Checkers, cat, cribbage...

From skylerlewis.com:


This is an easy one... the cat's name is Checkers...
Nice, but no wonder he looks angry, that hand looks pitiful.

Cribbage for Palm OS...

To get this click here...

50 year wait for perfect hand...

50-year wait well worth perfection

Mike Chouinard
The Times


Tuesday, December 25, 2007

From the Chilliwack Times

"...Herbert Werth had been playing cribbage for more than 50 years, and like most who play the game, he'd never come close to the coveted 29 hand.


"I never I thought I'd get one," he says.

Werth actually had a dilemma when dealt his hand: he actually had two jacks and had to decide which of the two to keep to go along with the strong hand of three fives.

"For a minute I had to think," he says.

When the fourth five was cut from the deck, he was stunned and tried not to let on what had happened.

"He kept a straight face," wife Frida says, adding, "As soon as the five came up he showed us the hand....He had the sense to throw away the right jack."

Werth said his son-in-law once came close with a 28 hand, but he's never even had the four fives and the jack, let alone get the cut for the extra point, despite playing since his days in the military.

"When I was in the forces, when we had spare time we used to play crib," he says.

Full article
© Chilliwack Times 2007

Cribbage, Christmas and cursed Egyptian mummies...

From It's My Life

"We aren't having too much of a fancy holiday this year. I'm not in the mood. I don't feel spiritually like celebrating the return of the sun or birth of the year. I'm disconnected in some vital way of womanhood in our culture. Not sure if I want to reconnect, either, lol.

At least I get to see more of my children. Gin wants me to teach her naalbinding, and she made a skirt I want to put buttonholes on. And she was very cute wanting to shake presents. It was just adorable. So when Isaiah and Em leave for Christmas eve at her family's home, I'll do this for Gin until she gets home or unless Van suggests something else. Like cribbage?

Edit: It's 9 pm and we are watching Hildago. The sandstorm is coming and I've enough brandy in me to seeing a mashup between this movie and The Mummy. Just hoping Hidalgo doesn't have to outrun some cursed egyptian criminal. He's a nice horse."

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Big Brothers, cribbage and yodeling

From OurMidland.com
"John Marcou of Midland, left, shares a laugh with Kilian Goodson, 16, of Midland after shopping in the Midland Mall last week. Marcou has been Goodson's Big Brother through Big Brothers Big Sisters for seven and a half years. "I beat you at cribbage constantly," Goodson said. "Yeah, but when you turn eighteen, all bets are off," Marcou quipped. "It has kept me young. I'm kind of young at heart. I always look forward to hanging out with Kilian," Marcou said."

"Their bond was formed from the first day of their mentorship program, when Kilian asked John if they could go cliff diving. They didn’t, but the spirit of finding adventurous things to do lived on, with the friends going to playgrounds, soccer games and fishing. They also played ball, challenged each other at cribbage and even tried yodeling, which led to a few odd looks from people when they would crank up the volume on a yodeling CD."

Full article

1 out of 3 and Social D... cribbage update...

From John Burns:

"Jason and I once again managed to win 1 game out of 3 against the two teams we faced Monday night. Why can't we rise above this 1 of 3 junk? Oh, well. It's still fun. I've had all the Social D albums playing on shuffle since Monday. Since I listen to music most of the daytime, that's adding up to a lot. Can't really go wrong with Social D though."

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Cribbage, Sinatra and a wife...

From The Big Transition:

"I can’t help but get a little scared about this stuff. Life is basically supposed to go down a set path, right? It goes high school, college, job, wife, kids, etc, etc. Eventually you end up in Boca enjoying the world of cribbage and Frank Sinatra music. I guess some other stuff happens, but nothing really outside of those major events. What I realized when I heard this news last night is that I am almost at the “wife” point in my life, and that’s kind of scary!"

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Matthew Joseph Taborski Sr.

Matthew Joseph Taborski Sr. died peacefully in his sleep Monday, Jan. 14, 2008, at his home in Reno, Nev. He was 84. He was born in Calumet City, Ill. Sept. 12, 1923, to Polish immigrants Karol and Sophie Taborski.

During the first half of his career, Matt, a devoted father, grandfather and loving husband, worked in the restaurant and bar business, which complemented his outgoing personality, hearty laugh and warm smile. In 1959, while living in Reno, he married the former Sandy Bader of Meadow Valley. The couple moved to Quincy in 1964 and Matt became the manager of the Happy Hollow Tavern ("The Sump") in the basement of the Quincy Hotel. In 1966, he and "Red" Logan became business partners and hired contractors to build them a facility they named The Patio, which immediately became a popular dinner house and lounge in East Quincy (now the Elks Lodge). Ready for a career change, the couple sold The Patio in 1971, and eventually moved to Paso Robles, where they owned and operated two travel agencies; taking full advantage of the many travel perks the industry afforded its travel agents. In 2000, after traveling much of the world, they were ready for retirement and they sold the agencies and returned to Reno.

Matt served his country as a corporal in the United States Marines. He was an avid cribbage player and, in his early years, he also enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing golf. He also had a love for music and began collecting albums in the early 1950s. In a short time, his collection eventually grew to well over 2,000 titles featuring virtually every artist of that era. Matt will also be remembered by many as a master of the barbecue who thoroughly enjoyed sharing his grilling and culinary skills with frequent backyard gatherings of family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his brother Walt and sister Helen. He is survived by Sandy, his wife and best friend for 48 years; sons Karl of Paso Robles, Matthew Jr. and Michael of Quincy, John, of Taylorsville, Robert, of Eureka and daughter Kathy Jacobs of Reno. He also leaves behind 13 grandchildren and 8 great- grandchildren. At his request, there will not be any services.

Original article

Cribbage and family drama...

From the Arizona Republic:

"Instead, later that evening as my cousins played and laughed around me, my father sat at the small kitchen table, smoking his Tiparillo while he played cribbage with my uncle. As I walked by, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me close. He needled me to speak, but I denied him the victory.

Never once did I tell him I was sorry for being a jackass. Almost nine years ago, I lost that chance."

Full article

100 years old and still pegging....

From the Boston Globe:

"These days, Irene Davey lives alone in her house in Attleboro, cooking for herself and family members who stop by to bring her groceries and to taste her fabled chicken soup. She solves a crossword puzzle each day, and when friends come over, they play Scrabble and cribbage.

She says she is in perfect health. Her daughter, Patty, said she "doesn't look a day older than 75." Her son, Martin, calls her every morning, "and if he doesn't call me by 8:45 I'm having a nervous breakdown," Davey said. "I worry that there's something wrong with him."

After Harold died, Davey never remarried. "To tell you the truth, it gets lonely," she told her friends yesterday. Moments later, she was leaning against the shoulder of state Senator Scott P. Brown, one of the many officials who took turns sitting next to her in the living room of the senior center.

"I can't propose to you, because I'm married," said Brown.

"That's OK," she told Brown, who is 48 years old, after a brief pause. "You're too old for me."

Full article at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/26/a_birthday_one_century_in_the_making/

29 - the hard way...

From Miss 604

“On December 2, 1953 the Province reported (on the front page): “Bill Stone, 525 East Keith Road, North Vancouver, got his perfect cribbage hand the hard way Tuesday night. Playing with neighbor Bob MacKay, Stone had a king, pair of aces and a four in his hand as well as two fives. So he tossed the fives into his crib. MacKay had 6-7-8-8 and a five and a jack of spades. He threw the five and jack into the crib, the five of spades was cut and thus Stone had his perfect 29 hand.”

Full post here

Cribbage retirement plan... BUG!

From Wilsonworld: http://wilsonworld.typepad.com/wilsonworld/2008/01/a-natural.html

"Since Bug was small..ok smaller than she is now....she has been fascinated with patterns. She sees patterns everywhere, even where no one else can see them.
I always thought this was a bit annoying..as in "Mommy-can-you-see-the-pattern-that-the-blades-of-grass- are-making...dark-green-light-green-greenish-brownish...and-the-patterns-on-the-tree-over-there-and- oh-look-at-the-patterns-that-the-lines-on-your-face-make-when-you-wrinkle-your-eyes-like-that.." Get the idea?

But i have found a use for it..and i am now counting on Bug as my new retirement plan.

She can see patterns in cards.
As in playing cards.

Yesterday i set out to teach the kids how to play cribbage. It was one of my favourite games as a child and one that we would all play down on the flats in the fall when we were fishing. Santa brought me a cribbage board for Christmas, since he knew that i had been wanting to play again. Now i have not played in many many years, and it took a bit of remembering on my part as to how to score/peg points. I went online and played a few hands just to help the old memory. Bug sat with me and watched. She even played a hand or two. Then we headed into the kitchen and started out with our own board. And that is when it all made sense. After the first hand, i attempted to help her score her cards...but she had already done it..and had found combinations that i had missed. I thought it was a fluke, until she did it again..and again...until the game was done and she had kicked my butt..."

Full post here: http://wilsonworld.typepad.com/wilsonworld/2008/01/a-natural.html

3-year-old Cribbage player...

From Heather Yaxley - Greenbanana views of public relations and more:

"I think that my love of numbers dates back to my grandparents, who taught me to count by playing cards. This wasn’t some innocent game of snap, but hard-core cribbage. It must have been funny to hear a sweet three year old say “fifteen two, fifteen four and one for his knob”. We also used to follow horse-racing, so I learned how to calculate odds and read the jockeys’ names from the newspaper. Probably not a conventional education, but it worked for me..."

Full post: http://greenbanana.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/im-a-pr-addicted-to-numbers/

Literary Cribbage...

From Hail! Mount Helicon:


"He had bet on dried peas, spinning tops and the progress of ants along a gold-topped walking stick. He had played cribbage for two or three pounds a game. But he had never bet from greed or avarice. The state of his coal scuttle, the condition of his shoes, all attested to that."

Full post at: http://fromhelicon.blogspot.com/2008/01/oscar-and-lucinda.html

Cribbage books and feeding squirrels...

From "Feeding Squirrel on the Way to Work":

"At Baker Street Books, I bought a copy of The Iliad. I’d read The Odyssey a long time ago, enjoyed it, and have been wanting to tackle The Iliad - but I knew it would take me much longer than a library loan to read it. So, now I own it. Phillip gave me his gift certificate, and asked me to find him a book on cribbage. The closest thing I found was a used copy of The Complete Hoyle, for half the price of the value of his gift certificate, so that’s what I brought home to him."

Full post: http://feedingsquirrels.wordpress.com/2008/01/06/three-thirty-in-the-morning/

Tri-Citians devoted to weekly cribbage games...

Published Sunday, January 6th, 2008

JOHN TRUMBO HERALD STAFF WRITER

The dance floor at the American Legion Hall on Sylvester Street in Pasco is hardly the deck of a 19th century British warship, nor is it the cramped quarters of a World War II seaplane tender somewhere on the Pacific Ocean.

But every Wednesday evening the game is the same: Cribbage, the pastime that has occupied many a sailor's hours at sea.

A small but loyal group of cribbers attend, fiercely slapping cards down while calling out scores.

Beware the kindly looking grandmother at the end of the table who brought the chocolate fudge. She's stingy with the points and more than happy to peg victory by a wide margin.

The game of cribbage is a combination of skill and luck, with a bit of poker face thrown in. Cribbage was supposedly invented in the 1600s by Sir John Suckling, who used his wealth to play with cards and women. He ended his life early after a decade of raucus living and with his fortune gone, leaving cribbage as his only legacy to the world.

Played the world over, the game still is a favorite at English pubs and has been a sailor's pastime for centuries, from the days of wooden ships and iron men to the present.

Ken Cochlin of Kennewick is a cribbage loyalist. His ball cap boasts: "Cribbage isn't a matter of life or death. It's more important than that."

Cochlin tries to lure new players each week with want-ads on local classified pages. There are two cribbage clubs in the Tri-Cities. One meets Tuesdays, the other Wednesdays. There are fewer than 20 active members, and most are senior citizens.

Cochlin says it's hard to get recruits.

Game for two to four

Cribbage is a game for two or four people. It involves using six cards, discarding two, then playing them against an opponent's cards to add up values to 15 or 31. Points are tallied by pegging on a board with 60 or 120 holes. The goal is to be first to peg to the end.

Cribbage is easy to learn, but players who excel know how to force even a bad hand into a winner. It's all in how the cards are laid down.

"It keeps your mind active," said Harold Christy of Richland, a regular at Wednesday's Sagebrush Peggers.

And it can help children with math, noted Joan Lyon Pasco, who brought the plate of fudge and peanut brittle to a recent crib night.

Cribbage is different from most card games in that each player discards two of the six in his hand, creating a crib that will be counted for points by one of the players.

Serious business

Cribbage for fun is one thing, but cribbage is serious business for approximately 7,000 people who are card-playing members of the American Cribbage Congress.

Tournaments often are held around the country. One of the largest is in Reno, Nev., where the grand prize has been as high as $10,000.

Jeanne Jelke of Pasco has been playing competitively for about nine years.

"This is my major nonwork hobby. It's my rest and relaxation at the end of a work day," Jelke said.

Cribbage players who travel to tournaments go not for the prize money, but for the fun and camaraderie, said Lynn Gillespie of Kennewick, who is a pretty respectable pegger and has placed at Reno.

"The people who play cribbage are very nice people. It's a good game for retirement," Gillespie said.

Jelke, Cochlin and Gillespie plan to attend the Grand Nationals to be held in September in Portland. Last year, Gillespie and Jelke attended the event when it was held in Portland, Maine.

Cochlin wears his cribbage hat all day, every day, hoping to attract some new players to the crib.

"People say their parents used to play and they learned from them. They say they'd like to try it again, but they never show up," he said.

"A lot of (the no-shows) has to do with the electronic age. Our parents played for entertainment, but now with television and computers there is too much competition," Jelke said.

Hermiston club oldest

Despite the dearth of recruits, cribbage clubs abound, little known, and in all sorts of places.

There are about 300 clubs across the U.S. and Canada.

The Sagebrush Peggers are No. 184, while the Tuesday night group, named Team Washington -- which was the first in the state -- is No. 39. That, of course, is only coincidental to the fact that Washington has 39 counties.

And where is the No. 2 club in the nation? It's in Hermiston.

No. 1 no longer exists.

The Hermiston club, called Oregon's First, meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the Eagles Lodge, 160 N.W. Second St. Denny Edwards said the Hermiston club formed in the 1980s, and was given No. 2 because the club that held it had disbanded.

Gillespie said he goes to the Grand National every year, both to play cribbage and to take a 10-day vacation to see the sights and enjoy old friendships.

For more information on how to sign up for the Sagebrush Peggers or Washington First, call Cochlin at 205-1873 or Willy Schneider at 544-8769. People interested in joining Oregon's First can call Edwards at 541-567-3336.

Original article at:http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/9557413p-9469833c.html

Screwed out of Cribbage history...

From Malotke Cribbage Weblog:

"On Sunday, January 7th, 2008 I was screwed out of history. When the dice stopped rolling, I was 1 singular point away from the infamous double skunk. I know what you are thinking, but it is true. Gerry was sitting at the 59th peg, and I was at the 110th. Since he dealt, I had first count, and therefore was allocated first count. I needed 10 points to go out, and I had 9! I tried to peg 10, but hawk-eye Gerry caught me, and I was forced to settle for the “1 point from history game.” I have since retired the board and I am putting it up for auction. If you are interested, respond with an offer."

Original post

Cribbage under the tree...

From Broken Wing Blogger:

Under the tree...
"And the other brothers gave me my own cribbage board. It looks similar to this one except the lid is not hinged, there is blank space at either end, so it’s slightly longer and the pegs are black, white and silver instead of sliver gold and copper."

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Cribbage and the King of Rock-n-Roll...

From The Canoe Dossier:

"I can tell you exactly where I was on August 16, 1977. I was only 8 years old that summer, and I don't remember much else about it, but I doubt if I'll ever forget the day I learned that The King was gone.

I was with my family, and we were gathered around a pine picnic table, in a cabin on a tiny, rocky island in Georgian Bay. We were all whiling away a rainy day. My mom and dad were playing cribbage, as I recall, and my sister and I were doing a jigsaw puzzle. I even remember the picture on the puzzle: an English fighting ship under full sail. Outside it was grey and wet; inside, we had a woodstove and a radio."

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Rev. Samuel George Bovill

From keepmecurrent.com

Life of service and caring remembered

By Kate Irish Collins
Assistant Editor-Sun Chronicle

SACO (Jan 8): The Rev. Samuel George Bovill will be remembered not only for his caring and compassionate service to others – but also for the fiercely competitive way he played cribbage, said family and friends during a service of remembrance held in his honor last week.

Bovill, who was the minister of visitation at the First Parish Congregational Church in Saco, died at his Scarborough home on Dec. 29 at the age of 86. A memorial service was held for him at First Parish on Jan. 3.

During the service, Bovill was also remembered as someone who made everything he touched better, for his sense of humor, his frugality and for being a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

“He was truly one of those people who left everything he found better - churches, communities, families and individuals,” said Rev. Doug Nielsen, who officiated at Bovill’s service. Nielsen said one of the things he most treasured about Bovill was that he only wanted to be “increasingly useful.”

“He was the single most graceful soul I have ever known,” he added. “We have gathered to witness the life of a most marvelous man.”

Bovill was born in Philadelphia and left school at the age of 16 to help support his family during the Great Depression. When WWII broke out, he served in the Army Air Corps. After mustering out of the Army in 1946, Bovill attended the Bangor Theological Seminary and the University of Maine at Orono.

He served in six different congregational churches throughout his career as a minister, including 21 years at the Williston-West Church on Portland’s West End. While living in Portland, Bovill was named one of the first recipients of the Jefferson Award, which is given for outstanding public service.

Just a few of his outreach activities included serving fish chowder luncheons to local senior citizens for more than 11 years and being an active volunteer with Hospice of Maine, various local libraries and with Little League.

Bovill and his wife, Victoria, had a total of five children. One of their children, James Bovill, died in 1983. The Bovill’s also have 19 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

At the memorial service last week, Bovill’s family remembered him as being a huge Red Sox fan, a fierce cribbage player and someone who always saw the positive in every situation.

“He was not the nice old man many of you knew from church on Sunday when the cribbage board came out,” Bovill’s grandson Matthew Richards recalled, garnering laughter from those filling the pews in the crowded church.

“But he always saw the positive in every situation and could always find the silver lining. If you could all take this trait and add it to your lives I know it would make my Gramp proud,” Richards said.

Another grandson, Andrew Lupien, put together a few lines from various poems written by Bovill’s favorite poet – Robert Burns of Scotland.

“If my parting has left a void, fill it with remembered joys . . . My life’s been full I’ve savored much . . . If you listen with your heart you’ll hear my love around you soft and clear,” Lupien quoted.

A granddaughter, Devon Bovill, said her grandfather was someone who knew how to live every day to its “absolute fullest” and that he also knew life was beautiful.

Robert Bovill, one of the Bovill’s three sons, said that although his parents weren’t the wealthiest people they still managed to give their five children the best gift there is – unconditional love.

“I know dad always worried about whether we knew he loved us. And I would tell him with or without words he always showed his family how much he loved them. His actions always showed how deeply his unconditional love flowed,” he said.

Original article here

Cribbaholics in 10 countries...

Wow! Take a couple of weeks away from the blog and look what happens. We now have 10 countries with Cribbaholics in them! You can see the beakdown of how many and from which countries by checking the neocounter on the left side of this page... you may have to scroll down just a bit.

Very cool!