Cribbage
The mixture of luck and skill in Cribbage is particularly interesting.
Although you have no control over the cards you receive (and, therefore, the points you score), there is much opportunity for skillful play. A good player can make many more points from a given hand than a novice. However, the element of chance is such that a single high-scoring hand can strongly affect the outcome of the whole game. Thus a rank beginner can comfortably beat an expert, given only a little luck. Over many games, though, the luck of the deal should average out and the skillful player’s edge will become apparent.
Cribbage belongs to the family of card games known as ‘adders’ – that is, games in which the idea is to add successive card values to a running total with the aim of making certain totals – in this case, 31. In the first phase of the hand, players take turns playing a card from their hand which is added to the running total. Two points are scored for making the total 15 or 31. Pairs and sequences also earn points. Once the hands have been played out in this way, the players then score points based on the pairs and sequences in their hands, plus the combinations that add up to 15.
And just to9 make thing even more int6eresting try Lowball Cribbage.Lowball cribbage follows the rules of regular cribbage, with one major difference. In regular cribbage, the first to 121 (or 61) is the winner, but in lowball, the first to 121 (or 61) is the loser.
Because of this, hands that are good in regular cribbage, are bad in lowball, and 5’s are the worst cards that you can be dealt, especially if you are the dealer (and therefore own the crib). Its a fun variation that really gets you thinking. Many of the crib leagues play Lowball as a variation
Interesting Cribbage Facts
The highest possible hand at Cribbage is 29 points. It comprises all four 5s and the Jack of nobs. In tournament play there is usually a special award for a 29, whether it be cash or merely glory. A 28, which comprises four 5s and any ten-card but the nob Jack, is also worthy of special mention.
There are several ‘impossible totals’ – point counts which cannot be made with any hand. The lowest such total is 19 – hence the expression ‘a nineteen hand’, or ‘I have nineteen’, almost universally (perhaps sarcastically) used to describe a zero-point hand.
Cribbage has given the English language a number of expressions which it is hard to imagine doing without, including “level pegging”, “what a turn-up/a turn-up for the books”, “streets ahead”, and “pegged out”.
As the game outcome can change at any time, when the cards fall in the right direction, a common expression in cribbage, is “it ain’t over till it’s over! Happy cribbing !
