The Big Game...

Who will win the Big Game??? Will it be:

























Or will it be:























Find out by going to Gotta Knit for the whole exciting pictorial drama...

A perfect hand!!!!

From Martini Pundit:

Some onetime readers might find this surprising, but I’m a fairly serious cribbage player. I first learned the game in the early 90s, and I play on average about a dozen games a week. I once got a 28 point hand, which those of you who play know consists of four 5s and a court card. But today, quite unexpectedly on the first hand of the second game, I was dealt the jack of clubs, and the fives of spades, hearts, and diamonds. I tossed the other two cards in my opponent’s crib without a thought (and can’t for the life of me recall what they were), and waited for a lame cut like a two or three.

My surprise was complete when the five of clubs was cut. That equals 28 points but adds one for having a jack of the same suit as the cut card. 29 points! The odds of this hand are said to be 216,580 to 1.

Here’s my perfect hand:




Original post here

Pub cribbage gets pegged back...

From Camden New Journal:

CRIBBAGE may sound like something only gardeners would recognise, but it is in fact a card game.
And not any old card game.

At 400 years old, it’s one of the longest-running pub pastimes in the land. Historically, it’s the only card game you can bet on for cash in a bar and has its own gobbledegook language.

When grown men say “one for his nob and two for his heels”, “died in a hole” and “level pegging”, they haven’t downed too many pints, they’re actually calling out the score.

Tony O’Connor, chairman of Camden’s Fitzrovia League, who plays from the Neptune pub in Somers Town, explained its appeal.

“There’s a large chunk of luck and a large chunk of skill involved,” said Mr O’Connor, from Queen’s Crescent.

“It’s not a trick-based game like whist or poker. That’s what makes it unique.”

But all is not well in the world of cribbage.

In Camden alone the sport has all but “died in a hole”.

The Fitzrovia League once had 18 teams playing in at least as many pubs – there are now four teams at three pubs.
At a charity fixture at the Sovereign in Stanhope Street, players offered their thoughts on why the game was losing its appeal.
One reason is the need for space in a gastropub climate. Publicans’ hands could be forced if they think they’ll lose money setting aside tables for the players.

Another factor was also mooted: Could it be that cribbage is just too damn hard?

With a list of rules confusing enough to send most people running for tiddly-winks or a game of snap, even regulars admit they are sometimes foxed by the game.

But possibly the single thing most likely to kill the game off once and for all is the age of those who play. With all members of Camden’s league nearer to claiming their pensions than celebrating their 21st birthday, regulars say the game needs a flush of youthful enthusiasm.

“It’s not a game picked up by young people,” said Mr O’Connor, who is calling for any groups of around four to six players – men or women with a basic level of knowledge of the game and a pub to operate from – to join in the fun.

Barry Read, 58, from Clarence Gardens in Regent’s Park, has been calling out “two for his heels” for 17 years. He said: “We’ve all known each other for years and years. It’s a nice night out.”

And to put any potential gamers with delicate sensibilities at ease, “one for his nob” is a reference to the Jack, otherwise known as “nobbins”.

Full article here

Cornfields, cookies and cribbage...

From Cornfields and Cookies:

"Seriously, I don’t even know where to begin! Well actually I do. My sweetheart is going on a bike ride tomorrow that makes me legs hurt just thinking about how long it is. So Sunday I’m going to his place to veg and recover. This will include cribbage, reading, comfort food, and some stove-top s’mores. "

Full post

Cribbage: defined...

From Waking Ambrose:

"CRIBBAGE, n. A substitute for conversation among those to whom nature has denied ideas. See EUCHRE, PEDRO, SEVEN-UP, etc."

Original post here

eCribbage.com Releases "Lowball Cribbage"

From PRWEB:

eCribbage is adding yet another game to its line-up of premier online cribbage games. The new free cribbage game is titled Lowball Cribbage and is being released today.

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) October 20, 2008 -- eCribbage is adding yet another game to its line-up of premier online cribbage games. The new free cribbage game is titled Lowball Cribbage and is being released today.

Also known as Losers Cribbage, Backwards Cribbage, and Reverse Cribbage, "Lowball Cribbage" is essentially the opposite of regular cribbage -- players now try to score the fewest points possible. The game-play is otherwise the same as traditional cribbage. Players win Lowball Cribbage by employing a variety of strategies: attempting to form the worst hands, loading up the opponent's crib with good cards, and trapping the opponent into points while pegging. In this game, the first player reaching 121 points is the loser.

"We've been playing Lowball Cribbage for over 10 years, it is a form of cribbage that makes you really think of what is in your hand what is going to come up. Since you're not trying to make points there is more strategy and thinking ahead. We love it!"
- Jnona from Oregon

To try out Lowball Cribbage and other entertaining cribbage games, visit http://ecribbage.com and click "Play Now".

about eCribbage:
eCribbage is the leader in online cribbage gaming and boasts the largest collection of unique cribbage games available online. These games consist of Traditional Cribbage, Manual Count Cribbage, Kings Cribbage, Cribbage with Jokers, Back up 10 Cribbage, Team Cribbage, Cribbage with Muggins, and now Lowball Cribbage. eCribbage prides itself in its friendly community and constant enhancements to the site, which makes it the perfect online cribbage experience. In order to promote friendly competition, eCribbage hosts monthly tournaments covering all of its cribbage games. eCribbage is completely free for anyone who wants to play.

For more information, contact:
Damien Blond
email: damien @ ecribbage.com

38 countries!

Gosh, it seems like just a few days ago that I announced we had 37 countries and now we have added another! Everyone please email, phone or text your international friends and lets get EVERY country on earth onto Cribbaholics Unanimous... it's the least we can do.

Cheers,
JK

Crash Cribbage to win a TAGIE!

Ok, so maybe the headline of this post is wishful thinking, but if you are a game enthusiast you might think about attending this years Chicago's Toy and Game Inventor of the Year Awads... read on:

Join us for the following events, only 5 weeks away!

Toy and Game Inventor of the Year Awards Dinner – November 21st
A magical evening to celebrate our Toy and Game Inventors - the TAGIES! We will be announcing the Toy Inventor of the Year, the Game Inventor of the Year and the Rookie Inventor of the Year. In addition, we will be honoring Jeffrey Breslow and BMT for Lifetime Achievement. Thank you to Hasbro for being our Premier Sponsor and to Mattel for being our Supporting Sponsor. To get your tickets, visit http://www.toyandgameinventors.com and click on Award Dinner.

As Tim Walsh, our Master of Ceremonies, wrote in his Sept. 22nd plog, http://theplaymakersplog.blogspot.com,
"Move over Oscar, Emmy and Tony and make room for Tagie!"

Chicago Toy and Game Fair – November 22nd and 23rd
While you are in town for the Award Dinner, visit our Chicago Toy and Game Fair at Navy Pier, strategically placed on the eve of the holiday buying season so the public and media can see what’s hot for the holidays. Our pr agency tells us that the media is excited about our exhibitor’s products this year! Trade is welcomed as our guest. Just stop at the Trade/Media desk and trade your business card for a ticket. Visit http://www.chitag.com for details.

Pegged out: Harold Hiser Sr

by Paul Neumeyer | The Saginaw News
Saturday October 11, 2008, 8:00 PM

This column isn't as much about sports as it is about life.
Harold Hiser Sr. loved sports as much as he loved life.

He loved to teach as much as he loved to compete.

He loved to share as much as he loved to care.

He loved to laugh; so much, that he could make you cry.

Tears are falling in and around Merrill today now that Harold is gone. He died on Thursday at age 83 from cancer.

But if ever there was a man who lived, and did so the "right way," Harold is your man.

He was a proud World War II and U.S. Navy veteran. He was a milkman, sports enthusiast and eager community volunteer.

For years, he and his wife Laura (who died Oct. 15, 2005) made homemade taffy and turned twine into rope.

If you had an special piece of wood, Harold would admire it, then turn it into one of his cherished cribbage boards. He numbered each one he made, and was continued working on new boards until near the time of his death.

Harold's final cribbage board total: 187. Check that. His son Chip retells a story where Harold actually made two boards he numbered double-zero. After making the first one and selling it his first buyer, Harold reconsidered and thought he should keep his first board. So he made another identical board, numbered it double-zero, and exchanged his original first board with the replica.

So the final count stands at 188.

At 4 p.m. each day, Harold and Laura would sit down at their kitchen table and play cribbage while enjoying a highball or two. They did this for many years, and their love for each other (and competitive fire) grew with each passing day.

On Wednesday nights during the summer, you'd find Harold in the stands at the Jonesfield Township softball diamonds, watching the men's softball teams play. Or you could find him at other times watching Little Leaguers sprout from the diamond.

During school months Harold and Laura often took their taffy and rope-making talents to schools, 4-H and other youth venues to pass along the knowledge they knew and loved.

Harold and Laura were both givers, and Merrill and the mid-Michigan community were fortunate to receive.

Best of all, both of them always maintained a great sense of humor.

Harold only stood about 5-feet-6 tall, which made himthe butt of one of Merrill's favorite jokes. Fable has it that former Merrill football and basketball coach Bob McAnary used to proclaim that if his town had a taller milkman, the basketball team would have taller players.

Each time that joke was re-told within Harold's earshot, he'd laugh as if it was the first time he heard it.

Over the past decade I was fortunate to get to know and appreciate Harold's generosity and genuine spirit. I often would receive a phone call on Tuesday mornings from Harold. If I was in a meeting or not at my desk, a message to call him would await.

When we connected, he'd always greet me and then say, "I just wanted to let you know I enjoyed your column on Sunday." More times than not, I'd bet a nickel he didn't remember what my column was about, but his thought and gesture meant more than any column topic.

I finally crossed one of my "must dos" off my list last spring when I stopped in on a Sunday afternoon to play some cribbage with Harold and a couple friends. It was a fun-filled afternoon, one I hold dearer to my heart today.

When all the pegging was done that day, I had lost. But we all won because of what Harold provided not only to us that day, but to Merrill and the surrounding communities during his lifetime.

Now, when thunder and lightning explodes in the sky at 4 p.m. some afternoon, I'm not going to wonder about the severity of the storm, but more about who is winning that daily cribbage match -- Laura or Harold.

Paul Neumeyer is sports editor for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9770 or pneumeyer@thesaginawnews.com A memorial service for Harold is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday at Merrill Congregational Church, 245 S. Midland Road.

Original article here.

More Cribbaholics!!!

We are now up to 37 countries!!! You can see for yourself on the counter on the left side of the page.

JK

Cribbage Crazy...

From Living Small:

"It’s true: the game you thought fit for Aunt Gladys and her old lady cronies is basically the awesomest card game ever. It’s a madhouse over here with The Cribb — bedtime, mealtime, anytime’s a good time for a throwdown. All we need is our little board (the pegs nestle inside the bottom of the board; such a feat of engineering and clever storage!) and a deck of cards.

The best part? You can pick up a cribbage board at any secondhand store. I swear on all that I hold dear. If you don’t find a cribbage board at your local thrift shop, I will mail you $1.75 so you can buy one at the thrift shop one town over. Like wreath forms, cribbage boards flock to bargain basements like those proverbial flies to honey."



Full post here

Road cribbage...

From Tri-city Herald:

Cribbage anyone?

Tri-City Americans goaltender Chet Pickard boarded the bus Tuesday evening for the team's six-game swing through the East Division armed with his cribbage board.

Pickard and his teammates had time to play dozens of games of cribbage on the 16-hour drive to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where the team is making camp for the first leg of its journey.

"I just started playing 'crib' this summer," Pickard said. "It's the most addicting game I've played. It is the best thing for taking up time and being competitive."

Full article

Pegged out: Lorna L. Holler...

From the International Falls Daily Journal:

Lorna L. Holler, 77, of International Falls, loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and Twins Fan Extraordinaire, passed away in her sleep Thursday, July 24, 2008, at home after a lengthy battle with kidney cancer.

Lorna was born Aug. 4, 1930, in International Falls, the daughter of Joseph “Jim” and Nellie (Servis) Steele.
She moved from Swift, Minn., with her family at the age of 8, to International Falls, where she had since resided.
Lorna was a longtime dedicated member of St. Thomas Catholic Church.

She was a committed rural route mail contractor for 29 years.

Whether it was playing softball or watching her sons, daughters or grandchildren play sports ... she was one of those parents who was always there. Her sacrifices were limitless. Her hobbies included watching baseball, football and playing cribbage with the family. An ardent sports fan of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings, Lorna knew stats, win-loss records and most vital statistics of star players. She was also a Bret Favre fan!

Lorna’s faith is what kept her going; she was a kind, compassionate person who would help anyone. Her family fondly recalls her as the best mother, sister, grandmother, great-gramma and friend you could ever have. She will always be loved, remembered and missed by her family.

She is survived by five sons, Donald “Don” Holler Jr. of Annapolis, Md., Anthony “Tony” Holler of the Falls, John Holler of Mechanicsville, Va., Dirk Holler of St. Cloud and Patrick (Gwen) Holler of Mechanicsville, Va.; two daughters, Tammy Holler of International Falls and Mitzi (Jeff) Bakke of Eagan, Minn.; two brothers, James (LaVerne) Steele of the Falls and Gene Steele of Denver, Colo.; two sisters, Nellie Jane Bain in Colorado and Theresa Steele of Rochester, Minn.; 11 grandchildren: Ryan, Andy, AJ, Max, Patrick, Mathew, Nicole, Rainy and Madison Holler, Jed Briggs and Chanda Bakke; six great-grandchildren; and numerous special nieces, nephews and friends

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald on Feb. 21, 1990; a grandson, Joshua “Josh” Holler on Nov. 16, 2001; a brother, Donald Steele; and two sisters, Gertrude Reindart and Florence Horgen.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 29, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, with visitation beginning one hour prior to the service at the church. Fr. Roger Bergkamp will be the celebrant.
Interment will be at St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery, International Falls.

Arrangements are with Mlaker Funeral Home, Cook, Minn. (218-666-5298).
Condolences emailed to the funeral home at mlaker@accessmn.com will be forwarded to family members.

Original post

Blurry lines and cribbage...

From Tech, design, and society:

Monopoly, Battleship, Chess are highly structured games where the rules reflect some fantasy/reality component. You can play them pretending to be a real estate tycoon, WWII admiral, or medieval king at war, but you don’t have to. The game doesn’t change one way or another. Even Cribbage, a game of pure mathematical abstraction, uses the metaphor of a horse race to score. It could just as easily be scored on paper like Rummy. Just as Candy Land could be played on a numbered grid and ordinary Parcheesi pawns. Would anyone play it like that? Probably not; it’s the pretend element that makes it worth playing.

Full post

Pubs on the outs...

From Keith's Ramblings:

In the last census there were in the region of 57000 pubs in England. It is a sad fact however that currently our pubs are closing their doors at an alarming rate. This week another forty served their last pint. Forty did so last week, and forty will next week and in the weeks to come.

So what constitutes a typical public house? Most were built with three different serving areas. A public bar for the working classes, a small room with a serving hatch for ‘take outs’ and the saloon bar where the same drinks cost a little more, and furnishings were a little plusher to suit the needs of those further up the social scale. Many pubs also had a small anti-room known as the snug where ladies could sit and gossip! Today many pubs, particularly village ones, have retained the original layout, apart from the hatch, and prices are nowadays the same wherever you wish to imbibe. Now the typical public bar will feature a darts board, more often than not a television, and if room permits a bar billiards or a pool table. Games such as cribbage and dominos are played and the voices are a little louder and the language more flowery than in the other areas!

29+... no joking!

I have never had a 29 hand in cribbage. But, yesterday I got a 32 playing cribbage with jokers at eCribbage.com! I was in total shock of course and had to do a screen capture of the hand just to make sure it really happened. Here it is: