Cribbage at the Swimming Pool 1961-1968
I learned to play cribbage while watching my father and his friends play at Parkland swimming pool. I taught my children to play cribbage also. There were several customs that my father and his friends had. One was to use rhymes, as in "a pair for two and the rest don't do" or "... for four and the rest don't score" or "... for six and the rest don't mix". Irwin and I extended this custom to have obnoxious rhymes for higher scores "... for eight and that's not great". In college I used the phrase "one...... dozen" (there were quite a number of people who played cribbage there). Irwin and I also formally named many cribbage strategies.
The subject of cribbage came up yesterday at lunch.
here is something I put together on cribbage strategy
CRIBBAGE TERMINOLOGY AND STRATEGY
last revision 12 2003
Crib Shmooshing - Crib shmooshing (CS) is when, subsequent
to a CT explained immediately below), the nondealer moves the cards in the crib to the side as a sign that the
nondealer believes it to be a low counting crib.
Crib Tapping - Crib tapping (CT) is when the dealer
taps the crib after the cut as a sign that the dealer
believes it to be a high counting crib.
Delay - the delay occurs when a pegging strategy (such as the OI, OM, NM, or NI) is employed later than the first opportunity.
Extremely new irwin (ENI) - the ENI is a complex pegging counter to the "new martin". It consists of getting a 3-of-a-kind after a pair off a 15 (in the pegging). Necessary conditions for the ENI are:
1 having two or more identical two card sums of 5.
2 having first play on a "series of downs".
Due to the multitude of possibilities (such as a SP or OI) on a hand with these conditions, the ENI is seldom employed.
Hand Smashing - Hand smashing (HS) occurs when the nondealer cuts and keeps the cards in a strong grip awaiting the dealer's attempt to turn over the cut card. Upon the dealer's hand getting in a position immediately below the strongly gripped card, the nondealer smashes the deck down as hard as possible in an attempt to crush the dealer's hand.
Inning - an inning is equal to 'n' hands or deals, where 'n' is equal to the number of players or teams, and where the first of the deals was dealt by the person or team who had the first crib in a game (e.g. if 4 players, one inning equals 4 deals). Relative to a player or team, the home nth of an inning is when the subject player or team has the crib. Otherwise the situation is a relative [(n-1)/nth] visiting part of an inning. The inning concept is used to obscure the issue of who is ahead in a game.
George (G) - the G is a careless under count of your own hand or crib. This can be quantified, for example, a G2 is when one under counts their hand by 2; a G4 is a 4 point under count, etc.
Making it all up (MIAU) - the MIAU is a pegging event that occurs when a player or team scores 3 or more points by playing the last card of the last "series of downs" in a deals, only and exactly when the progenitor of the MIAU was outscored in previous pegging. MIAU is used both as a derogatory remark implying luck in excess of skill (typically, by the MIAU progenitor's opponent) or as a boast of consummated skill on display (typically, by the MIAU progenitor).
Minority 15 (M15) - an M15 is a 4-card combination adding up to 15 (except 4,4,4,3 or 3,3,3,6 or 2,2,2,9) or any 5 card combination adding to 15 which occurs in the hand or crib. Some cribbage players (including most rookies) fail to notice M15s and must have them pointed out by more observant or experience cribbage players.
Modified full house (MFH) - a MFH is a hand or crib consisting of 3-of-a-kind and exactly one 2-card combination of 15, without knobs or a run. It typically occurs when players break up a more common combination to avoid violating a "prime directive".
Multiple skunk (MS) - a MS occurs when one player or team scores 121 points before two or more players or teams core 91 points. It is a time of great rejoicing or recriminations as the case may be.
New irwin (NI) - the NI is a pegging counter to the "new martin'. It consists of pairing a face card on the 3rd down in which a card between an 'Ace' and a '5' was played on 1st down. The NI is preferable to the "old irwin" and is especially effective when used with a "peter".
New martin (NM) - the NM is a pegging counter to the OI. It occurs when 4th down pairs a 15 after 2nd down was a face card. The NM has proven a deadly counter and has prompted even deeper counters to be developed.
Old irwin (OI) - the OI (along with the old martin, power play and sucker play) is one of the original pegging strategies. It occurs when 3rd down is a '15-for-2' and after a face card was played on 2nd down. The OI is so effective that it leads players to a tendency to keep low cards rather than throw them into the crib.
Old martin (OM) - the OM is one of the original pegging strategies. It occurs when the player who scored the points for a 31 on the last play of a series of downs did so after a face card and when at least one card is left for another "series of downs" on the same deal. Once the OM is a fait accompli there is no countermeasure possible, although a MIAU can relieve the pain.
Opportunity loss (OL) - the OL represents a missed opportunity to catch up on one's own deal. An example would be where dealer was behind by 10 points at the beginning of a hand and by 9 points at the end of the hand.
Peg Dancing (PD) - peg dancing occurs when, after a cribbage game, the winning cribbage player lightly holds one peg and makes the peg gyrate on the area just after the 121 hole. The peg dance is frequently accompanied by a little song. This is analogous to the TD dance in football or the basket hang in basketball.
Peter (P) - the P is a MIAU where those cards played for the MIAU are a two point combination (e.g. pair or 15 count) of two cards on 1st and 2nd down where such cards are the last cards to be played.
Power play (PP) - the PP (an original strategy) is a 2 card pegging strategy where the dealer in a two hand game plays a '5-for-15' and a '6-for-31' on 2nd and 4th down respectively. The possibility of a power play makes it lucrative to obey "prime directive #1" and makes cribbage players salivate more on good hands.
Prime directive (PD) - a PD is an action that all cribbage playing graduates of United Federation of Planets Flight Academy swear that they would never break. Rather they would sacrifice their own life, the life of their crew and their space ship. The PD concerns what to not thrown into the crib [especially the opponent's crib (OC)].
#1 Never break up a chance for a 4-6 double run.
#2 Never break up a run of three.
#3 Never break up a flush.
#4 Never throw a 5 or J into the OC.
#5 Never throw consecutive cards into the OC.
#6 Never throw a pair into the OC.
#7 Never throw two of the same suit into the OC.
#8 Never throw a (4,A); (8,6); (9,6) or (9,7) into the OC.
Flight academy grads very seldom play cribbage.
Purloin (no abbreviation) - a purloin occurs on a deal when a player or team in the visiting part of an inning scores as much (or more) than the player or team in the home part of the inning. A "crushing purloin" is when the visiting team scores at least 10 more points than the home team.
Rhymes - There are a number of cribbage rhymes that have been used from ancient times. The rhyme is used after a count and goes like this:
a pair for two and the rest don't do
other rhymes are:
... for four and the rest don't score
... for five and the rest don't jive
... for six and the rest don't mix
... for eight and that's not great or
... for eight, and for a crib that's great
Series of downs - a series of downs is a series of cards up to 31 or a final 'go' in the pegging. The first such card is called first down and the nth card is called nth down.
Spectator card (SC) - a SC is a card which does not lead to points when a hand or crib is counted and all the other cards do lead to points, especially when the SC is a '5' (e.g. in the hand '9,8,8,7,5', the '5' is a SC.
Spot counting (no abbreviation) - spot counting occurs when players have trouble adding a 2-9 spot to the previous total in the pegging. A cribbage player can simply count the spots on the card, enumerating a sequence starting with the number one above the previous total. In this case the final number in the sequence will be the correct total currently. One exception to this rule can be highly embarrassing since while spot counting, the spot counter realizes he will count a number higher than 31.
Stink hole (no abbreviation) - the stink hole is hole #120. It is very frustrating for a cribbage player or team to have his (or their) lead peg in this hole when an opposing player or team scores the game going point. Also the skunk stink hole is #90 and the double skunk stink hole is #60.
Sucker play (SP) - the SP (one of the original pegging strategies) occurs when a player plays one of a pair on first down, hoping that his opponent will pair it so that his 3rd down play is for 6 points. The progenitor also hopes that his opponent doesn't have the same pair if the pair is of 7's or lower. Like the OI, OM, NI, and ENI this strategy is for a two player game.
Three point play (TPP) - a TPP is a card from which 3 points result in the pegging without a run of three. It is a common special case of the n-point play (n = 0 to 15). Cribbage players who watch basketball may behave irritatingly by claiming that the shot was good and they were fouled when they make a TPP.
Whoosh (W) - a W is the sound made, in an often exaggerated way, by a cribbage player whose front peg has just passed the front peg of another cribbage player.
Term originators: Irwin Weiss: ENI, MIAU, NI, OI, Spot Counting, CS.
Martin Weiss: Inning, NM, OM, PD, Series of downs, CT
Peter Weiss: Purloin, P
George Weiss: G, OL, PD
Stanley Cohen: PP, SC, SP, TPP
General Use: Stink hole, rhymes
Unknown: Delay, M15, MFH, MS
Bob Armstrong: W
1957 - Chew your Food
I recall my Grandfather, George advising me to chew my food thoroughly. He suggested 20 chews per forkful, an impossible goal.
I thought of this earlier today when Beth and Ann both advised me to eat more slowly (I admitted I was eating too fast).
When I remembered this I remembered some other things about my grandparents George and Margaret (my father's parents).
George liked meals when the different dishes had different colors. Margaret made a wonderful veal cutlet dish (vieneschniezel) and would have it with mashed potatoes, a green hot vegetable and tomato juice.
Both George and Margaret smoked cigarettes until almost the end of their lives. George lived well into his 80s. Margaret until her 90s. Her maiden name was Feurst and she came from the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I think I heard that they met skiing. George was very good, Margaret was very poor at skiing but this may be because she was top heavy. George helped her skiing. They were married on Dec 25 because the social halls were free that day from christian stuff. Margaret worked at a hat shop when she came to this country. George worked at clock shops and clothing shops. He was very concerned with punctuality and was always having his watch adjusted. Margaret loved watching movies with woman who wore hats.
George had a lot of jobs when he lived in Austria. He was a brewery inspector for a while and did railroad management and restaurant management. He was doing the last of these when the Nazi's annexed Austria. He had a Nazi knock his teeth out that day and had problems chewing after that (perhaps that is part of the advice). Regarding the brewery inspection, it gave him a inspectors taste for beer. He said he thought Schlitts was better than anything Europe (by which he meant Austia) made. This was because every bottle of Schlitts tasted like every other bottle of Schlitts as opposed the breweries of Europe at the time where every batch of a beer tasted a bit different than every other batch (which is annoying for the inspector). The European breweries altered the hops/malt ratio, the brewing temperature, the aging protocol, etc. based on the views of the brewmeister.
