Friday 3:09 AM

IMO this is the best hold by tossing 2-3 tossing 2-3 to our crib as dealer. Every cut increases the hand except a cut of a 3 but that increases our crib.
As pone IMO holding 2-5-6-8 and tossing 3-9 to opponent is best. Every cut except a 3 increases this hand.
Open to suggestions from others on these two scenarios.

   

Friday 3:10 AM

Tough call again today-I like the 2 point hand keep to throw the powerful 2-3 in my own crib-I will peg very well if pone has pictures or a middle card hand-the 4 cut would have been nice but at least the picture hits us in both hand and crib(albeit not very strong)

   

Friday 3:13 AM

Those are my bullet points as well. A ten cut would look better. dec

   

Friday 3:52 AM

In answer to the two questions:
As Dealer, (as we are here), I'd choose 2-3.
Were I to be Pone with these, 2-8 and lead the 6.

   

Friday 3:54 AM

Nice to know y'all agree with the 2-3 throw. Love reading all the different opinions on this site.

   

Friday 5:12 AM

If we were Pone with these cards dealt to us, it's probably a much more challenging problem, and I believe that Toss (2 8) or Toss (3 9) would both be viable.

But as Dealer, it's clearly Toss (2 3).

   

Friday 5:48 AM

   

Friday 5:49 AM

I hate to keep rogue 5 but the 2-3 toss may help salvage this deal.

   

Friday 6:08 AM

This is the hand that I mentioned in the October "Cribbage World" (page 8). My crib: toss 2-3; their crib: toss 2-9.

   

Friday 6:09 AM

Oh dear I went for 6 9 to my crib. I thought about 2 3 and then decided not to after not bothering to look at the discard tables.

   

Friday 6:24 AM

When in doubt and Face-Five isnt an option, 2-3. Two separate sets of touchies that didnt connect this time but might have.

I would like to end up around hole 75, so offense it is. If the opponent has a 7, we could wind up pegging alot.

Friday 7:09 AM

Getting a 2-3 into my crib. Everything but a 3 hits the hand,and I tossed one already.

   

Friday 7:22 AM

Agree with the powerful 2-3 to our crib. Usually only good things happen when we make this toss to our crib.

If pone, I like 3-9, followed closely by 2-8.

   

Friday 7:32 AM

Second best throw in crib, the favorite for some. But you never know, a 5 can be cut and the opponent throws a 29 for 2 points!

   

Friday 7:51 AM

Whenever I'm dealt 23 as dealer, I need a really good reason not to put it in my crib. Not seeing anything with this hand to steer me away from that mantra. Also love the powerful 56 for pegging as dealer.

   

Friday 7:52 AM

It seems like the weeks before everyone and every puzzle was CRAZY about the magic 11 counts for pegging. Now it's all about eeking out the extra Xth% for an extra 2 points in the count.

Why not stick the easy 2 points in the crib for later, 2 points in the hand, plus 4 more on a 10 cut, and keep a good pegging hand to boot? I'll never fully get this game...

   

Friday 10:39 AM

When dealing got to have those eyes open for a 2-3 discard. Here at hole 59 it's off., from the outset. Why so strong on the 2-3? Only 5-5 has a higher average. That powerful 5-point combination scores 2 points a mere 5.522% and scores 8 or more points 51.314%; so 2-3 is nearly ten times as likely to score 8+ than to score 2 points. When dealing if holding a 2-3 for a mere two points or none as the case would be this day, dump them with confidence to your crib. Play on the lead although would avoid pairing. Of course, they are worth even more on the other side of the board. So struggle to avoid tossing them on the other side for sure. From a hand that looks like 2-3-10-J-J-Q or 2-3 J-J-Q-K, retain the 2-3-J-J and toss 10-Q or Q-K. If holding these cards in this position as non-dealer, the 2-8 is the lower scoring discard at 4.904 (1,271) 43/91 and 3-9 5.177 (689) 51/91. In this case as n/d the 2-8 average is .16 lower since we are holding a five which it takes for 15-2 and the adjacent card 9. Not the same with the 3-9. So if non-dealer would go with the lower scoring 2-8. I just play the numbers - have no preferences and play no hunches. Some folks tell me the game can't be much fun playing it that way. Really having a good time with crib - much fun. Try playing by the numbers. Start with one phase ( RAS usually suggests discard averages). Inch by inch it's a cinch! As your winning percentages improve, you'll have more and more fun. It's much easier to have fun when winning. Try it - you'll like it! It takes a real sport to have fun when losing.

   

Friday 11:37 AM

For beginners, put simply any combo is 5 points thrown into the crib is a a guarantee that there will be at least 2 points in the crib.

Never underestimate MA Kelliher. She is a lion in sheep's clothing.

   

Friday 12:42 PM

For me it seems that the 2-3 discard is favorite but I'll also look at 5-6 and 6-9:

5-6-8-9: 2pts + 6¾pts (Schell: 7.00) = 8¾pts

2-3-8-9: 0pts + 6½pts (Schell: 6.63) = 6½pts

2-3-5-8: 2pts + 5¼pts (SChell: 5.13) = 7¼pts

Potential:

5-6-8-9: Improves with AAAA, 222, 4444, 555, 666, 7777, 888, 999 + 16xXs = 43 cuts = 43/46 = 93.5% up to 6/7/9pts with 4444, 666, 7777, 999, 10101010 = 18 cuts.

2-3-8-9: Improves with AAAA, 222, 333, 4444, 555, 666, 7777, 888, 999 + 16xXs = 46 cuts = 46/46 = 100.0% up to 3/4/5/7pts with AAAA, 222, 333, 4444, 7777, 10101010 = 22 cuts.

2-3-5-8: Improves with AAAA, 222, 333, 4444, 555, 7777, 888 + 16xXs = 40 cuts = 40/46 = 87.0% up to 5/6/8pts with AAAA, 222, 4444, 555, 7777, 888 + 16xXs = 37 cuts.

Position:

Pone only needs 7pts to reach 3rd street positional hole while we need 37pts over two deals to be at 96pts for our next deal. This 11pts more than average so I think I'll play Offense.

Pegging:

Each hand has a magic eleven but 2--3-5-8 has three low cards and a middle card so I think will peg best.

Summary:

5-6-8-9 has the best starting value by 1½pts over 2-3-5-8. It also has a good number of cuts for improvement and 18 for 6-9pts. 2-3-5-8 has 37 cuts for 5-8pts and will also peg well but as it starts with 1¼pts fewer I'll throw the 2-3.

   

Friday 1:23 PM

At 59*-63 playing an Offense strategy for the pegging the dynamic expected averages and Win/Loss %s are:

_______________Our
Offense___Hand_Pegs_Crib_Total____W4 %____W5 %
5-6-8-9____5.26+4.02+6.94=16.22____10.0____21.2
2-3-5-8____5.70+3.72+4.93=14.35_____7.8____18.1
2-3-6-9____4.96+3.22+5.46=13.64_____6.5____17.2
2-3-8-9____3.48+3.37+6.68=13.53_____6.4____16.8

Offense_______L4 %____L5 %
5-6-8-9________25.0____57.2
2-3-5-8________25.9____59.8
2-3-6-9________25.4____60.1
2-3-8-9________25.2____60.1

5-6-8-9 is best for expected averages by 1.87pts and is significantly best for Win %s and lowest for Loss %s. So I'll select 2-3 to discard.

After the Q cut I'll play Offense to the lead.