Wednesday 3:09 AM

End games are my challenges. I have a four card "eleven".

Wednesday 3:14 AM

keeping the peggers.

Wednesday 3:24 AM

Went aggressively this morning, no issues if someone wants to hold the 2 pairs here and play it defensively instead.

*SPOILER*
Cribbage Pro Daily Scrimmage
Score: 121 to 106
SP: 1725

Discards:
1. 9-Q
2. 5-Q
3. A-Q 17-19*
4. A-6
5. A-T
6. 2-7
7. 3-7 65-69*
8. 5-T
9. 4-8
10. J-J 118*-106

Wordle 1,474 4/6*

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Wednesday 3:26 AM

I want a magic 11 AND a potential 5 trap to maximize my chances of pegging the 4 I need-on any picture lead play a 3 - that will prevent the pone from dumping his 5- if he has a hand such as x456 we could also defense that

Wednesday 3:42 AM

I like this defense and potential offense on the pegging many eight tight hands to defense against. dec

Wednesday 4:13 AM

*Spoiler*

Cribbage Pro Scrimmage
2nd Jul 2025
🏆Score: 121 to 99
🌋SP: 1830
📅Streak: 16
https://www.cribbagepro.net/scrimmage/536/3333658/1

1. 0-0*, 7-Q
2. *7-12, 5-Q
3. 21-22*, 2s-6h, (Q-A?)
4. *27-38, A-6
5. 42-47*, A-10
6. *54-63, 2-7
7. 70-67*, A-9
8. *77-74, 5-10
9. 106,84*, 4d-8
10. *120-99, 5-Jd.

Wednesday 4:35 AM

I don't want the pone pegging. So 8833 to prevent any pairs and runs from close cards.

A lead of a 7 will be interesting.

Wednesday 4:38 AM

Have enough points in hand, Magic 11s and hopefully enough defense

Wednesday 5:05 AM

Does the Dealer need to peg out in order to prevail? Is the Pope really from Illinois? And do the C Major and A minor scales actually share the same notes? It's a mysterious world out there, folks. ⛪

Let's delve into yet another splendid CribbagePro Endgame Battle, in an endgame captured by the renowned Cribbage Puzzle Composer, scottcrib. At a score of (117*-110), we are the Dealer at Hole 117, and our Opponent is Pone at Hole 110. Pone's Average NET Total is known to be about Ten Points "and change," or about 10.2 Points(**), which is tallied via Pegging plus First Hand Show, however: as the Current Dealer, we typically enjoy a slight Pegging Advantage over Pone, and before Pone tallies the Hand, as the Dealer, we should tend to peg an Average of about 3.5 Holes(**). (Note: It's been decades since I attended college, but 3.5 is LESS THAN 4!) 🤔

(**) Cribbage Scoring Statistics, from GameColony Dot Com

This means that after both the Pegging Phase and First Hand Show, those prospective averages should result in a Relative Score (drum roll please) of precisely (120.5*-120.2)! Whew! Or should that be: Phew!? We're Half-a-Point shy of going out as the Dealer, and our Opponent will be sitting (perhaps uncomfortably) around Eight-Tenths of a Point from the Finish Line! Have we just witnessed the "Decimalization" of Cribbage? It is said that "Draws" are ruining Chess as well as Football (Soccer); are these out to conquer Cribbage as well? ⚽

Yes, Pope Leo, formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost, was born in Chicago on September 14, 1955. That was one week before President Eisenhower suffered a coronary thrombosis while on vacation in Denver, Colorado, and a gentleman by the name of Richard Nixon temporarily served as 'Acting President' while Eisenhower recovered. And indeed, C Major and A minor are considered to be "relative" keys, but their starting points (tonal centers) differ. You learn all of these interesting and lovely things when you follow the Daily Cribbage Hand! It's kind of interesting and yet annoying. 🎼

Back to our nearly "Drawn" Cribbage Game. We need to understand accurately what it means when we say that Pone's Average Tally is a NET Total of around Ten Holes, since Pone currently sits at Hole 110, or Eleven Holes away from VICTORY. By stating that something is "Average," mathematically this means that 50% of the time, Pone will score Ten Points or less by completion of the current deal, and the other 50% of the time, Pone will navigate Ten Points or more by completion of the deal. 🎲

This means that if we "Just Play Defense" and retain the MOST DEFENSIVE Pegging Hand, and we do it well (let's even brag and say we do it "perfectly"!), we'll probably LOSE some of the time (if Pone were at Hole 111, it would be much worse for us), but more often than not, Pone will come up short. That seems like we might be rewarded for simply watching our Opponent LOSE! Why is this the case? It's about what we control, and what we don't control: we can have some control over the pegging; however, we CANNOT CONTROL Pone's Hand! At least HALF (or greater) of the time, we're going to deal our Opponent a Hand that will simply not defeat us even if Pone gets to tally First Hand Show. 🍰

What does all this mean? It means we could still look for an opportunity to peg out, but our primary task should probably be to DEFEND. After all: Our Pegging Average is 3.5 Points, and we need Four Points. As the Current Dealer, it's unlikely that we can peg Four Points or more, but we do have at least three additional factors (try to guess what these are) that give us a bit of a "tailwind" in this situation: 🪁

(1) Since we dealt ourselves NO Jacks, we have a nearly 9% chance of a Jack Cut and obtaining "Two for His High Heels," after which we would enjoy an OVERWHELMING ADVANTAGE, and yet this factor will help us regardless of which cards we hold; 🎡

(2) We can focus ALL (or at least MOST) of our energy on the task of the Pegging Itself, because both our Hand Score and Crib Score are next to meaningless when we are the Dealer at Hole 117, as we shall ALWAYS peg the Proverbial One Hole, so we don't need to worry about "covering" the distance;
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(3) This last item is often overlooked, but (as we should ALWAYS do in Cribbage) let's put ourselves in our Opponent's Shoes (Pegs) for a moment, and think: At Hole 110, Pone is NOT going to be able to retain the very best Defensive Hand in order to inhibit our pegging. It would be nice for Pone if that were possible, but at Hole 110, Pone is almost always going to be FORCED to retain the cards that can actually tally enough points to "cover" most or all of those Eleven Holes that stand between Pone's Front Peg and the Game Hole! 😭

All of those previous things that conspire to help us as the Dealer will likely help us regardless of the cards we are holding, and therefore this should allow us to think about approaching such an endgame scenario with our focus on about 80% Defense and 20% Offense (we shouldn't think 100% Defense, because we still enjoy TWO ways to WIN such a game). With no Jacks being dealt to us, we have 4/46 equals 0.087 or about a 9% chance of a Jack Cut and "Two for 👠👠 Her Heels," which would lighten our burden by HALF, and allow us to WIN with any PAIR, Fifteen, Thirty-One, or Run. Wouldn't that be nice?! But we are NOT dependent upon getting a Jack Cut in order to WIN. 🤹🏼‍♀️

We want a special kind of Hand today, a Hand that can both adequately DEFEND if need be, and yet at the same time, allow us some chance for pegging opportunistically. Those seem like contradictory ideas, because, well: they are! But on the margin, we shall lean toward DEFENSE, because the burden is really on our Opponent today! If the score were different by perhaps just One Hole (for EITHER PLAYER!) today, we might approach this very differently. ⛳

In a DEFENSIVE capacity, I like holding the two PAIRS, since any card rank we have in abundance is far less likely to have been dealt to our Opponent. With (3 3 8 8), we also have two Magic Eleven Duos of 3-8, which will safely score against a Pone with many X Cards. 🤡

It's a close call here, as (A 3 3 4) would be a very capable Offensive Pegging Hand, and if either Pone or us as the Dealer were just maybe One Hole CLOSER today, I think that would justify an Offensive Posture. However, with Pone starting out at Hole 110, beyond the Pone Average Scoring threshold, and with us simultaneously sitting just beyond our Dealer Pegging Average, I'm going to place my bets on DEFENSE. 🚧

That doesn't mean we shouldn't score if the opportunity presents itself and we can do so SAFELY, for if we can score upon Pone's Lead Card, then we should. And if a Jack Cut occurs, we are all in-it-to-WIN-it Offensively. But if none of those things occur (and the odds say that they will usually NOT occur), then our goal as the Dealer here will be to MAKE OUR OPPONENT EARN IT! 🥎

Let's Toss (A 4) today, and while we're to keep our eyes open to any and all opportunities, our default posture will be to DEFEND and watch Pone "come up short" of the Finish Line. After the Trey Cut, little has changed in our perspective, and we are ready to put up some firm resistance. Yes, a 7 or 8 Card Lead would be very interesting! 🎱

The A minor scale uses the same notes as the C Major scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B), but the tonal "center" is A instead of C. While the key of C Major is generally perceived as bright and happy, the key of A minor has a more somber or melancholic feel. 🎹 Therefore, as they were voting in the senate this week on H.R.1., the "Big Beautiful Bill," it reminded me of this short tune from nearly two centuries ago:

Chopin Prelude Op. 28, No. 2 in A minor
Costantino Carrara - "The Flaming Piano" 🌋
https://youtu.be/T_2FM2qGZZY
(Volume UP - Loop Enable)

Wordle 1,474 3/6 (As a Result, I'm Back in the Saddle Again!) 🐎

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Wednesday 5:25 AM

I’m keeping the peggers.

Wednesday 5:39 AM

I'm with Kevin today--no island.

Wednesday 6:41 AM

I would feel really bad if I kept 2 points,and only pegged the 1

Wednesday 6:47 AM

This has it all, the points I need, magic 11, potential 5 trap and most likely a safe card with 3- 3s gone.

Wednesday 7:09 AM

This is one of those puzzles where the varied keeps from accomplished players may actually end up being somewhat confusing to the less experienced player. Cribbage is a game of choice ..and so is this puzzle. For me, I am letting dec, Rob and Jen ( and others ) speak on my behalf. Not holding enough to go out and thus depending on pegging and a favorable cut did not make sense to me. I do see the reasoning for 3388.

Wednesday 9:00 AM

I prefer this way because of all the options to peg out.

Wednesday 9:16 AM

If pone holds pictures and 5s this is basically a golden hand to peg four, with the magic eleven and saving the 34 in an effort to trap a 5. With pone needing 11 they’re likely to hold cards that will correspond nicely with the 3348 and allow us to peg

Wednesday 11:47 AM

At 117*-110 playing a Defense strategy for the pegging the Average Pone Pegging Points and Chances of Our Pegging Out are:

Defense_____Pone Peg Pts._____Dlr Peg Out %
A-3-4-8_______(-1.50)_____________45.0
A-3-8-8_______(-1.70)_____________34.2
A-3-3-8_______(-1.85)_____________38.9
3-3-8-8_______(-1.89)_____________23.2
A-4-8-8_______(-1.96)_____________29.5
3-4-8-8_______(-2.00)_____________38.6
3-3-4-8_______(-2.04)_____________42.1
A-3-3-4_______(-2.04)_____________47.2

Although A-3-3-4 has the best chance of Our Pegging Out it also has one of the highest average Pone Pegging Points at 2.04pts. A-3-4-8 is only 2.2% lower in chances of Our Pegging Out while the average Pone Pegging Points is 1.50pts. So, I'll select a suited 3-8 to discard.

After the 3 cut I'll play Defense to the lead.

Wednesday 11:52 AM

Thank you for your comments today. I thought it was an interesting choice regarding off/def and what to keep depending upon your decision.

Wednesday 12:59 PM

Well, I'm definitely in the minority today holding
A, 3, 4, 8. My reasoning is that 4 different cards afford the greatest flexibility in play. As a bonus, the 3 and 8 are "safe" cards whether they're in my hand or crib. I played this out on CRIBPRO and pegged out, first with a "15" on pone's lead of a 7 [he did score a run of 3 with a 6] and a "31" at the end. Good puzzle.

Thursday 12:41 AM

I threw AceD and 8S and did not particularly care which of those two I did given pone counting first and not having crib (therefore no need to worry about crib flush). The 3348 guarantees win even if no pegging PROVIDED pone doesn't peg and count to win before me, but 3348 offers some pegging versatility still and keeps a magic 11 to respond to a 10 card lead if that is what pone wishes to do. That's my logic on this one and now I'll read everyone else's comments and see what I missed. Does 3-4 trapping a 5 work here?

Thursday 4:32 AM

Welcome!