Friday 3:01 AM

And just like that, Jenny was gone ...

Friday 3:07 AM

7-7, J-4, A-7.
Replying to a led 9 with the J, in the hope of getting my Aces in back to back for 31/4.

** Cribbage Pro spoiler **

1. 0-0*, 3-4
2. *18-8, 10-6?
3. 32-17*, K-7
4. *39-27, 7-8
5. 61-42*, A-J?
6. *84-54, 6-9
7. 112-65, A-J

Cribbage Pro Scrimmage
11th Jul 2025
🏆Score: 121 to 66 🦨
🌋SP: 3025
📅Streak: 25
https://www.cribbagepro.net/scrimmage/545/3333658/1

Friday 3:18 AM

Pretty standard hold today-good shot at 10 in our hand with a pair in the crib-on a 9 lead I have to play the 4 and see what develops after that

Friday 3:23 AM

2 options to start with 8 pts. I'm taking the one with far more cutability.

Cribbage Pro Scrimmage
Score: 121 to 89
1 pegging gaffe early, and only 9 pts in crib for the game.

Discards:
1. 3-4
2. T-K 18*-8
3. 7-K
4. 7-8
5. A-J
6. 8-9 85*-54
7. 4-J
8. T-T 118-78*

Friday 3:26 AM

Top 3 discards in order: 7-7, 4-J, and A-7.

Friday 4:38 AM

Friday 4:48 AM

I was going back and forth between tossing 77 and J4. Neither inspire given my hold of AA. AA77 lets you hold the bingo of 20 on 4 cuts, but an I can get 10+ on 12 X cuts or 12 on 5 4orA cuts.

I don't necessarily need the bingo today, so I'll take my combined 12 in hand and crib and peg cautiously aggressively.

Friday 4:52 AM

6-2 and peg accordingly depending on lead card . dec

Friday 4:53 AM

Agree with above.

Friday 4:55 AM

A stunning 7 cut! But played out the hand and won 121-117. So I’ve got that going for me today….

Friday 5:05 AM

I guess I'm bucking the system today! 😁 My discards would be J-4, 7-7 then A-7. I got a cut for my efforts too!

Friday 5:10 AM

Echo, reply with the 4. Then 4J, A7.

Friday 5:12 AM

Going with the crowd today. Good chance for either ten/twelve in my hand or something substantial in the crib with a middle card cut. What I play on a 9 lead would depend on the cut card.

Friday 5:42 AM

Yes, I submitted a lot of puzzles for July. Frankly, since March when RAS stopped posting, while we all miss his incisive commentary, we also miss his puzzles, as he did post a lot of them. Most RAS puzzles had a clear lesson in them, and I believe that he pulled those gems from a lifelong series that he had collected. 🧩

Another reason I posted a lot of puzzles for July was to boost the ratio of Dealer-Perspective puzzles up to 50%, and with help from other contributors, this goal was achieved. On the one hand, it probably shouldn't bother me if 80% of the puzzles posted here are Pone-Based puzzles. When we look at the issues that people have while trying to improve at Cribbage, I believe that most of the consequential errors come from the pegging and from Dealer Discarding! Studying Dealer Discards is one of the best ways to improve your game. 🏆

Three ideas emerge for this Dealer-Based puzzle: Toss (7 7), Toss (4 J), or Toss (Ad 7h), and I like these in decreasing order as listed. The FLUSH is not a bad Hand, and it should peg defensively, but I don't like the Toss (Ad 7h) in the Crib. And if this game does go to another deal, our Opponent will enjoy having the Pegging Advantage as the Next Dealer from a close range, so I think it's imperative that we have a good Crib here. The Two PAIRS of (A A 7 7) has a similar problem, as I do not like Toss (4 J) in the Crib. ✨

Let's Toss (7 7) today, and try to maximize our chances by energizing our Crib, as I believe that this should boost our odds of winning to be greater than 50%. After the 7 Card Cut, we still have Six Points in our Hand, and now we'll obtain at least that much in our Crib as well. And it looks as though most people agree with this idea today. 🍭

If and when we LOSE such a game as this due to poor defensive pegging, it will be easy to blame the (A A 4 J) Hand, and it won't be wrong: those two other ideas are likely better candidates for defensive pegging. But with Pone only at Hole 106, I feel that we have a bit of "wiggle room" with the pegging, and I also feel that as we are only at Hole 99, placing "junk" into our Crib will be even more damaging than holding onto a slightly inferior pegging hand. 🧁

Let's look at some close Endgame Battles after we Toss (7 7):

(99*-106) (2d 7d 8c 9c) (2h Ts) vs (As Ad 4s Js) (7s 7h) Cut = 9h
Pegging: 9! [9] 4 [13] 2 [15-2] J [25] "go" A [26] A [27=3], 8 [8] 7 [15-3], (102-111). The 9 Card Lead by Pone is a show of strength, and the two different (15-2s) cost us the game.
Pone 10, Dealer 8, Crib 2, (102-121). We LOSE!

* * * 🍉 🍇 🍒 * * *

(99*-106) (2c 3c 5c Jc) (6s Qh) vs (As Ad 4s Js) (7s 7h) Cut = Kc
Pegging: 3 [3] J [13] J [23-2] A [24] 5 [29] A [30=1], 2 [2] 4 [6=1], (101-108). The Jack PAIR costs us the game.
Pone 14, Dealer 10, Crib 2, (101-121). We LOSE!

* * * 🍉 🍇 🍒 * * *

(99*-106) (5d 8d 9d Jd) (5d 9h) vs (As Ad 4s Js) (7s 7h) Cut = 2d
Pegging: 8 [8] A! [9] 5 [14] A [15=2] J [25] 4 [29=1], 9 [9] J [19=1], (103-106).
Pone 10, Dealer 6, Crib 2, (111-116*). After some good pegging and a very low Crib, we are in fair shape to prevail on the following deal.

* * * 🍉 🍇 🍒 * * *

(99*-106) (7c Tc Qc Kc) (6h Ks) vs (As Ad 4s Js) (7s 7h) Cut = 2c
Pegging: K [10] 4! [14] T [24] A [25] "go" A [26=3], 7 [7] J [17] Q [27-1], (102-107).
Pone 5, Dealer 6, Crib 6, (114-112*). We are in very good shape to prevail on the following deal! Notice how a good Crib really helps us.

* * * 🍉 🍇 🍒 * * *

(99*-106) (5s 6d 7d 7c) (3c 8s) vs (As Ad 4s Js) (7s 7h) Cut = Jh
Pegging: 7 [7] J [17] 6! [23] A! [24] 7 [31-2], A [1] 5 [6] 4 [10=1], (102-108). Two for His Heels gets tacked on during the pegging; every little bit helps!
Pone 10, Dealer 12, Crib 6, (120-118*). We have a very balanced tally, with a Jack Cut, a bit of pegging, a great Hand, and a very good Crib.

(120-118*) (As 3d 4d Kd) (Jc Kh) vs (3s 5d 7c 8c) (8h Js) 5c
4 [4] 7 [11] A! [12] 3 [15=2] 3 [18-2] (121-120). We WIN!

A lot can be studied from a paltry five cards having been played in the final deal of this last playout example. Rex Cribbage wanted me to lead the King, but I overruled the inanimate object and decided to lead the 4 Card. Having been dealt a 4 Card, there are only three of them left, while there remain four 5 Cards extant and thus unaccounted for. This observation probably steered the game in my favor!

I 'ditched' the Jack in my Crib, even though I was dealt two Kings, or maybe because I was dealt two Kings! A King is a handy, very defensive "edge" card in such a scenario. I think my Second Card Played, the Ace, is what won the game for me. I truly expected an Ace reply might PAIR me here, leaving the Count at Thirteen, and then I would finally play Mr. King. But I also knew that if the Dealer did have a Trey for (15=2), then my Trey PAIR would WIN, and so it came to pass.

On this day of July 11th in 1804, a duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton resulted in Hamilton's death. Additionally, the U.S. Marine Corps was re-established as a permanent branch of the United States on this day in 1798, and 7-Eleven celebrates its birthday with free Slurpees. Oh, how I do wish they would bring those back! No, the Slurpee still exists; I was referring to the duel. 🍧 🔫 🍧 ✨ 😲 ✨ 🍧 🔫 🍧

Wordle 1,483 4/6

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Friday 6:06 AM

Read JQT’s question..i will follow Ras’s Small hand rule …for me only TWO discard choices to consider ..7-7 or 4-J.. and I do not like the 2nd choice. I will reply to a nine lead with my four …with Pone @ 106 pegging defensively. Good puzzle to remind yourself the value of discarded pairs to the dealer …3-3 & 7-7 are in Ras’s top group

Friday 6:10 AM

Misread who the dealer was; decided I needed a miracle; got a miracle. #MissionAccomplished Lucky>Good

Friday 6:18 AM

I went with the majority today tossing the 7, 7 to my crib. Those who held A, A, 7, 7 were rewarded big time with 20 points! Good puzzle and I'll play this out on Cribpro.

Friday 6:31 AM

77-I like the hand crib combo for potential gains
J-4 keeps 8 in hand
Ad-7h for the flush

Friday 6:51 AM

What Dan said

Friday 7:06 AM

7-7, Ad-7h, flush are my top three, but you would need to rip the cards out of my hand to keep the ugly flush. Clearly playing defense to a 9 lead and a 7 cut card in this position ... play the 4 with the 7-7 pitch and play the A with the 4-J pitch.

Friday 8:02 AM

Yup, me too!

Friday 8:10 AM

I asked ChatCGPT for a suggestion. It apparently doesn't know how to play cribbage. Here is part of it's response. Option: Keep A♦, A♠, 7♥, 7♠

Two pairs = 4 points

No 15s

Potential for additional points with favorable cut (like another 7 or ace)

Total: 4 points guaranteed

Leaves 4♠ and J♠ for the crib

Friday 12:50 PM

What everyone else said...

Friday 1:29 PM

Discards ranked: (7-7), (A-7) (4-J)

I’d reply with the J, offensive or a 4, defensive.

Friday 3:35 PM