Cribbage (strategy)

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Cribbage, or crib, is a card game where points are scored for holding certain combinations of cards and for playing the cards in a certain order.

Contents

[edit] Strategy

[edit] Forming the crib

There are certain cards and card combinations that are likely to be beneficial to a hand. A non-dealer will try to keep these cards. The dealer will try to keep any good scoring combinations together, either in hand or in the crib. It is usually desirous to keep pairs, runs and combinations totaling fifteen in one’s hand or in the crib. Other potentially useful cards include:

  • Fives: As four out of every thirteen cards are worth 10, there is a good chance that a 5 in the crib will help form 15s. A five thrown into a crib guarantees a crib worth at least two points since there is no 5-card combination that includes a 5 but scores fewer than 2 points.
  • Sevens and eights: Not only total 15, but have a chance of meeting a 6 or 9 to complete a run.
  • Sevens and aces: Likely to combine to 15.
  • Threes, sixes and nines: Likely to combine to 15.
  • Consecutive cards (i.e. A-2, 7-8, J-Q) have the chance to meet the starter or other cards in the crib to form a run.

[edit] The play

Some of these tactics will only work in a two-player game (with more players it is harder to devise a strategy). The player who leads the play should consider the following:

  • Do not lead a five; it is likely the opponent has a ten or face card (16 out of 52 cards count as 10: 10, J, Q, K) and can easily make 15 for two points. However, leading a five is a good strategy when you need only one extra point to win, as it is very likely to earn you a point for go.[1]
  • Playing a four or less guarantees that an opponent cannot make 15 on the next card played. The best that player can do is to complete a pair (which there is no defense against unless one holds at least two of a given card).
  • Other than the above, if two cards total fifteen, play one; that way if an opponent takes the score to fifteen for two, the first player can complete the pair to get two points.
  • If a hand has a 7 and a 9, or an 8 and a 9, play the 7 or 8. It is likely that the opponent will play for the 15, giving the first player a run of 3 with the 9.

In general:

  • Play a card from a pair; if an opponent completes the pair for two, the first player can complete a pair royal for six (unless the pair royal would result in the running total to exceed 31, in which case this play is not possible).
  • If a hand holds two cards which are two apart in sequence and the middle card in the sequence would total 15 (i.e. a 6 and an 8), playing one of those two cards may result in scoring a run if the opponent plays the card to make the 15 and the first player follows up to complete the run.
  • Holding small cards increases the possibility of being able to play the last card for a point or 31 for two points; however, leading a card lower than five prevents the next player from immediately scoring a fifteen.
  • Avoid making the count 21 if at all possible. There are 16 cards, comprising 30.8% of the deck, with a value of 10, so making the count 21 gives an opponent a good chance to bring the running tally to 31 and score two points.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cribbage Corner (2008). Cribbage strategy from Cribbage Corner. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.