's stock.

Beecher has played pinochle. It requires continuous focus. "Bridge," she adds, "looks way too complicated." Hanafin knows of local euchre tournaments in which the players "are in it for blood."

The rolling starts at 7:30 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.

The women then collaborate on dishes and the kettle is warmed. The next decision is coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

Hanafin announces the upcoming movie; her family owns the Princess Theatre.

In talk that extends past 10:30 p.m., the ladies riff on epic fights they've had with spouses. Four of the group members are married; four are widowed.

Observation: The moment you start giving your husband the silent treatment is the same moment you start thinking of things you absolutely must tell him.

Random anecdotes pop up - like the time two of the members were walking home and came across a rollaway bed left on the curb. Both wanted it. One claimed it. So they rolled the bed down the street. Until they came to a dresser. They took the dresser and left the rollaway bed outside this stranger's house. They chuckle over the bewilderment of the homeowner who, they like to imagine, came outside before garbage collection and noticed that the dresser was gone - but a bed appeared in its place.

For the night's entertainment, Chevalier recites a poem, a 1960s version of "A Visit From St. Nicholas." This version has hipster language; she learned it when she was about 18. Those were back in the days when she and friends dressed like beatniks, or what they thought beatniks should look like, and had parties that included poetry reading.

Miller Park enters the conversation, and that brings Marcia Long back again. She and Chevalier used to perform at the Miller Park bandstand. One would perform on stage; the other would applaud from the otherwise empty amphitheater.

Bunco night does require club business.

Through the evening, Ester makes notes for minutes, which might contain mention of club members' news and the high quality of the barbecue.

Minutes always contain highest scorer, lowest scorer, most-frequent bunco roller and most frequent 1-2-3 roller. All categories are rewarded with little prizes. Darlene Maiden, substituting this night, won a pair of Christmas socks as the traveling prize.

During this late period, Ester reads the minutes from the November game and also from the annual Christmas party, which included dinner at the Ozark House and a party at the Chevaliers' home.

The minutes note the foul weather and the icy streets of the day. The party included opening of gifts and the drawing for 2008 Secret Santas, who give gifts throughout the year.

The minutes conclude: "We said our farewells and headed home with our great gifts."

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Bunco, the LeRoy version

• There are two tables with four players each. One table is designated as the head table.

• The players are in teams of two.

• They take turns rolling three dice.

• One point is awarded for every six rolled on the die.

• A game ends when a team at the head table reaches 21 points.

• A roll of three sixes is a "bunco" and is 21 points. Therefore, a bunco rolled at the head table will instantly end a game.

• A roll of 1-2-3 puts a team's score back to zero.

• A game runs about five minutes and is officially ended by the ringing of a bell. After each game, players rotate so they are playing with and against all the players in a given night. Each player records her team's score for each game. At the end of the night, the scores for all the games are totaled to determine highest and lowest rollers.

• Prizes are awarded for highest score, lowest score, most buncos rolled and most 1-2-3s rolled.

• Traveling prize: A roll of three of a kind makes a player the keeper of a traveling prize that makes the rounds throughout the night. The prize goes to the person who possesses it at the end of the evening.

• Players pay $3 a night. The money goes to next month's host to pay for prizes and supplies.

• Players bring good food and treats to the event.

• Small talk at the table during the game is great. An error in a person's score is forgiven. Sore losing and serious gloating are out of the question.