40 point hand??? Oh My!!!

Wow!!! Can you believe this? I was playing Cribbage with Jokers on eCribbage.com with a player named Lady Cate tonight and she was dealt this hand... 3 jokers and a 5 of spades! Then the cut card was a joker!!!

So, what would you do with this? She made them all 5s! I think the only thing I would have done differently would have been to make them all spades... could have been a 45 hand!!!

Either way, it was more than enough to beat me. Great job Lady Cate!

Cheers!
JK

Crash Cribbage is now beta-testing at eCribbage.com!!!

The Crash Cribbage revolution continues! You can now play Crash Cribbage online at eCribbage.com. And it's free to play!

Here is the very first game played:



And here is the end score:



Yup, that's right folks... I skunked DB. :o) It was not a rated game, but this photo will live forever.

Cheers, all and thanks to Damien for making it happen! I'll see you online at eCribbage.com!!
JK

Banner designs for Cribbaholics Unanimous...

Hey everyone, check out the cool new banner at the top of the page! Thanks to Hilary of The Smitten Image for designing it for me!!! I'm sending her a brand new Crash Cribbage board.

Everyone please email or comment as to how you like it.

By the way, check out Hilary's site... it's pretty interesting and has some great photos.


If anyone else would like to take a shot at designing a logo (or anything else) for Cribbaholics Unanimous please leave a comment here and I'll contact you.

Cheers, and thanks again Hilary... I'm putting you in the Cribbaholics Unanimous Hall of Fame.

Keep pegging,
Joe

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

The Butcher, Cribbage Champion of the Cauliflower Alley Club...

From Slam! Sports:

"Though Butcher Vachon has been up on the stage numerous times, usually to sing in his deep, baritone voice, he has never been officially honoured with a special award or given any kind of special tribute. In fact, the closest Paul has ever come to being honoured was when he was crowned the CAC cribbage champion in 2002."

Full article

Man gets pegged... ouch!

From Richards of Sweet Home:

"...The guys came home, and the kids were playing so nicely, that we got in another game of cribbage. Sadly, the girls were skunked...but, let it be known...this is what you end up looking like after a skunking!"



"In all seriousness--we are thankful this is all Sean got! He was helping a friend yesterday to raise a large post over their drive, and Sean was on top of the beam, 18 ft in the air. The chain binder jumped or let go, and it came back to hit Sean in the hand, lip & face, causing him to have several stitches in his hand & cheek. The picture of the laceration doesn't really do the cut justice, as I saw how ucky it looked just after he did it, and the picture does not give the dimensional look! We shudder to think of how serious (or fatal) this could have been, and Praise God for his watchful eye over Sean..."


Original post

The perfect hand...

From Bugle Observer:

"It took 50 years, and thousands of hands of cards, but avid Cribbage player Evelyn Carten of Hartland recently made her first 29 - the highest point total you can get in the popular game.


PHOTO BY JEFFREY BENTO-CARRIER
Avid Cribbage player Evelyn Carten of Hartland, who has been enjoying the sport for 50 years, recently made her first 29 - the highest point total you can get in the popular game.



The dream hand occurred, ironically, on March 29 at her home in Hartland.

Carten, 73, started playing Cribbage in 1958 when she 23 years old.

Since then, she has spent countless hours at the table, with no success in getting the elusive hand.

She was enjoying a friendly game of the popular sport three weeks ago when the inevitable occurred.

"I couldn't believe it myself, but there it was - four 5s, and the 5 of Clubs matched (my) Jack of Clubs," she said. "I was joking earlier that evening that this might be my night to get a 29, but I was more interested in getting my peg past the skunk line than hitting a 29. When it happened, I couldn't believe it. My neighbour, Kevin McDougall, cut the cards on my deal, so I guess it was fate."

Carten said she enjoys playing Cribbage several days a week, mostly for recreation or quality time with family and friends.

"I really love playing Crib," she said. "Maybe it was my time to (finally) get a 29.""

Full article here

Man is "victim" to two 29 hands...

From Beloit Daily News:

"Two Beloit cribbage players recently beat the odds and held 29 hands. A mutual friend happened to be the opponent in both games. It's said that the chance of being dealt a 29 hand in cribbage is one in more than 100,000. A player who is dealt six cards must put two cards in the “crib.” If he or she keeps a jack, or “nobs,” and three fives, and the “turn-up” card happens to be the five of the suit of the aforementioned jack, it's a perfect hand.

WITH THAT information in mind, consider what happened to Beloit cribbage fan Rob Rassmussen recently. And try to calculate the odds of it happening to one player. A million-to-one might be a conservative guess."

Full article

Cribbage champion in Green Valley AZ...

From the Green Valley News & Sun

"Local cribbage champ and Quail Creek resident Bill Ellis describes the card game as “gymnastics for the brain.”

“I have a great appreciation for trying to stay young, and cribbage sure gives your mind a workout,” Ellis said.

The enthusiastic 71-year-old recently took home the gold medal at the Tucson Senior Olympics, and will be competing at the Green Valley Senior Olympics in March. After that, his sights are set on a national tournament in Reno, Nev., where he and more than 700 players will be competing for the chance to win $10,000.

But Ellis is in it for the love of the game. A game so popular, he says, that its rules have barely changed since the early 17th century, when it was invented by English poet Sir John Suckling as a derivation of a traditional game called “noddy.”

Noddy has since faded into history, but cribbage is here to stay.

The American Cribbage Congress, a non-profit organization with the mission of making the game “fun and fair for people of all ages,” sponsors 150 tournaments each year and lists nearly 300 local chapters across the country. This includes the Titans Cribbage Club of Green Valley, hosted by Ellis, a certified cribbage judge with the ACC..."


Original article 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

Q & A with COCOCO Games, Roy Cowley

The following is a Q & A with COCOCO Games owner Roy Cowley, maker of Kings Cribbage, a game that incorporates elements of Cribbage and Scrabble to form an exciting game that has continued to grow in popularity and has recently been made into an online game where it continues to draw players from all over the world. Thanks Roy!


Name: Roy Cowley
Age: 35
Born and raised: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Company: COCOCO Games, maker of “Kings Cribbage” – The King of all Cribbage Games
Web site: http://www.cococogames.com

[The following is all direct quotes from Roy Cowley]

“My father, a born entrepreneur, came up with the novel idea of combining two all-time family favorites, cribbage and crossword puzzles, to make a whole new game. He invited myself (in construction at the time) and my brother-in-law (a New Zealand Shepherd), to all forgo our salaries and join him on this adventure. How could we say no?

We started by making 1700 games in a small warehouse. Me and my brother-in-law slogged away on table saws all summer. Next we rented space in a local shopping mall for the Christmas season, and miraculously sold out on Christmas eve. Early in the new year, we started getting rave emails coming in from customers wanting more. The cribbage players were loving it! We were worried whether cribbage players would be open to this new concept, but they emailed in droves, wanting to buy more games.

Once the snowball started rolling, stores were contacting us. They had people coming in requesting the game all the time. Since then, we’ve had our ups and downs on the business side, but demand has always steadily increased. The wonderful thing about inventing something people truly use and recommend is that eventually, the stores come to you.

Last year, a cribbage player from California named Damien Blond decided to make an online version of Kings Cribbage. He wasn’t looking for anything from us, he just wanted to play Kings Cribbage with his friends and family who still lived in other parts of the world, including up here in Canada. He contacted me to show us what he’d created. I couldn’t believe that someone would take the time to create such a wonderful online version of Kings Cribbage, all in his spare time. He clearly loved the game, and he could destroy me in head-to-head matches. He asked if I would mind him putting it up for public use. Kings Cribbage online was born: http://www.kingscribbageonline.com

Kings Cribbage going online has it’s perks! The best one is that I can play Kings Cribbage with our customers. This allows me to have a candid chat with Joe and Jane Sixpack about the game, where they are from, where they heard about the game, etc, all while enjoying a spirited game. This helps me make proper decisions about where to market, what should be included in future editions of the game, etc.

COCOCO Games will continue to make Kings Cribbage for the long haul. We’ve continuously focused on our customer service, providing free replacement of lost tiles, daily responses to the public’s emails, and just helping out wherever we can. I want all of our customers to know that we are a family business, first and foremost.”

END

Interview w/ Damien Blond of King's Cribbage Online

I recently met with the creator of the online version of King’s Cribbage, Damien Blond. Over cheeseburgers and lots of talk about the possibilities of future online games, I was struck by DB’s energy and quick mind.

A few weeks later I sent him the following questions about how his experience creating a really great online version of a fun game. If you have never played King’s Cribbage you now can try it our for free at www.kingscribbageonline.com.

Enjoy the interview, and feel free to leave comments or email me if you have additional questions for myself or DB.


INTERVIEW – DAMIEN BLOND, KING’S CRIBBAGE ONLINE

Cribbaholics Unanimous: First, tell us a little bit about yourself, where are you from, how you became interested in cribbage and how the idea of an
electronic version of Kings Cribbage came about.

Damien Blond: My name is Damien Blond. I grew up in Canada and moved to the States with my family when I was 14. I returned to Canada to get my B.Sci in Computer Science at the University of Calgary. Following that, I came back to the States for work. I've been working as a Software Engineer in San Diego for 7 years.

I have always been extremely competitive and played cribbage with my family since I was very young. I remember playing my own versions of it in high school with buddies, like reverse cribbage and cribbage with jokers, etc. Also my dad and I were extremely competitive; we used to keep track of yearly long cribbage series.

I knew I wanted to program computer games since I was about 6 years old, which is when I started. So far, my career has let me get very close to accomplishing that dream--I'm just not quite there yet!

I got the idea to program an electronic version of Kings Cribbage because my family and I played constantly. As my sister and I got older and moved across Canada and the US, there was no way for us to play long distance as a family. I searched for online versions of Kings Cribbage, but none existed. I decided to create a simple online version just for my family and I to play and we had a great time! We had so much fun that I proposed formally launching a public online version to Roy Cowley of Cococo Games, which is the company that owns Kings Cribbage. Roy and I hit it off almost immediately; Cococo Games has been extremely helpful. The rest is history!

CU: Since you recently got married and also have a fulltime job, when
do you have time for programming, let alone playing the game?

DB: Yeah, that's a tough one! Let's just say my new wife, although extremely supportive, grows a little tired of my non-stop programming and discussion of Kings Cribbage throughout our evenings and weekends. I have learned how to balance and budget my time a little better so that I don't get stretched too thin. Of course, I still find the time to play the occasional online game because I love the game so much!

CU: Talk a little about the process of creating the KCO and of its
ongoing evolution.

DB: Original versions of this game were very plain: no features, no users, only 2 player games, no watching games allowed, no lounge, no chat, few sound effects and so on. In fact, if you submitted a move in the original version of the game and it did not add up correctly, the game would make a loud beeping noise, and a small pop-up would tell you "your move is invalid" which was very annoying to everyone. Thus automatic score-keeping and the notepad were born.

Obviously these were not the only features I added. The game has dramatically improved over the past year, based on the on-going feedback from the game's users. Some of these features include: user login and personalized settings, user statistics and ratings, skunks, online tutorials for new players, tile racks, a featured "Player of the Month," and so much more. There are also many new features I have planned! I get very excited every time I add a new feature to the game and appreciate any ideas my users have for new features.

CU: What were some of the challenges involved in building the online community?

DB: Building a regular user-base from scratch is always a challenge. Roy Cowley was a tremendous help; he emailed everyone that had ever purchased the board game online to alert them of the new online version. This brought us in nearly 100 consistent users, 20 of which are the game's current "core" users who play multiple times a day. Since then, the community is growing via web searches, word of mouth, and networking with other cribbage communities online.

CU: How many members of KCO are there currently and how many do you
foresee joining in the future?

DB: The site officially launched March 3rd , and we currently have 600 users in the community. There are about 60 avid users who play games at least every other day.

At the current rate of growth, I expect over a thousand users by the end of the year, and at least 100 players that play daily.

When we start adding more games beyond just Kings Cribbage to the online community, I expect this number will jump dramatically.

CU: What aspect of KCO are you most proud of?

DB: Bringing a new game to life from scratch, and having users really appreciate my efforts. I have gotten a lot of feedback from families stating that KC Online brings them together and gives them an outlet to hang out and chat, despite being far away from each other. Since that is the original reason I designed this game--to allow me and my family to play despite the hundreds of miles between us--hearing that other families come together to play excites me the most.

CU: I've seen a lot of online games where anyone can log on and play
against a computer. So far KCO is still a game where you are playing
an actual person, or not at all. Was this intentional and will that
change in the future?

DB: Hopefully! The only reason I haven't added a computer opponent into KC Online is that I haven't had enough free time to do so. Developing a computer opponent entails developing Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is a serious undertaking. It's easy to make a dummy AI player making random low-scoring moves, and never actually being a viable threat--where's the intelligence in that?

Designing an intermediate skilled AI computer player would take almost a month of full-time dedicated work, while an advanced almost unbeatable opponent would take closer to 2-3 months. I hope to do this one day, but it's just not realistic for the immediate future until I can totally focus on it.

CU: What is the average number of games played by KCO members and how often do most players log on?

DB: "Golfgal" is our player with the most games ever played, having played nearly one thousand games since March. Our most frequent users log on every day, averaging over 7 games daily. The average user has played about 1 game per day since they found the site. Approximately 7,000 total games have been played since our March debut. A typical game takes between 20-40 minutes to play, depending on the timer setting the players select for that game. Currently the peak hours of KC Online are between 8pm EST and 11pm EST; there are usually about 10-20 users logged in at that time, which is a figure that is growing weekly.

CU: What are some future changes you'd like to see for KCO?

DB: The next major feature I am going to add is a "speed game," which is a game in which turns will only last 30 seconds. So far, our players are excited about that. Also, we are going to be starting up a 64 player tournament soon, complete with prizes for the top-scorers. I have received a lot of positive feedback about tournaments, and it looks like we finally have the user base to support it.

Other features coming are:
An ability to pause the game.
A message forum will be added.
Sortable statistics will be added to the website instead of just available in the game.
And eventually computer opponents!

CU: Talk about other plans for the future; other games you might be working on?

DB: My long term dream/vision is to be able to work on expanding this gaming community as my full-time job. I am very excited to bring other addictive games to my current gaming community to support. My plan is to start with other cribbage variants since our current core user base consists of cribbage addicts.

Examples of these upcoming games could include:
Crash Cribbage
CribbGolf
Crib Wars
CrossCrib
and more!

Following that, I hope to add other strategy and board games outside of the cribbage genre.

END

CU: Comments and questions are welcome! Would you like to see other cribbage notable personalities interviewed on this site? Make a suggestion!