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Grandpa's Musings
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CRIBBAGE—CHAPTER I (from book by John E. Chambers) The Five Basic Parts of Cribbage The standard fifty-two card deck is used in Cribbage. It is a card game which can be played by two or as many as eleven people. The two player game is the best two handed card game and is the most strategic of the cribbage games. Cribbage is scored on a cribbage board. A standard cribbage board is designed for two players and has two rows of thirty holes (per player) broken down into groups (or blocks) of five holes. Each group of 30 holes is called a street. A standard game is 121 holes or twice around the standard cribbage board, plus one. When scoring points for “pegging”, a player uses two small pegs, jumping the back peg over the front one in leap frog fashion, so that he does not lose track of his present position when scoring points. When pegging, whether during the Play or the Count, the player moves his back peg ahead of his front peg the appropriate number of holes. When pegging on a standard two street board, a player starts on the outside street, moves his pegs up the street in the above fashion and then moves them down the inside of the cribbage board. Once a player reaches hole 121, his opponent may not count his hand and/or crib, regardless of his position. There are five basic parts to the game of Cribbage: the Deal, the Discard, the Cut, the Play, and the Count. A brief summary of each part is presented below. In later chapters, a more detailed analysis of each part will be discussed. THE DEAL The first part of a cribbage game is the Deal. To decide the first deal, each player cuts the deck. The player with the lowest card (Ace being low, King, high), receives the deal. The dealer passes out six cards, one at a time, first to his opponent the to himself. THE DISCARD The second part if the game is the Discard. After the deal has been completed, each player discards two cards, leaving each player with four cards. The four cards that were discarded are used to form an extra hand for the dealer, called the “Crib”. The Crib is kept on the Dealer’s side of the table. Neither player may examine the contents of the Crib until after the dealer he had counted his hand. Discarding requires judgment, which comes with experience. As you decide your discard, you will need to know your position, relative to your opponent’s; whether you need points to get into position; or whether you want to break up the Crib—attempting to stop your opponent from gaining the position her wants. Discarding also consists of knowing all the possible options and alternatives in relation to the cards in your hand. THE CUT FOR THE STARTER The third part of the cage is the Cut. After both players have discarded, the nondealer cuts the deck. The dealer then takes the top card off the bottom pack and places it face p on top of the entire deck The card which the dealer places face up on the deck is called the “Starter”, with the exception of a cut Jack (His Heels), will be used only in the Count, which is the final part of the game. THE PLAY The fourth part of Cribbage is the Play, which begins after the cut for the Started. The nondealer, who plays first, lays down a card in front of himself and states its numerical value. Kings, Queens, Jacks, and tens are equal to 10. All other cards are equal to their pip value, i.e., Aces equal 1, twos equal 2, threes equal 3, etc. The dealer then lays down a card in front of himself, keeping his card(s) and his opponent’s cards separate, and states the sum of his presently played card to that which was played by his opponent. This process is continued until someone reaches thirty-one without going over. Two points are awarded to the player who reaches exactly thirty-one. If the exact total of fifteen (15) is reached during the Play, two points are awarded to the player who reached exactly fifteen. If, during the Play, an amount lower than thirty-one is reached and the person who is to play cannot play a card without going over thirty-one, he must say “go” to his opponent. The person who played the last card is awarded one point for the “go”, if he cannot continue to play a card to make the play thirty-one or less. Before taking the point for the “go”, the person who played last must continue to play any and all cards remaining in his hand that will not exceed thirty-one. The person saying “go” must lay down the first card for the start of the next sequence of the Play, which gins again from zero. The card which starts the next Play series cannot be combined with cards from the One point is awarded for the last card played previous Play series to gain points. If one of the players uses all of his cards before his opponent, the player with the cards remaining must continue the Play until he uses all his cards. If on the last card a total of fifteen is reached or a pair is made, the player attaining this occurrence is awarded three (3) points---two points for the fifteen or pair, plus one point for the last card. If all the remaining cards in a player’s hand exceed thirty-one, the player must lay down as many cards as possible without exceeding thirty-one and take one point for “go”. He then starts another Play series by himself with his remaining card (s). One point is awarded for the last card played. If the exact total of thirty-one is reached on the last card, only two (2) points are awarded. An additional peg is never taken for the last card on thirty-one. If less than thirty-one is reached on the last card, one (1) point is awarded . The Play requires judgment in making the best
percentage play; it involves
playing on or playing off (pegging or not pegging) to get a player into position
or to keep an opponent from getting into position.
It is commonly heard about a player, during this part of the game, that
he is a “good pegger” This
means that a player knows when to play on for the points he needs or when to
play off to freeze his opponent. THE COUNT The final part of Cribbage is the Count. The Count occurs after the Play has been completed. This part of the game is when each person counts his own hand, lays it on the table for his opponent to see, and then pegs the number of holes he deems correct. During the Count, the sequence in which the hands are counted is important. The nondealer always counts first, after which the dealer counts his hand and then his Crib. This order is especially important near the end of the game. It gives the nondealer, who does not have the advantage of the crib, a chance to ‘go out” before the the dealer has an opportunity to count both his hand and his Crib. When counting a hand, the points should be pegged immediately after stating to the opponent the amount in the hand. The dealer especially should not count both his hand and his Crib before pegging the points for them. In tournament play, this is penalized. Counting the points in your hand should be the most natural par of the game. It should become second nature. After a game has been completed and both players want to play another game, the loser of the just completed game receives the first deal of the next game. In other words, LOSER DEALS. |