CRIBBAGE!

In my latest publication of Cribbage World, the monthly publication of the American Cribbage Congress - the following tid-bit was mentioned: "According to an Associated Press report, when reporters asked where he was when he heard that Brett Favre had been traded to the Jets, new Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers replied, "I was in the locker room playing cribbage with some of my teammates." Pretty cool, huh? I wonder if he is any good!

CRIBBAGE!

GARDINER, Maine -- The World War II veterans charged with illegal gaming at their local American Legion Post have plead guilty to a lesser charge of "prohibited pegging" and now face sentencing before city judges. Billy "Point Man" Pegs, Rodney "Cut Throat" Crandal and John "The Jack" Intrown, all in their mid to late 80s, were arrested last week after a raid on an American Legion post by state inspectors in Maine. "We know we did wrong," said Pegs. "And we have all agreed to seek counseling and to perform community service far away from the 'temptations of the board.' Bottom line is we have been so caught up in the lifestyle for so long it is going to be a difficult transition. Part of our sentence will be to talk to young people... tell them about the pitfalls of pegging to often, or for money."Fellow crib-criminal Intrown agrees. "You might think a penny a point is nothing, but think of it over the term of a lifetime! We've been playing since World War II for god's sake! I'm just glad it has finally come to an end before someone got hurt!" he cried.Court officials say the three men face a lengthy course of treatment to help them overcome their addiction to the game. "We don't want to lock up these war heroes," said Judge Johnny Suckling. "We just want them to get the help they need and not go back to the self-destructive behavior. So, we've got them enrolled in Cribbaholics Unanimous - a place where they will meet others like themselves and be connected to a worldwide community of recovering cribbaholics via the online resources."According to Suckling, there are many more people suffering out there who can learn a valuable lesson from these men."Lets face it," Suckling said, "These are men of the great generation that fought a world war. If they can get help so can others... just type "Cribbaholics Unanimous" into your favorite online search engine and let the healing begin. Your fears of being skunked are over!" The story above is a satire or parody, and it is entirely fictitious. Credit to web site www.thespoof.com

CRIBBAGE!

I had a visitor to the blog that left comments under the last cribbage posting. His name is Joe Kane and he is currently deployed in Iraq. He found our Cribbage Flat blog site after doing a search for cribbage. Based on his comments and some follow up to his site, I ordered a cribbage board called, “Crash Cribbage”. I’m excited about learning and playing another variation on cribbage. Joe’s site is: http://cribblog.blogspot.com/ called “Cribbaholics Unanimous”. Check it out!

CRIBBAGE!

What’s new in our cribbage world? Well, Wade, Donna and I played this past ACC cribbage season with the local grass roots club, #106, the Lone Star Club. But lately we have been playing Kings Cribbage and are hooked. Kings Cribbage is played with tiles similar to Scrabble, but use the equivalent of two decks of cards, and you count and score like regular cribbage! We love it!

CRIBBAGE!

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7 8 9 Hey all you cribbage players! Have you ever played any other cribbage games besides the standard pegging game? There are a few more around, for example – there is Kings Cribbage, Criblets, and a ‘mat’ game with 25 squares. Donna and I have them all, and we play them all. The ‘mat’ game was introduced to us from Allen friends Roxie & Bob. We bought Kings Cribbage and Criblets through a web site that advertises in Cribbage World, out American Cribbage Congress monthly newsletter. What fun! The two boxed games are pictured above. And Donna, Wade and I are ‘hooked’! Also pictured above are a few of my favorite cribbage boards out of 70+ in my collection of boards. Some of these are boards that have been given to me as gifts for various reasons. Each photo has a quarter in it to give perspective to the board size. Photo #1 - Kings Cribbage & Criblets, both are tile games similar to Scrabble but count like cribbage. #2 – a custom board by friend Bruce Howard of cribbageboard.com for the original Cribbage Flat. #3 – a photo of the many travel boards I have, some that fold, and some that just plain small & convenient, #4 – a gift from friend Kay Hust, #5 – a custom board made by friend Lance Benson, #6 – a custom board and storage drawer made by friend John Dush, #7 – a gift from friends Bob & Roxie, purchased in Wisconsin, #8 – a retirement gift from work friends, #9 - and one of my personal favorites, my Betty Boop board with a laughing machine in the bottom!

CRIBBAGE

Hey everyone! Here are the results from the December 2nd cribbage tournament! Congratulations to Neil Kimsey for another championship! 1st place – Neil Kimsey with an 18/8 card, $325 and the trophy board 2nd place – Brad Cross with a 16/8/52 card, $200, 3rd place – Steve Prather with a 16/8/33 card, $115 4th place – Dennis Steigman with a 14/7 card, $80 5th place – Gerry Adolfson with a 13/6 card, $60 Brad Cross & Toby Cross, my brother and youngest son won the partners pool; and sorry, I didn’t get the remaining pool play winners. Note that Brad beat out Steve on the point spread, and Gerry took 5th over Toby with a better point spread! Other players in the tournament: Margie Lehto, E.D. Martin, Fred Haines, Larry Anderson, Jane Wiger, Chuck McDonald, AJ Clarke, and Larry & Gail Wollan.

CRIBBAGE TIPS

HOW TO SPEED UP YOUR CARD COUNTING: “One thing that bothers players who participate in leagues or tournaments are slow counters. If you are a newcomer to the game and you are not experienced, there are ways to improve yourself. The ways listed below are meant to help your counting speed. 1) Always count your hand in the same orderly manner. You need a system. This eliminates error and oversight. Count in the following order: A. Count all your fifteens. B. Count your runs. C. Count pairs. D. Count your flush. E. Lastly, count nobs. 2) Always count your hand as soon as the starter card is cut and before the play starts. You cannot realize how this helps you become a better and faster counter! I feel it helps because: A. It limits the time you have to count. B. It makes you concentrate more. C. You learn to recognize hands without counting them. D. If you have a board strategy, it will help you to know whether to play on or off in run situations. E. It makes for a faster game and a faster game is more exciting! You will still have time to check your count after the play had ended. 3) PRACTICE! You cannot expect to be a good counter playing only once or twice a month. The best way to practice is in a game situation against someone. However, if you do not have anyone to play against, cribbage solitaire is the best way. Cribbage solitaire can be found on several cribbage sites and a game can be played in about two minutes! Credit to “Cribbage – A new Concept” by John Chambers

CRIBBAGE TIP

Setting traps in pegging can net tidy sums of points and can be the deciding factor in the game. The easiest card to trap is the 5, the next easiest to trap is the J, then the A, the 2, and then the 3. The Nondealer 5-Card Trap First, let's trap the 5. The most common hand in cribbage is "ten" cards combined with one or more 5s. In fact, this hand will be played about one time in four. This hand offers several varieties of traps. Let's describe the hands you must hold if you're the non-dealer and playing the first pegging card. The slickest and easiest trap: your hand must contain three key cards, 6-6-4. Lead a 6. Jake cannot play his 5 (this would allow you to score an easy three-card run) and is forced to play a "ten" card. You play your other 6 and the trap is sprung! Jake must play a 5, making the count 27. You follow with your 4 for 31 -- a run of three and two points for 31. A total of five points. Poor Jake comes up empty! This play works whether Jake has one or two 5s. Another variation of the 5 trap; Uncle Jake must have two 5s to spring the trap so it is a little tougher to pull off. In this case, you must have four key cards: 6-7-7-x (the second 7 could also be an 8 or 9). Lead the second 7 (or the 8 or 9), and almost certainly, Jake will respond with a safe "ten" card. You respond with your "sleeper ten" (if you're lucky, you'll get a pair for two points). If the trap works, this will be a go. Jake is forced to lead his remaining "ten" card. You respond with your 7, forcing one of the trapped 5s into the open to run the count to 22. You then add your 6 for a run of three and a go for four. Both traps usually net five points for you, and one point for Uncle Jake. A profit of four points pegging when you're the non-dealer is excellent, indeed! - Republished from Play Winning Cribbage by permission. Text copyright © 2002 by DeLynn Colvert. All rights reserved.

CRIBBAGE

WOW! Brandon Prather blows away the tournament field with a high card of 21 points in the annual summer Harvest Days tourney! Special thanks to Gerry Adolfson and Margie Lehto who graciously hosted 18 players on Saturday at Cribbage Hill. Congrats to all the winners! The Prather family ‘connection’, by blood or marriage, took 4 of the top 5 spots. 1st place - $350 and the coveted custom trophy crib board, went to Brandon Prather; 2nd place - $250, Ed Martin; 3rd place - $150, Lee Prather; 4th place - $100, AJ Clarke; 5th place - $50, Steve Prather; 6th place - $18, Gerry Adolfson; and 7th place – custom cribbage pegs, Bruce Cross. In pool play, Brandon & AJ took the $180 partners pool, and the other pool winners were Jimmy Robertson, 1st four-of-a-kind; Brandon Prather won highest skunk margin with a 57; and Bruce Cross won the 24 hand, and the combined hand score with a 32. No one won the 1st five-card-crib-flush, and that pool money created the 6th place pot, pushing the custom pegs from 6th to 7th place. Brandon’s high skunk margin barely beat out Ed Martin’s 52. All pool winners won $18. Other players in the tournament were Larry Anderson, Josh Behrens, Richard Block, Toby Cross, Fred Haines, Neil Kimsey, Margie Lehto, Mark Posey, Greg Robertson, and Dennis Steigman. The next tournament date hasn’t yet been decided! It was great seeing y’all again! Keep on peggin’ . . . .

CRIBBAGE!

What's new with our cribbage lives? Well, we continue to play in the weekly 9 -game tournaments on Wednesday nights at the Wild Turkey Sports Bar in SW Dallas. This is Grass Roots Club #106 of the American Cribbage Congress, referred to as the Lone Star Club. Donna has absolutely been smokin' over the last six weeks. She has kept us in the 'black' with her tournament and pool winnings! You go girl! We're also gearing up for the Annual Harvest Days Cribbage Tournament, being held Saturday, July 21st at Cribbage Hill, hosted by Gerry Adolfson and Margie Lehto. When we made the big move to Texas, Gerry bought all our tournament boards, cards, tables, chairs and related materials. He has graciously held tournaments about every three months since the summer of '05.