Yesterday's results

*** This hand was suggested by fentesk
103-98*  ?
53%
53%
15%
15%
13%
13%
8%
8%
2%
2%
2%
2%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Total votes: 269
fenteskAhead but not dealing and 18 shy of victory. How are we getting there?
dec

Joined: April 2008 (6812 votes)

Sunday 3:17 AM
Between K-9 or K-7 . . Look at it they are thirteen points of going out. Try to hold them at 110 or higher. Four lead. dec
dec

Joined: April 2008 (6812 votes)

Sunday 3:19 AM
even better 23 . So defense it is. dec
Gougie00

Joined: March 2008 (6126 votes)

Sunday 3:24 AM
Fortune favors the bold.
tevdodd

Joined: May 2021 (203 votes)

Sunday 3:37 AM
We've got a cut to 10. If we can peg a couple here, that puts us 115* to start next hand ... in other words, in pegging range. If we miss this cut, we have the spread to play solid defense and see if we can win that way.
tevdodd says: After the 6 cut, I'll lead the A and play defense.
Eolus619 says: Morning..not trying to be β€œcute” ..but I think the 6 cut gets you to 6..all the best
tevdodd says: Yes, was referring to the max cut, not the cut we received today.
Eolus619 says: Got it ‼️
james500

Joined: June 2013 (4302 votes)

Sunday 3:57 AM
K7 seems fairly innocuous. Plenty of helpful cuts for my hand.

Cribbage Pro Scrimmage
18th May 2025
πŸ†Score: 121 to 107
πŸŒ‹SP: 1650
πŸ“…Streak: 19
https://www.cribbagepro.net/scrimmage/491/3333658/1

Wordle 1,429 X/6

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β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›
πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
I've failed to get it for a second day, I'm furious!
Rosemarie44 says: I cheated James. I googled 5 letter word ending in "d" (had the vowel and another letter.) that brought me to tryhardquides.com using their tool Took me 5 times. This site gave me the word.
JQT says: After my Guess One of "SNARE" bombed out completely, I felt as though either an "OI, OU, or OO" might be involved, and I liked the "OO" idea so much, I almost used "WOOLY" as Guess Two. But another way to implicate "OO" is to try to find or rule out "U and/or I" so I tried "TULIP" as Guess Two, and now I could eliminate suspicions of "OO" completely. For more Wordle analysis, see my own posting today (below).
glmccuskey

Joined: April 2011 (4462 votes)

Sunday 4:24 AM
Since I’m not getting anywhere near the finish line I’m going total defense.
scottcrib says: Me too Gary.
Wendy242 says: Me too Gary
JQT

Joined: October 2008 (4471 votes)

Sunday 4:25 AM
Some players have a real fear of sending a 7 Card 'over the board,' but ANY Middle Card, including a 7 Card, alongside a King is usually a very safe Cribbage Discard!

Toss (7 K) leaves us with a fairly nice hand, with an eye on defending the position as well. After the 6 Card Cut, we now have Nine Points. Let's lead the 4 Card and make our presence known.

Wordle 1,429 3/6
(over 32% of my last 308 wordle puzzles solved in three or fewer guesses) SPOILER: SNARE, TULIP,

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©β¬›
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Eolus619 says: JQT…for you to get from TULIP to the β€œword” ..πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘
JQT says: Exploring today's Wordle Solution: Once the solution is known, it's a bit difficult to reset your state-of-mind back to that moment when you DIDN'T know the answer, but it's a good exercise to at least try to "walk the thought process backwards" to see how one arrived at a given idea. Guess One "SNARE" ruled out the two most common vowels "A and E" as well as three very common consonants, "S, N, and R." We want to use some form of "O, I, and/or U" in Guess Two, as we suspect there may be a double consonant or the duplicate use of a vowel, mainly "I or O." We could also at least begin to suspect the use of a RARE consonant, if only for the simple reason that we have ruled-out many of the common ones! Too bad "OLIVE" has the "E" ending, or it would be a good way to hunt down those vowels! And the early use of a "V" is a low-probability stab-in-the-dark, but it does plant the "V" idea in my head. "TULIP" covers the "U and I" very well, and if both strike out, I shall focus on "O" and possibly "Y" as vowels. I got a nice hit on both the "L and I" and even the location of the "I" and this reveals a lot more information than it initially appears. After quite a bit of thought, words that ended in "IL" such as BASIL did not seem correct, given all of those eight letters I was NOT able to use, namely "A, E, N, P, R, S, T, and U." Attempts to place a letter "L" in the middle of the word also didn't resonate, and it was the exact location of the letter "I" in "TULIP" that really began to 'anchor' me toward a possible solution! Putting the letter "L" first begs the question: What five-letter words begin with either "LO, LI, or LY"? Now we're getting somewhere! Both "LO and LY" came up empty, mainly because of the known location of that letter "I," which is the crucial piece to this puzzle today! And the moment I thought about starting off with "LI" the word "LIPID" popped out, but I cannot use the letter "P" ("TULIP" ruled that out already), and now, it's an easy stroll back in memory to that letter "V" in "OLIVE" that I chose NOT to use as Guess Two. Now I am ready to make Guess Three, and I am confident that even if it's wrong, it will lead me toward convergence. Had I guessed "OLIVE" as Guess Two, I think I would still have solved this on Guess Three, but I cannot be certain, and I might have inserted "LIPID" in there first. Remember: It's okay to guess Double Letters, or Letters in Known Wrong Positions, or Known Wrong Letters, as long as we are CONVERGING upon a solution! πŸ§ͺ
Inushtuk1 says: Hi John. What do you think of Halscrib's lead of the 5 today? His post shows he kept A-4-5-K. But he actually chose A-4-5-9 like us.
JQT says: After years of sparring with Halscrib, I've learned to occasionally lead 5 Cards from Double Runs with two 5 Cards, and Hands like (A A 5 9), (2 2 5 8), (5 7 8 9), and even (5 6 7 8)! And so, it doesn't surprise me that at (103-98*) it finds the 5 Card enough of a liability to lead it from (A 4 5 9). Still, we are talking about just two-tenths of one percent here, so it's not going to be too significant. πŸͺ
Inushtuk1 says: Thanks John. One more question if I may; if the King had been a J, would that have made a difference today? That's two key connectors we are discarding.
JQT says: It would make Toss (7 9) slightly more appealing, but I would still Toss (7 J), since I believe the pegging challenge would be very similar. 🍁
Eolus619

Joined: June 2020 (1716 votes)

Sunday 4:58 AM
111 is my focus. Dealer has 75% chance to earn 12 points ..so no need to enhance that possibility ..I will admit to tossing 7-9 in the past from similar cards.. but D seems best today
domandcarol

Joined: August 2023 (115 votes)

Sunday 6:16 AM
Throwing caution to the wind to grab whatever points I can
JQT

Joined: October 2008 (4471 votes)

Sunday 6:28 AM
Note: Pending puzzles for May 26 and May 27 by scottcrib are IDENTICAL except the 5/26 puzzle has the pegging sequence end with Dealer holding a 6 Card, and the 5/27 puzzle has the pegging sequence end with Dealer holding a 5 Card. I am inclined to remove the duplicate 5/26 puzzle, as the 5/27 puzzle has a more detailed pegging explanation.
Rosemarie44 says: Thanks for taking a look at the pending hands coming up.
JQT says: Thank you, Rosemarie44. I really miss the work RAS used to do, he was good at "keeping house," and I am trying to fill in. We still hope that RAS can return in some fashion, even if by relaying messages. NOTE: I removed the DUPLICATE puzzle from the May 26, 2025 slot, and inserted one of my own. The "hopper" is full only through early June, so it's a good time to post a puzzle or two! 🧩
Rosemarie44 says: I'm still trying to hold my own with the daily puzzles! Ras is/was a mentor for me. I hope he contacts us somehow. I appreciate you taking over this responsibility for him.
Djgoat

Joined: December 2023 (246 votes)

Sunday 6:33 AM
Djgoat says: 7-4 isn't as defensive as K-7 but with an X cut provides a few more points
Inushtuk1 says: Hi goatman. I'm afraid your argument doesn't hold water. Yes you start with 4 points, and JQT et al start with 2; but they hold two nickels in their hand so any X-Card cut gives them the same 6 points as you will have. This seems to make a strong case for the (7-K)
Rosemarie44

Joined: March 2016 (2196 votes)

Sunday 6:36 AM
A safe toss to dealer today.
lonmower

Joined: June 2016 (767 votes)

Sunday 6:45 AM
Tossing 7 K now seems best choice but only 14% selected that route. That doesn't happen often

After morning stretches, I do NYT puzzles "Connections" and Wordle. From "Connections"
lonmower says: I pick a 5 letter word for my Wordle starter. Makes Wordle a bit more random and thus interesting Wordle 1,429 5/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
lonmower says: Sorry about the mess I created
MarktheShark says: Formatting exists only for the original comment. Post a second comment instead of adding comments to the original.
SallyAnn3

Joined: March 2020 (1219 votes)

Sunday 6:56 AM
Can't cut to what I need, so all out defense. I always hate tossing a 7, but 7/K it is. 7/4 can turn into a 24 crib.
MarktheShark

Joined: January 2024 (455 votes)

Sunday 7:19 AM
The position, with Dealer expecting to win in his three hands, screams for defense. So, the standard 7-9 pitch is out. Should choose between 4-7, 7-K and 9-K. 4-7 and 7-K keep a better melding hand. 7-K and 9-K are better defensive throws to Dealer's crib. 7-K keeps the likely best pegging hand, so you know that is my choice.
MarktheShark says: Good cut for us (and Dealer?). Lead the 4. If Dealer pairs it, play the 9 to push the count over 15.
Annabella

Joined: January 2024 (344 votes)

Sunday 7:35 AM
Usually I can’t articulate the β€˜why’, so don’t comment. Still learning from you all. I gave up two pts, by tossing the K. Basically-something didn’t feel right about keeping it.
SallyAnn3 says: Hi Annabella. I've been playing for 50 years, less than 20 in the ACC. I am noooo where near the level some of the commentators are, but am lucky enough to learn from them here, and some are friends in person. I take every tidbit that they offer me. Even the top players question each other about what choices to make, so keep reading daily! Giving up 2 points to give them a worse crib is a common thing :)
Score31

Joined: March 2025 (69 votes)

Sunday 11:17 AM
Not willing to throw a 7/9
HalscribCLX

Joined: February 2008 (5662 votes)

Sunday 1:50 PM
At 103-98* playing an Offense strategy for the pegging the dynamic expected averages and Win/Loss %s are:

_______________Our
Offense___Hand_Pegs_Crib____Total___W1 %___W2 %
A-4-5-K____7.17+1.41+(-5.06)=3.52____0.4____30.2
A-4-5-9____5.52+2.00+(-4.04)=3.48____0.1____33.6
A-5-9-K____6.00+1.39+(-4.49)=2.90____0.0____31.3
A-5-7-9____4.91+1.80+(-4.04)=2.67____0.0____32.3
A-4-5-7____3.83+2.24+(-3.98)=2.09____0.0____30.2

Offense______L1 %____L2 %
A-4-5-K_______12.1____61.7
A-4-5-9________6.0____58.1
A-5-9-K________7.5____60.0
A-5-7-9________6.1____58.2

A-4-5-K is best for expected averages by 0.04pt. over A-4-5-9 but A-4-5-9 is slightly best for Win %s and lowest for Loss %s. So, I'll select the 7-K to discard.

After the 6 cut I'll lead the 5 and play Defense for the pegging:

Lead___________Dealer's Pegging Points______Loss %
4_______________________(-2.21)______________1.1
A_______________________(-2.41)______________1.5
9_______________________(-2.54)______________2.1
5_______________________(-3.12)______________0.9

The 4 lead is lowest for Dealer's Pegging Points but the 5 lead minimises chances of Losing. So I'll lead the 5.
JQT says: Sleep deprived one autumn night long, long ago, perhaps circa 2008, I was playing Hal Himself on an early incantation of eCribbage, and I accidentally sent a Deuce and a Trey into what I thought was MY Crib, but alas it was actually Hal's Crib. 😱 🍸 πŸ₯€
JQT says: Sleep deprived one autumn night long, long ago, perhaps circa 2008, I was playing Hal Himself on an early incantation of eCribbage, and I accidentally sent a Deuce and a Trey into what I thought was MY Crib, but alas it was actually Hal's Crib. 😱 🍸 πŸ₯€
JQT

Joined: October 2008 (4471 votes)

Sunday 4:22 PM
Example Playout: (Pone Hand is always listed FIRST; OUR Score shown FIRST; Suits not shown)

We shall WIN this game by Three Holes, so it does illustrate that a 5 Card Lead, which can only 'give up' Two Points, is likely within reason.

(103-98*) (A 4 5 9) (7 K) vs (2 3 3 T) (7 9) Q
4 [4] 3 [7] 9! [16] 2 [18] 5 [23] 3 [26] A [27-1], T [10=1], (104-99).
Pone 6, Dealer 10, Crib 2, (110-111).

Note especially the risk our 5 Card poses when played to make the Count Twenty-Three, because if the Dealer had held a 4 Card (2 3 3 4) instead of a Ten "T" Card, and was also brave enough NOT to PAIR our Lead Card, this 4 Card would score Seven Points when the Count reached Twenty-Seven!

I believe that this illustrates the DANGER of the 5 Card, and it shows why Halscrib chooses to lead the 5 Card today. Okay, one more deal to go:

(110*-111) (3 4 7 8) (A Q) vs (5 Q Q K) (4 T) 2
4 [4] K [14] 3 [17] Q [27=1], 8 [8] Q [18] 7 [25] 5 [30=1], (112-111).
Pone 7, Dealer 8, Crib 2, (121-118). We WIN! πŸ†

Note that at Hole 111, Pone is not able to retain the best Pegging Hand, because Pone needs to "cover" Ten Holes. Being forced to hold an adequate SCORING Hand, Pone is unable to peg successfully, even against what does not appear to be a very defensive Pegging Hand (5 Q Q K) for us as the Dealer. Always consider the burden(s) your Opponent has to overcome! πŸ€ΉπŸΌβ€β™€οΈ πŸ’ πŸ™„
Sgt Pegger

Joined: July 2017 (642 votes)

Sunday 4:31 PM
Wow! I kinda figured this would be the cool kids choice.
Assman

Joined: May 2024 (391 votes)

Sunday 5:45 PM
Defense is my approach here.