Saturday 3:27 AM

Love the pegging value of this hand as dealer -we have the option of taking a 15 right away with a pone picture lead-or play the 8 and hope to get the 31( my preferred way of pegging this particular hand-this hood also gives us a chance at a bingo 4 cut-helping the hand and the crib

   

Saturday 3:36 AM

I've more faith in A8 finding a friend in the crib than AT, especially with a 4 and 5 already out of circulation.

   

Saturday 3:44 AM

Remember this a puzzle submitted by Ras! Here goes: I like this hand that only a cut of a 4 does not increase its value.
Something can be said for holding A-3-4-8 (sweet sixteen) and tossing 5-T to our crib. Which way and why, Ras?

   

Saturday 4:28 AM

I nominated the three as possibly being that cut. I like dictating how the pegging would go here. dec

   

Saturday 4:34 AM

I'll A8 and hope for a little help in the crib. I am trying to get to 70-75, and the only way that happens is when I play aggressive.

   

Saturday 5:58 AM

Possible 14 hand and good peggers. Only an ace or 9 cut do not improve the hand; the ace helps the crib.

   

Saturday 6:10 AM

Like James above, I was thinking about those four 6s still out there somewhere.

   

Saturday 6:24 AM

I should have thrown A 10 instead of A 8.

   

Saturday 6:45 AM

I like middle one, little one.

   

Saturday 7:59 AM

I'm a bit of a maverick today, according to the voting. So far only 11% agree with my choice.

You can keep either 5 pts in hand or 4 pts.

If you keep 5 pts you hold 3-4-5-8, discarding 10-A to your crib, OR
You hold 3-4-5-10, discarding 8-A to your crib.

If you keep 4 pts you hold A-3-4-8, discarding 5-10 to your crib.

I think it's worth the 1-pt sacrifice to make the 5-10 discard to your crib. You also have a "sweet 16" with this hold(A-3-4-8), so I'm not sure which of these holds will peg better. I'll have to defer to others here and Halscrib and Coeurdelion for that.

   

Saturday 8:18 AM

Another pegging question. It's to do with the play of the final 2 cards.

When Opp has been playing, in his first 3 cards, connected or nearby cards (like 6-7-9) or pairs/connected(like 10-10-J), and you hold 2 cards, one of which "fits" with his 3 cards and the other doesn't, and you must lead one of your 2 cards, you must decide which of your 2 cards to lead.

Do you lead the card that "fits", hoping Opp has exhausted his connected/paired cards? Or do you lead the card that doesn't fit, figuring his last card will be one that does fit?

Practical example: Opp has played 6-7-9(any order) in his first 3 cards and you hold an 8(fits) and Q(doesn't fit) and must lead one of them. Which do you lead?

The other example is similar. Opp's first 3 cards were 10-10-J(any order) and you hold Q(fits) and 6(doesn't fit) and must lead one of them. Which do you lead?

I've tried it both ways and seem to get stung so often with opp scoring a 15 or with a pair no matter which way I go.

Any advice from you pegging experts?

   

Saturday 8:42 AM

RAS hand, so I overthought this one lol. Usually, I'd toss the A and 10 here. I like 3-4-5-8, but not with a 4 in my hand if I tossed A/10. Everything but a 9 gives me a minimum of 6 in hand and crib, and hoping to at least catch a face in the crib.

   

Saturday 10:31 AM

I think the three main choices are going to be close in statistical average. Curious to see what the preferred choice will be. No regrets.

   

Saturday 10:57 AM

Prefer the A-8 to my crib instead of the A-T. Considered the 5-T to my crib but not worth the sacrifice of points (I am not a good enough player to make up the difference pegging).

As an aside, other than this site, are there others that can help me with my pegging? I have read DeLynn's and Barlow's crib books but still I feel my pegging needs work.

   

Saturday 11:20 AM

In this spot, I want the magic 11 along with a healthy number of pulls at 10+; curious if there a Ras surprise recommendation of 10-5 to the crib coming.

   

Saturday 3:47 PM

I think it's between 3-4-5-8 (A-10), 3-4-5-10 (A-8) and and A-3-4-8 (5-10):

3-4-5-8: 5pts + 3½pts (Schell: 3.42) = 8½pts

3-4-5-10: 5pts + 3¾pts (Schell: 3.80) = 8¾pts

A-3-4-8: 2pts + 6½pts (Schell: 6.66) = 8½pts

Potential:

3-4-5-8: Improves with 2222, 333, 444, 555, 6666, 7777, 888 + 15xXs = 39 cuts = 39/46 = 84.8% up to 8/9/10/12/14pts with 2222, 333, 444, 555, 6666, 888 = 20 cuts.

3-4-5-10: Improves with AAA, 2222, 333, 444, 555, 6666, 7777, 888 + 15xXs = 42 cuts = 42/46 = 91.3% up to 8/9/10/12pts with 2222, 333, 444, 555, 6666, 101010 = 20 cuts.

A-3-4-8: Improves with AAA, 2222, 333, 444, 555, 6666, 7777, 888 + 15xXs = 42 cuts = 42/46 = 91.3% up to 5/6/8pts with 2222, 333, 444, 555, 7777, 888 = 20 cuts.

Position:
We should reach 3rd street positional hole first and even as non-dealer we'll have positional advantage so I'll play a Defense strategy.

Pegging:

Playing Defense I think A-3-4-8 will peg best.

Summary:

3-4-5-10 is best for starting value by only ¼pt but 3-4-5-8 has nearly as many cuts for improvement and 20 cuts for 8-14pts which is the best maximum. So I'll throw the A-10.

   

Saturday 3:49 PM

At 55*-51 playing a Defense strategy for the pegging the dynamic expected averages and Win/Loss %s are:

________________Pone's
Defense___Hand__Pegs___Crib_Total___W5 %____W6 %
A-3-4-8____4.93+(-1.89)+6.62=9.66____45.6____65.5
3-4-5-10___7.98+(-2.20)+3.69=9.47____46.2____67.0
3-4-5-8____8.15+(-2.20)+3.07=9.02____46.0____65.9
A-4-5-10___7.15+(-1.96)+3.80=8.99____44.6____65.6
A-3-4-5____7.11+(-2.13)+3.76=8.74____43.9____63.5

Defense______L5 %____L6 %
A-3-4-8_______22.2____16.4
3-4-5-10______20.7____15.1
3-4-5-8_______21.6____15.9
A-4-5-10______20.8____16.1
A-3-4-5_______23.2____18.0

A-3-4-8 is best for expected averages by 0.19pt over 3-4-5-10 but 3-4-5-10 is slightly best for Win %s and lowest for Loss %s so I'll select A-8 to discard.

After the K cut I'll play Defense to the lead.

   

Saturday 8:42 PM

What's not to like about holding such a fine pegging arrangement, discarding the high-scoring 5-10 to own crib. Retain a "sweet 16", two-card magic 11. Have chosen an optimal strategy from the outset. Opponent at hole 51 needs 18 points to reach 3rd street CPZ (69-73). Will take pegs that seem reasonably safe though will try to avoid giving up a triple for six pegs. Will play the 8 on J-Q-K lead, would play the trey on a 10 spot. If the cards are agreeable, will hold A-3-4 for the end of the pegging sequence. Can often work some magic with three cards ranking under five. Note that combined value (pegs, hand and crib scores) is best for A-3-4-8. See HalscribCLX above for those figures.That's good enough for me.