LW Cribbage Clubs feature players of all ages; newcomers welcome
ALL ABOUT CRIBBAGE
by Dave LaCascia
LW contributor
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three or four, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. In the Leisure World club, several members having been playing for over 20 years and dozens, for 10 years or more. There are also a handful of 90-plus year olds who play quite competitively. New members are always welcome at all games and can receive basic instructions if you do not know how to play or would like to brush up. Membership is restricted to Golden Rain members.
In Leisure World
• The Leisure World Cribbage club normally plays every Tuesday at noon in Clubhouse 1. At this time, the club has been playing continuously since 1964. However, with the COVID issues, the club has not met since early March.
• The club currently has 100-plus dues paying members and about 60 actively play each week. This is great way to gather and socialize with fun people plus get mentally stimulated.
• Many members celebrate their birthdays or anniversaries with the club. The member may provide cake, cookies, and/or ice cream to share with the other players.
• The club generally provides a luncheon 2 or 3 times a year for special occasions.
Cribbage History
Cribbage was invented in the early 1600s by Sir John Suckling, an English courtier, poet, gamester and gambler. Travels throughout Europe helped to broaden Sir John’s repertoire, and he was regarded as the foremost card player of his time. In 1630, he was knighted by the King, but fell from grace several years later. Cribbage derives from the earlier game of Noddy. Cribbage is extremely popular in the United States with many cribbage leagues and clubs in existence, and it is the only game that you can play in an English pub for money.
Objective
Each member plays seven games with a different partner at each table and the objective is to be the first team to get 121 points in each game. In the Leisure World club, if a player on any team wins all seven games (121 x 7 = 847 points), the player gets a star on his or her ID badge and is mentioned in the weekly article in the LW paper. As of today, the individual with the highest number of stars is Sandra de Dubovay with 24. Sandra has been playing for 10-plus years. Additionally, you also get mentioned if you lose all 7 games. The oldest and longest playing member is Mary Greytak.
The game has relatively few rules yet yields endless subtleties during play. A game may be decided by only a few points—or even a single point. Some interesting statistics:
• There are 12,994,800 possible hands in Cribbage.
• One in almost 13 hands scores zero points.
• The highest score for one hand is 29. Odds of this happening are 1 in 3,248,700 hands.
• The second highest score is 28 or 1 in about 171,00 hands.
• The third highest score is 24 or 1 in 3,531 hands.
• A 19-point hand is impossible to achieve. So, the phrase “Nineteen” has come to mean a hand of zero value.
• Once a team reaches 121 points the other team does not get to play even if they can score enough [points to win.
Current President Patti Smith has led the club for several years with the help of able board members Gene and Margaret Smith, Bobbie Straley and Terry Thrift. Each of them hopes for an end to this pandemic so everyone can get back to playing and reuniting with old friends.
