The Buffalo Club is an international Friendship Group and drinking game, where members have to drink with their left hand. Originating from Round Table Southern Africa, Tablers are inducted to the Buffalo Club for life. If a member is caught drinking with their right (wrong) hand, another member will call out “BUFFALO!!!”, and a short ritual takes place.
While it is not officially part of Round Table, it has become ubiquitous in international settings. Members show their membership by wearing pins, or having Extreme Buffalo Tattoos.
Joining the Club
There are no official qualifications to who can join the Buffalo club. Instead, there is an unwritten understanding of who deserves to join. Suffice it is to say, that by being an exemplary Tabler and attending national and international events, would increase one’s probability of being invited to join.
Since the group originates from Round Table Southern Africa, Tablers are inducted to the Buffalo Club, traditionally by a South African Tabler, and with reference of a veteran Tabler.
During national or international events, high-ranking Tablers may carry out the induction process.
Rules
After having fulfilled the requirements, you can be a member of The Buffalo Club.
Rules:
1. You may only drink with your left hand.
2. You may be Buffalo’ed without a badge, but you must be wearing one to Buffalo someone.
3. You may not deliberately Buffalo yourself.
4. Your membership is for life.
5. Use the Buffalo Greeting when greeting fellow Buffaloes.
6. The wording after being Buffalo’ed is:
That was most reasonable, thank you.
May I please have another?
History
It is said that the history of buffalo stems from the wild west, where it was essential to be able to shoot anyone at anytime. Therefore it was important never to drink your drink with the hand you would normally shoot with, which gave birth to the rule of the non-dominant hand. Because the game essentially was a matter of life or death, it could never be stopped but would run continually throughout one’s life. The game was then perfected during the Gold Rush by the famous pioneer “Chris Jones”, a man amongst legends. Jones would use the drinking game as a strategy to intoxicate rival pioneers and then proceed to steal their gold.
Special situations and exceptions
Playing Buffalo applies to all alcoholic drinks. When doing shots, since finishing the drink in your hand is not possible, a second shot must be consumed if the shot is done with the dominant hand. Buffalo does not extend to non-alcoholic drinks, as calling Buffalo on somebody drinking, for instance, a hot cup of tea could have disastrous results. Calling buffalo on a non-alcoholic drink is considered a “false buffalo”. If you have buffalo called against you when drinking from someone else’s drink, you must finish it and buy another drink to replace it.
When drinking with straws, both the straw and drinking vessel (ie. glass/bottle) must be in the non-dominant hand. A popular method with straws is to “check” the straw, which involves making contact with it with your hand before drinking commences.
The only get-out of finishing your drink if you are “buffalo’d” is to buy every other buffalo in your presence a drink. This is typically frowned upon in most situations, but fully acceptable if the person is driving later that night.
If a member is “buffalo’d” on a beverage that may cause physical harm, e.g. a full bottle of spirits, the buffalo members present may decide on a suitable compromise.
One is immune to getting buffaloed if one is actively consuming an alcoholic beverage in each hand (double fisting).
Cheating
Buffalos are usually honorable about their game, but it is possible to cheat in the presence of people who don’t know you are a Buffalo, who don’t know about the game, or, of course, when drinking alone. It is a major transgression to lie to a fellow Buffalo about which hand is your dominant hand. When in doubt about another players integrity it is acceptable to ask them to perform a task with their non-drinking hand in order to ascertain whether they are telling the truth. Penalties for those who lie or those who unjustly accuse someone of lying can be determined by the players.
Pin Versions
There are currently three official pin designs. The first one that circulated consisted of a small full-body of a cape buffalo. The second, likely more circulated version consists of a buffalo’s head. The third is a bulkier buffalo head and includes a small rondel on the left ear of the buffalo.
Extreme Buffalo
An alternative to having a pin, is to have a Buffalo Tattoo. This adds the convenience of always having the buffalo at hand. Members who wear tattoos are called “Extreme Buffalos”.
Muffalo Club
A parallel organisation for members of Ladies Circle. The custodian of the Muffalo Club in Round Table International is the South Cape Area Table Ladies, South Africa.
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