Friday 3:13 AM

This position is an excellent example of what appears to be an essentially tied game in which we are the Dealer, and yet Pone may have the positional advantage.

For it is always the FIRST player who becomes the Dealer at or beyond the Par Holes of Hole 18, 44, 70, and 96, for First, Second, Third, and Fourth Streets, respectively, who has the Positional Advantage.

Notice that when Pone is within Ten Holes of such a target, this may indicate that, as the Dealer, we may already not hold the Positional Advantage, and as such, we are probably not in control of this game!

With Pone at Hole 36 and having a potential known average of about Ten Points coming, this means our Opponent is within "easy striking distance" of the next positional target or Second Street Par Hole 44.

Assuming Pone reaches this target, we would like to then reach Ten Holes shy of the Third Street Par Hole 70 (Hole 60, or further along) by the completion of this deal. And yet this goal of ours is nearly a whole street in the distance!

The hand initially looks rather mundane, and either we Toss (2 6), or Toss (2 Q), or Toss (6 9), but choosing between these three ideas is a bit more intricate than it might immediately appear.

I am generally fond of retaining the longer RUN in most cases, as it extends our available helpful Cuts a bit further, so I am drawn toward Keep (9 T J Q) and Toss (2 6).

As far as Toss (6 9), we know that in his "Star Power" Treatise, RAS "lumps" this discard into the "Also Ran" category, and I tend to agree with this. Another way to begin with a 'static' Five Points is after Toss (2 Q), but this seems to both weaken our Hand and negate our Crib.

And so, let's Toss (2 6), and try to prevent this positional crisis from becoming too much worse. That's not a very lofty goal, but it may be realistic.

After the King of Diamonds Cut, we hold a King-High Straight, which beats any three-of-a-kind. (And if that didn't make you laugh, then our eventual Crib probably will.)

   

Friday 3:16 AM

I'll keep all five points together, rather than spread them with 2-T-J-Q (6-9).

   

Friday 3:24 AM

I like spreading the cut options out here-a 3,5,10,J or Q give us at least 8 in our hand ,and a 6 or 9 give us at least a 6 point crib,while a 7 or 8 gives us crib potential

   

Friday 3:56 AM

I like splitting the cards by holding 3 points in the hand and 2 points in the crib.

   

Friday 4:13 AM

I seem to be lucky as far as face card pegging. Expansion and potential . dec

   

Friday 4:35 AM

chance for a 12 hand

   

Friday 5:24 AM

For me it's either all the points in my hand and none (a Covid 19 if you will) in my crib or some in my hand and some in my crib. I don't like Covid 19 cribs, so split it up.

   

Friday 6:02 AM

Straights always have higher odds of getting a favorable cut, but giving up one end of the straight to ensure that extra point if the cut isn't favorable. Need to keep the 9/6 and 9/10/J straight... so the lady has to go, along with the 2 that doesn't benefit the hand.

   

Friday 6:08 AM

The crib is an extension of my hand. I am familiar with the concept of “synergy” discards to one’s own crib but I do not see the discards of either 2-6 or 2-Q having synergy potential. Keep + crib starts with five and gets cut help from 9/13 ranks ( hand or crib)

   

Friday 6:12 AM

Debated back and forth on this between the 6-9 toss (better crib discard, but weakened hand) or 2-Q toss (weakened crib toss, but better hand potential). Decided to keep the points in hand today for chance of 10/12 points.

Nice puzzle by Ras today as this seems to be a common theme/predicament in many games.

   

Friday 6:49 AM

Debated between keeping 5 pts in my hand (tossing 2 Q), or throwing the "soft" 2pts (6 9) in my crib. I am VERY unlikely to make it to hole 50 after this deal, so I would like to at least try to make it to hole 44. Let's toss the (6 9) into the crib while maintaining a run and one small card in our hand, which has slightly better defense as well as better scoring potential for the play. Having only 1 small card is more of a liability when you are playing as pone than dealer. The K cut is neither here nor there, only adding a meager 1 pt to our run and not appearing to help our crib toss anyway, so it may be a struggle just to get to that new goal. In most cases I will try to follow with the 2 early in the play, including pairing a 2 opening lead, and I would take a chance and pair the opening lead of a face card as well.

   

Friday 6:54 AM

I felt that the possible advantage accruing from having 6 9 in my crib outweighed keeping 6 9 10 J in hand and throwing 2 Q.

   

Friday 7:15 AM

Seems like a pick’em no?

Friday 7:26 AM

6-2 looks like something I'd like to throw in my opponent's crib and the 6-9 need to stay together. I threw Q-2 in hopes of a 3 magically appearing.

   

Friday 7:30 AM

Let's try this to see if it comes up now.

   

Friday 8:16 AM

Kept all of the points intact with this toss

   

Friday 8:35 AM

Same comment as mfetch. Is 5+0 better than 3+2? I'm not a great pegger but I think 6-9-T-J will peg better than 2-T-J-Q based on what I have learned here.

   

Friday 12:40 PM

Lots of 6's and 9' get thrown into dealers crib by pone.