November 21, 2021

*** This hand was suggested by Ras2829
83*-85  ?
45%
32%
21%
0%
0%
Total votes: 200
james500
3924 votes

Joined: June 2013
 
 
 
Sunday 3:13 AM
7-2-2 eleven may be useful. Q-9 probably won't be.
james500 says: To Inushtuk Mike, I've had a look through the puzzles from Jan to April 2016. No luck yet, but I'll carry on looking when I get the time. There was an emoji used on Feb 6th which is quite unusual though, especially when you remember that typing certain punctuation marks used to end the post midway through.
Hillchem says: Hi Mike and James. That might have been a post from me. In those years, I was devouring anything I could find on the internet, past and present. I don’t remember where this can be found on dailycribbagehand, nor do I know now whether Hal elaborated on this anywhere. However, I looked around. I think the traps that you’re remembering can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20050302142910/http://home.mountaincable.net/~halscrib/traps.htm
Hillchem says: And Mike, I don’t know if you saw my comment a week ago, but it’s good to see you around again!
Inushtuk1 says: Hi Hillchem. You may be right now that I think about it. I will check it out. And thank you Hillchem. And thank you to James. Sorry to send you on a wild goose chase. I will take it from here. It's my problem, not yours. At least I know to skip the first 4 month of 2016. Thanks for that. Cheers to you both.
Jazzselke says: I think I have the article from Hal you are looking for. It is titled "Restriction Plays and Pegging Traps". Reply with your email if you want me to send it.
Jazzselke says: Actually it is the link above mentioned by Hillchem.
Inushtuk1 says: Thanks everybody. I have bookmarked it. Our search is over. I wonder if the latest edition of Halscrib would still make these plays. Probably. But *maximization* must mean BOLD.
james500 says: Hi all, thanks for helping out.
mrob2199
1436 votes

Joined: February 2009
 
 
 
Sunday 3:15 AM
Nice puzzle today Ras-this is a horrible hand and even if we kept the 779 together and cut the 8,we aren’t going to go that far-so we have to keep the best defensive hand to keep the pone down,while still keeping a hand and discarding to our crib combinations of cards which can be marginally helped by more cuts than the monster 8 cut that 779 would strive for-the 229Q gets help from a 2,3,or 4 cut while providing a magic 11 and spaced out pegging cards-we aren’t looking for a home run here-a single or lucky double would suffice
MiketheExpert
1123 votes

Joined: April 2021
 
 
 
Sunday 4:37 AM
With this score, I am not so much concerned with the fact I don't have a great hand, OR that I may have to throw horrible cards into my own crib. I am really focused on trying to become that FIRST dealer at hole 96, and even I tried, it would be hard for me not to REACH hole 96, and well beyond that in the course of the next 2 deals! So the way I see it, I only have 1 chance to hold current pone back and play defensively (this hand), while I have 2 chances to score in the neighborhood of 13 pegs, and I think I can do this without hardly TRYING, because this second statement should practically take care of itself.

Therefore, I will choose the "HORRIBLE" (9 Q) throw into my own crib rather than the strong (7 7), because I like the prospects of DEFENSIVE PEGGING and the safety in numbers aspect of holding two widespread pairs in my hand THAT much better.

So (2 2 7 7) it is, and true to form, we get a cut that does nothing for us, probably no matter what we have chosen, but again, it DOESN't REALLY MATTER on this deal.

I feel there is a very good chance to hold pone down as best as I can, and the only aspect I can't control is how good of a hand he was dealt. I'm playing off all opening leads here. Do not be tempted to engage in any back and forth runs here! Scoring is practically all of benefit to our opponenet, rather than ourselves!
MiketheExpert says: There is a thought, however, that perhaps with a lead of "3" or 4" by pone, in these cases, I MAY rather have kept a hand such as (2 2 9 Q), because my responses would seem to be more "comfortable" in these cases, partly because I am holding two "2"s already in my hand. I would have to respond with the "7" on either a 3 or 4 lead, which is not as good as responding with a "Q" on the 3, or a "9" on the 4. But on an OVERALL basis of all possible opening leads, I believe the (2 2 7 7) holding would perform BEST defensively.
Gougie00
5731 votes

Joined: March 2008
 
 
 
Sunday 5:09 AM
Nothing on the menu looks palatable. I tossed 22 because the pone rarely helps 77. I wasn't enthusiastic about Q9 either. I might learn something today.
Jazzselke
2587 votes

Joined: March 2009
 
 
 
Sunday 6:02 AM
Total defense required in this position as mentioned. 229Q provides the Magic 11. 7s in the crib could still possibly be 12 with the 8 cut (what we be be looking for with the 779 hold in the hand). But the priority is keeping the opponent off of Hole 95/96.
zeke76
1397 votes

Joined: August 2018
 
 
 
Sunday 6:36 AM
Ugh
Eolus619
1343 votes

Joined: June 2020
 
 
 
Sunday 7:03 AM
This hand reminds me of a Bruce Springsteen song . “Waiting on a sunny day” .The 80 % chance for dealer earning 12 is in doubt. Defensive pegging ..95-95*…105*-111.. shaky position and outcome
JQT
4143 votes

Joined: October 2008
 
 
 
Sunday 7:34 AM
At this Relative Position, careful pegging is perhaps more important than our total scoring, since we're not on target, and more importantly, our Opponent looks capable of reaching that same target.

Defensive pegging should be achievable if we hold either Keep (2 2 9 Q) and Toss (7 7) or if we hold Two PAIRS via Keep (2 2 7 7) and Toss (9 Q), and several cuts will help either hand.

However, Toss (7 7) should do much better in our Crib than Toss (9 Q), because while our Hand only gets help from One Card (the Cut), the Crib gets help from not just the Cut Card, but also from the Two Cards discarded by Pone.

In fact, the Crib Value of Toss (7 7) to our Own Crib is about Six Points, or nearly DOUBLE that of Toss (9 Q)! This clinches it.

Let's Toss (7 7) and peg very carefully, and after the seemingly useless King Cut, let's especially try to prevent our Opponent from easily reaching the next target.
Eolus619 says: morning John…sending along this rendition from Tedeschi Trucks band. Trucks was a original member in the Allman Brothers. Thought of now as one the Top 100 slide Guitar players. Think you will appreciate the way the band is compromised ..enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbOlgESKbIc
Eolus619 says: actually comprised is better
JQT says: Thanks for the musical link. It's a definitive Allman Brothers Sound, the slide steel cannot hide that! It's interesting hearing the noticeable differences between sit-down slide guitar playing vs. stand-up playing, which has quite a bit less "Country" feel to it, and remains more Bluesey/Folksey.
Fender Bass
373 votes

Joined: July 2021
 
 
 
Sunday 7:53 AM
Hoping for an 8 or a 3
dec
6359 votes

Joined: April 2008
 
 
 
Sunday 9:15 AM
Defense to me is needed here. I will find out soon enough if they got that nine to seventeen hand on the cut. Need twelve here do piece work on the three facets. dec
Inushtuk1
1488 votes

Joined: July 2016
 
 
 
Sunday 12:13 PM
I have learned from Crib solitaire Drills via Kassler's Hand Evaluator that keeping the high and low cards, and tossing the middle cards is often best for Dealer. I still have a Magic Eleven for defense.
JQT says: If you practice with this little tool long enough and never clear your High Scores, you will find it difficult to break any of your previously-stored Top 100 High Scores during a session. Going back to Early 2007 on one of my PCs, my Top Three (of one hundred) for example are currently: Score 109, Jan 3, 2008; Score 106, Jan 16, 2017; Score 104, Jul 8, 2007. The last of these Top 100 is: Score 87, May 27, 2017, so if I play Kassler Solitaire on this PC, I have to beat a score of 87 in order to 'break into' my Top 100 and thus 'bump off' one of the lower scores!
JQT says: There was also a Cribbage Solitaire App I used briefly (circa 2017-2019) on a Cell Phone, but it was simply a matter of Time Wasted plus Counting Skills that led to a high score. But I did have the Top Score for a while, and was in the Top Ten for a long while, but I gave up using it because it really had no skill involved, and my eyesight has gotten to the point where I make too many errors! Incidentally, there are a number of variants of Cribbage Solitaire, and Kassler's Tool is probably my favorite, as it's directly adapted from the variation you can play with an ordinary deck of cards to pass the time and hone your skills.
Inushtuk1 says: Hi John. The old Pc I had doesn't work anymore. I am on a MacBookAir now. I don't think Kassler's will work. Sigh.
JQT says: I think we might have to resort to just hanging onto an older version of Win XP partition on a Windows PC (or using an emulator) just to run these old tools, including Halscrib itself. I may try this with a laptop if and when I can come to grips with all of the things crowding the Top 100 spot of my To-Do List! By the way, if you retained any backups, the "High Scores" data file from this program will be up-to-date from when you last played it, as long as you saved your data. In this way, your user data can "live" on from one PC to the next. Even an Apple machine can run a Windows Emulation (it takes some technical expertise) to support older games, so try to retain your old Halscrib Stat's and other similar data.
Coeurdelion
5595 votes

Joined: October 2007
 
 
 
Sunday 3:03 PM
I think it must be between 7-7-9-Q (2-2), 2-2-9-Q (7-7) and 2-2-7-7 (9-Q):

7-7-9-Q: 2pts + 5¾pts (Schell: 5.72) = 7¾pts

2-2-9-Q: 2pts + 5¾pts (Schell: 5.92) = 7¾pts

2-2-7-7: 4pts - 3pts (Schell: 2.99) = 7pts

Potential:

7-7-9-Q: Improves with AAAA, 5555, 6666, 77, 8888, 999, QQQ = 24 cuts = 24/46 = 52.2% up to 6/12pts with 77, 8888 = 6 cuts.

2-2-9-Q: Improves with AAAA, 22, 3333, 4444, 5555, 6666, 999, QQQ = 28 cuts = 28/46 = 60.9% up to 6/8pts with 22, 3333, 4444 = 10 cuts.

2-2-7-7: Improves with AAAA, 22, 4444, 6666, 77, 8888 = 20 cuts = 20/46 = 43.5% up to 8/12pts with 22, 4444, 6666, 77, 8888 = 16 cuts.

Position:

We need 13pts to reach 4th street positional hole but we will be there as Pone but if we're there first we'll have positional advantage. So I'll play Defense.

Pegging:

I think 2-2-9-Q and 2-2-7-7 will peg best and perhaps, playing Defense, 2-2-7-7 the best. Both have magic elevens but with a 3-card magic including a pair of twos 2-2-7-7 has better potential.

Summary:

2-2-9-Q has the most cuts for improvement and 10 cuts for 6/8pts which is a considerable improvement over 2pts. So I'll throw 7-7.
HalscribCLX
5318 votes

Joined: February 2008
 
 
 
Sunday 3:07 PM
At 83*-85 playing Defense the dynamic expected averages and Win/Loss %s are:

________________Pone's
Defense___Hand__Pegs___Crib_Total___W3 %____W4 %
2-2-9-Q____3.74+(-2.02)+5.91=7.63____45.5____48.7
7-7-9-Q____3.83+(-2.13)+5.61=7.31____43.0____46.6
2-2-7-7____5.91+(-2.11)+3.07=6.87____42.3____47.7

Defense______L3 %____L4 %
2-2-9-Q_______45.0____36.2
7-7-9-Q_______45.7____38.7
2-2-7-7_______44.9____37.7

2-2-9-Q is best for expected averages by 0.32pt. and is slightly best for Win %s and lowest for Loss %s. So I'll select 7-7 to discard.

After the K cut I'll play Defense to the lead.
wasa
3019 votes

Joined: November 2014
 
 
 
Sunday 5:08 PM
Late to the game today. Pondered 9-Q vs 7-7 vs 2-2. Decided to feed my crib with middle key connectors
Ras2829
5155 votes

Joined: November 2008
 
 
 
Sunday 9:46 PM
With opponent at hole 85 needing to reach 95-99 (4th street CPZ) for upcoming deal., it's defense to include the pegging. Best thing can be accomplished this hand is to limit n/d progress down the board. Play off the lead although pairing a deuce lead would seem to benefit me as if tripled dealer would move down the board 14 holes. The 7-7 is the best of the discards available and still allows a defensive pegging stance.