Yesterday's results

*** This hand was suggested by Inushtuk1
88-91*  ?
29%
27%
18%
12%
6%
4%
0%
Total votes: 229
Inushtuk1(7-10) or (3-7?
james500
3786 votes

Joined: June 2013

 
 
 
Saturday 3:02 AM
Reluctant A7 with a 3 lead. Lucky with the cut.
Jazzselke
2497 votes

Joined: March 2009

 
 
 
Saturday 3:39 AM
As above
Ras2829 says: Hi Jazzselke: Had the most unusual hand this morning. Start the day with six games with Cribbage Prof with alternate deals. Picked up four deuces. The starter card was 7. Don't believe have ever held or seen this hand before. Certainly, have held 2-2-2-2 a few times. Must be cribbage's rarest 14 points? And 2-2-2-2-9 is the rarest 20-pointer. Amazing!
Jazzselke says: I have seen 22227 once
SallyAnn3 says: That is currently our "progressive" hand in club. Seems it's going to keep adding up week after week.
Ras2829 says: Hi SallyAnn3: Great! Always encouraging when club leadership looks for ways to return money to those who provide it. Am very concerned when a Club Director tells me that their club has $8,000 in the bank. Why? Our club pays $50 for 2-2-2-2-9 and we see one about once in five years. Something we are doing the past couple of years is "it pays to flush all ways". Start with the four- point flush and advance through the 21-point flush. It takes us better than a year and pays out a total of $217. When one level is hit, move to the next. Last year club was stuck on 20 for six months. Right now, we're stuck on 15 for the past month. In the early stages, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-point flushes might be paid the first night of play. Although it does influence out comes a bit, so many players overlook flushes. Many have never even considered that suited 5-10-J-Q is 13 points, and they hold a double run for 8 points instead. "It pays to flush all ways" causes them to become much more aware, is of a benefit to their batting averages, andn puts a few extra bucks in their pockets.
Ras2829 says: One dollar per point at each level to first confirmed - then move to next level. Be wary of those who claim they have a 19-point flush! If you need more details, contact raswino29@outlook.com.
SallyAnn3 says: Ours pays many $5 hands, and most are gone weekly: 21, 22, 23, 24, Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, crib flush, quad (not using the cut), slamm stopper; $10 to the highest non qualifier, $20 to the "bunny" hand (a different choice weekly, $25 for a grand slam; half the skunk for a 28, all of the skunk for a 29; plus the progressive hand(s)
Ras2829 says: Hi SallyAnn3: Terrific - sounds very much like your club puts the money where it belongs - in the pockets of the players. You should have some very happy members.
MiketheExpert
985 votes

Joined: April 2021

 
 
 
Saturday 3:54 AM
(A 7) for me as well! Would like to keep a chance for an open-ended double run intact here, a chance for a quadrupling effect with a 3 cut, at the same time removing the lone A liability from my hand, without too much negative impact from a defensive standpoint. Bingo (J cut), allowing me the luxury of a free trip to hole 96 without having to peg nary a single point. Wouldn't object too much to the leading the lone 3 here, with my scoring response of 15-2 available for a potentially key 2 points. Have a hard time seeing dealer choosing to pair a 9 lead, if available.
mrob2199
1307 votes

Joined: February 2009

 
 
 
Saturday 4:44 AM
Need to keep the best chance for an 8 point hand -combined with the 3 lead that will provide us with 2 points if matched
dec
6212 votes

Joined: April 2008

 
 
 
Saturday 4:44 AM
Check lead with either 3 6 8 or J as a cut. Opponent is short they need pegs more then we do now. dec
Gougie00
5589 votes

Joined: March 2008

 
 
 
Saturday 5:34 AM
All singing from the same hymnal
glmccuskey
3966 votes

Joined: April 2011

 
 
 
Saturday 5:52 AM
Ok then
horus93
1163 votes

Joined: December 2017

 
 
 
Saturday 5:59 AM
Very tricky puzzle today, imo, and something I’d be primed to bungle in a live game, or even as a puzzle. But none of these hands are very good offensive peggers, and we really need to be dealing in okay position to have a shot at winning. While oppo is a threat in the front, only four points short of par, I think we can discard with our own scoring in mind, within reason.

A7 isn’t quite a balk, it’s not an extremely dangerous toss either. This has openings for double runs, and I think it’s best for keeping us in the game overall. 799T is hopenotic – it has a bingo cut in the eight, but improves less well in general, and A3 is way more dangerous than A7. 3799 (AT) and A399 (7T) have good balking tosses, but are sufficiently poorer for the show (not *that* much, but even so) that I will toss A7 today. That said, A399 is pretty close and would peg better, so I think it’s a near call between those two. I know I’m foregoing bingo cuts, but that’s my style, because I never get them.

Another good choice would be tossing 37, but it’s only a hair better than tossing A7 for our scoring, and worse in the crib, so eh, I do think that’s a good play too but it’s not what I’m doing. I like any of 3799 (AT), 799T (A7), and A99T (37) for different reasons, but 3799 and A99T are close enough in the show, not to mention the risk of a lone ace in the pegging, that I think this way is defensible. While everyone else so far is doing this, I don't think it's inevitable or a no-brainer.

Bingo cut, I’d play “normal” in the pegging, like the three lead for a retaliatory fifteen, keep 99 and 9T together for later, see where we’re at next hand.

To finish up my game with Denmark:

7.) 80*-89

Denmark had an easy call, throwing me 2T to hold 567J.

I dealt myself 2234JQ. There’s no way to discard for defensive pegging here without destroying my scoring, so I tossed the JQ. Besides, with only an 11 point surplus in the back, I can’t normally afford defensive considerations in the discard unless it’s a close call, or the cards are extremely strong.

Cut was an 8 – didn’t hit any of the Jacks in question.

Pegging went 6-2(8)-7(15-2)-4(19)-J(29)-2(31-2)//5-3(8-1)

I’m not sure why Denmark led a six here from 567J. The more I think about it, the more wrong it seems.

Two response on my part makes sense – fewer losers, keep a diversity of cards for defensive pegging.

When he got the fifteen, I played my four to drive off a five, hoping for a X response and then a 31 with my other two, which is indeed how it went down. Subtle defensive considerations didn’t seem to outweigh this textbook offensive ploy. Cards played themselves from there.

So between his fifteen and his seven point hand, Denmark is dealer at 99*. And my sweet hand, with a three point crib, brings me all the way to 98.

8.) 98-99*

Denmark’s only +4, I have a +13 surplus in the back to defend, what could go wrong? Well, this is when it all went bad. REALLY bad.

Denmark had weak cards and tossed himself JQ to hold A779. So far so good, right?

I was dealt 2449JJ and tossed the best balk available, 29, to hold 44JJ.

The cut was a five giving me nob.

Pegging went: 4-9(13)-4(17)-7(24)-“go”-7(31-4)//J-A(11)-J(21-1)

So… four lead is standard. He plays the 9. If I play my Jack, I have pretty bad odds of giving up a 31 – he only needs a single 8 to do this. So I play my four. And you see what happened next.

I don’t think this was a mistake though. The odds of his holding *two* sevens to peg four are much lower than his holding *one* eight to peg two (no, it’s not a matter of being “half as likely”), even besides the bias of an eight being nearer a nine than a seven. Statistically, I think this play made sense, but it blew up in this case. One play risks giving up two, one risks giving up four, but the latter is less than half as likely – besides the math of being dealt two sevens, there’s dealer bias to put pairs in his crib.

With his four point hand and four point crib, and the big peg play, he’s pone at 113. My nine point hand + last brings me to 108*.

9.) 108*-113

Can’t lie, I was pretty rattled about that 31-4. But luckily nothing that followed required much in the way of brains. I tossed myself 36 to hold A4JK.

Denmark tossed me QK to hold 3788, easy choice there too.

The cut was… a seven.

Pegging went: 8-K(18)-7(25)-4(29)-“go”-A(30-1)//8-J(18)-3(21-1)

Play wasn’t that remarkable, I played as defensively as I could. It didn’t matter what I played anyway. Denmark had defeated me yet again. My conclusion – he is a good player, but not enough to justify a 70+% win rate against me. Dude is lucky, it’s all luck!!!! I don’t think I made any true mistakes this game, though some plays were certainly debatable. Even the ones I castigate as questionable, there are arguments for the way I went, and anyway they all worked out well. Denmark’s biggest mistake was leading the six from 567J on offense, and tossing himself KK from 888KKK – both of these plays worked out pretty well for him anyway. Another nightmare on fourth street. I have good position coming toward end game, and then my oppo takes off.

Why so many losses in these annotated games? Well for one thing even the best players lose all the time, that’s just how cribbage goes. But for another I really have been having absolutely abysmal luck lately. But in cribbage maybe more than most games, “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game”.

horus93 says: One typo, my two reply in the seventh hand had equal losers to the trey, but still seemed better d for diversity
horus93 says: Oh and he held six on the penultimate not 4 :)
horus93 says: And it's 7t i think is good, not at! Slept in too late and made more typoes than normal under time pressure lol
wasa
2883 votes

Joined: November 2014

 
 
 
Saturday 7:48 AM
Keeping the 9-9-T potential for the double run. I hate tossing 2s or 3s into my opponent crib so goodby A-7
JQT
4026 votes

Joined: October 2008

 
 
 
Saturday 9:11 AM
There's often a struggle in Cribbage to become the First Dealer at or beyond the Fourth Street Par Hole 96, and the player who does this is thought to have a distinct Positional Advantage.

Today's puzzle finds us in a familiar Push-Pull scenario, because while we want to hold the Dealer back even further, we also wish to meet our own goal, which is to become Next Dealer at or beyond Hole 96.

Eight Points will get us to this "target," and while this is Two Points below Pone Average, we notice that our card arrangement hardly lends itself to too much optimism on this goal of ours.

It's tempting to retain the 9-9-T trio and try for the Eight Cuts (8888, JJJJ) that would give us the Double Run, which will "cover" those much-needed Eight Points. But we might also look at Toss (7 T) to better ensure the safety in the Enemy Crib, a goal that can be met.

Keep (3 9 9 T) and Toss (A 7) is minimally defensive, and this idea has Seventeen Cuts (333, 6666, 8888, 99, JJJJ) that yield Six Points or more, which is 17/46 or nearly 40% of the remaining deck.

Keep (3 7 9 9) and Toss (A T) is somewhat defensive, and this idea has Thirteen Cuts (333, 6666, 8888, 99) that yield Six Points or more, which is 13/46 or about 28% of the remaining deck.

Keep (A 3 9 9) and Toss (7 T) is not merely attractive for its defensive properties; this idea also has Seventeen Cuts (2222, 333, 5555, 6666, 99) that yield Six Points or more, which is 17/46 or nearly 40% of the remaining deck.

I think we should accept the fact that this arrangement will leave us "short" of our own desired "target" greater than 50% of the time with ANY discard, therefore, I am more inclined to lean toward a defensive approach when it comes to our Opponent, an objective that can be attained by the cards we were dealt.

Let's Toss (7 T) today, and try to slam on the brakes.

After the Jack Cut, we are 'stuck' with just Two Points. Let's lead a 9 Card from our PAIR, and defend as best we can, while taking any safe and opportunistic pegs.
horus93 says: Glad someone made a case for this! It is a good play, tho I couldn't/can't make up my mind if it's "best" or not
Ras2829 says: Hi JQT: Holding the trey, leading the nine, is a fine choice when choosing offense strategy to include the pegging for more than one reason. First si the prospect of pegging 15-4 each time pone drops a trey on the nine, believing if a trey was present in opponent hand it would have been the lead. In addition, if leading the trey, the escape card is gone. There might be occasion, even if choosing offense where escape looks preferable to playng on. You've left that option open.
Inushtuk1 says: Hi Ras. In JQT'S case, he does still have an Ace in his hand if he did choose to lead his trey. Is that not an escape card for him?
Ras2829 says: Hi Inushtuk1: You're absolutely correct. What I said above applies to those who held 3-7-9-9 or 3-9-9-10. Need to pay closer attention I reckon.
Inushtuk1 says: Thanks Ras. Didn't mean anything by it.
Inushtuk1
1343 votes

Joined: July 2016

 
 
 
Saturday 9:53 AM
Funny. I thought of ((3-7), and (7-10) only in that order. Turns out most of the usual 'suspects' are picking 3-9-9-10(A-7). Perhaps I'm guilty of tunnel vision, and that's why the mods let this one through. I will stubbornly stick with A-9-9-10)(3-7) for the 5 Card Cut Insurance. After the J cut I will be Dealer at 96 or better. I will lead my 9s; if only to keep three scoring responses to Dealer's first card. Then I can fake a flush, and dump my lone Ace next card.
horus93 says: Yeah 37 deserved more attention, extra points on a five cut, 37 only slightly more dangerous than a7. Lone ace is "bad" but not so much if you lead it. Some awkward dealer replies but no moreso than to a trey. Surprised fewer didn't pick it
RubyTuesday
818 votes

Joined: January 2019

 
 
 
Saturday 10:07 AM
Well I’m the only person commenting who kept the 7 although my throw of A 3 is the second most popular throw today - I guess I’ve made the lurking newbie throw? I wanted to keep 10 9 9 in case an 8 or J were drawn and couldn’t see much difference between A 3, A 7 or 3 7, so threw the first option, mostly because I had no idea what was best.
Coeurdelion
5483 votes

Joined: October 2007

 
 
 
Saturday 2:12 PM
If we keep the pair of 9s, the only points dealt to us, then we can throw 7-10, 3-10, A-10, A-7, 3-7 or A-3. I don't think we should throw the gapper and both peggers. So that leaves 5 options and I'll look at all those.

A-3-9-9: 2pts - 4¼pts (Schell: 4.31) = -2¼pts

A-7-9-9: 2pts - 4½pts (Schell: 4.63) = -2½pts

3-7-9-9: 2pts - 4½pts (Schell: 4.48) = -2½pts

3-9-9-10: 2pts - 4¾pts (Schell: 4.89) = -2¾pts

A-9-9-10: 2pts - 5pts (Schell: 5.01) = -3pts

Potential:

A-3-9-9: Improves with AAA, 2222, 333, 5555, 6666, 99 = 20 cuts = 20/46 = 43.5% up to 6/8/9pts with 2222, 333, 5555, 6666, 99 = 17 cuts.

A-7-9-9: Improves with AAA, 5555, 6666, 777, 8888, 99 = 20 cuts = 20/46 = 43.5% up to 6/10pts with 5555, 6666, 777, 8888, 99 = 17 cuts.

3-7-9-9: Improves with 333, 5555, 6666, 777, 8888, 99 = 20 cuts = 20/46 = 43.5% up to 6/8/10pts with 333, 6666, 8888, 99 = 13 cuts.

3-9-9-10: Improves with 2222, 333, 5555, 6666, 8888, 99, 101010, JJJJ = 28 cuts = 28/46 = 60.9% up to 6/8pts with 333, 6666, 8888, 99, JJJJ = 17 cuts.

A-9-9-10: Improves with AAA, 4444, 5555, 6666, 8888, 99, 101010, JJJJ = 28 cuts = 28/46 = 60.9% up to 6/8pts with 5555, 6666, 8888, 99, JJJJ = 18 cuts.

Position:

Opponent is 5pts short of 4th street positional hole while we need 8pts to reach it. I think we need to stretch the game to three more deals and keep them far enough back so they don't peg out on the third deal. So I'll play Defense.

Pegging:

With two low cards and a pair of high cards I think A-3-9-9 will peg best.

Summary:

I think it's between A-3-9-9 and A-9-9-10. A-3-9-9 has the best starting value by ¾pt over A-9-9-10 while A-9-9-10 has more cuts for improvement. A-3-9-9 has 17 cuts for 6-9pts and A-9-9-10 has 18 cuts for 6/8pts. I also think A-3-9-9 will peg best and 7-10 is the best balker we have in the crib so I'll go with this.
HalscribCLX
5194 votes

Joined: February 2008

 
 
 
Saturday 2:13 PM
At 88-91* playing a Defense strategy for the pegging the dynamic expected averages and Win/Loss %s are:

_______________Dlr's
Defense___Hand_Pegs____Crib____Total_____W2 %___W3 %
3-9-9-10___4.43+(-2.96)+(-4.61)=(-3.14)___4.1____32.4
A-3-9-9____4.00+(-2.93)+(-4.26)=(-3.19)___3.6____31.0
A-9-9-10___4.52+(-2.91)+(-4.95)=(-3.34)___3.5____30.0
3-7-9-9____3.91+(-2.87)+(-4.42)=(-3.38)___7.0____32.9
A-7-9-9____3.96+(-2.85)+(-4.65)=(-3.54)___3.8____29.7
7-9-9-10___4.35+(-2.98)+(-5.01)=(-3.64)___5.2____30.2

Defense_____L2 %___L3 %
3-9-9-10_____20.1___58.0
A-3-9-9______18.9___59.0
A-9-9-10_____21.1___60.8
3-7-9-9______19.5___56.5
A-7-9-9______20.8___60.8
7-9-9-10_____22.9___60.3

3-9-9-10 is best for expected averages by 0.05pt. over A-3-9-9. However 3-7-9-9 is slightly best for Win %s and lowest for Loss %s so as we're approaching the critical positional hole on 4th street I'll decide based on the Win/Loss %s and select A-10 to discard.

After the J cut I'll lead the 3 and play Optimally (cautious offense):

Lead__________Net Pegging Points
3__________________(-1.19)
9__________________(-1.43)
7__________________(-1.89)
Ras2829
5016 votes

Joined: November 2008

 
 
 
Saturday 2:39 PM
Choosing a defense strategy, like 3-7-9-9 as it allows the discard of the A-10, much preferable and lower scoring compared to A-7. Knowing that have only two points will shift to offense once seeing the starter card. Will lead the 9. Had chosen defense, would have led the trey. A-9 and A-10 are the only two low-scoring discards among the six and in this position prefer holding two points rather than zilch. Will take any pegs offered and don't expect to be offered any.
Inushtuk1 says: Hi Ras. I missed yesterday's puzzle. HoweveR, checking it today, I see that Halscrib played it differently on March 18th of this year at the same score of 0*-0. The only difference was on March 18th, the Q was a K. Care to comment, either you; Ras, or JQT.
Ras2829 says: Hi Inushtuk1: Somewhere I commented that I had never seen the cribbot choose win/loss % as dealer of hand one. That was the case on 3/18/23. "So, as it's the very beginning of the game I'll decide based on the expected averages and select 5-Q to discard." That was the response of the cribbot on yesterday's puzzle and a correct one. So, decision was based solely on combined values with no regard for win/loss %. Don't understand that inconsistency as one would think algorithm would produce same results in same position with same cards. That's the only difference between HalscribCLX response of 3/18 and that of yesterday. The one of 3/18 was based on win/loss%. You are one sharp cookie or have a huge reference library to be able to find these differences more than 8 months later. Thanks - was an interesting exercise.
MiketheExpert says: Interestingly, I also chose (5 K) on March 18th, which must be an indicator that I felt the decision to be so close that I will, and can play it both ways as the mood suits.
Ras2829 says: Hi MiketheExpert: If results are the same or nearly so, why not choose 5-X over 6-X. Much greater chance to turn a crib of 8 points or more with any of the 5-X combinations. Appreciate your participaiton on this site very much.