• Like many on the Web, we're sporting a green color scheme this month in solidarity with the protesters in Iran (added 6/19/2009)
• Ask the experts: Read the June problem and our panel's answers to the May problem (added 6/19/2009)

Welcome to Cribbage Forum, the first and best Web site devoted to cribbage strategy. If you're visiting for the first time, or would like an introduction to our contents, click here for an overview. And check out our monthly quiz feature, Ask the experts.

- Michael Schell

Old news:

July 2008:
As reported in the June 2008 issue of Cribbage World, the state government of Maine has cracked down on sanctioned cribbage, claiming that the small stakes Grass Roots events held at various venues violate Maine's gambling laws. The governor recently vetoed a bipartisan attempt at legislative relief claiming that it was an "unacceptible expansion of gambling". Left unexplained was why, even if cribbage tournaments constitute gambling, this somehow gave the state the right to ban them in lieu of their organizers forking over a $700/year license fee. Note that poker games are also affected by the crackdown. Unfortunately this kind of government intrusion isn't confined to either major US political party. Republican anti-gambling zealots like Senator Kyl feel they have a right to impose their moral beliefs on the rest of us, while Maine's Governor Baldacci, a Democrat, seems eager to protect his state lottery turf from competitors. The situation in Maine shows that we have a real threat our our hands in the US, and that your favorite club, tournament or Internet gaming site could be the next to go. Fortunately the experience of Rep. Leach in Iowa, defeated for reelection in part due to the efforts of online poker players, shows that political pressure can work in our favor too, so hopefully this can be brought to bear on Gov. Baldacci to either reconsider his opposition to the legislature's efforts at reforming Maine's gambling laws, or to at least try to get the state officials to curtail enforcement on the non-profit hosts of cribbage and poker tournaments

April 2008:
Hal Mueller has released HALSCRIB CLX 2.0, the latest update to his pioneering cribbage playing and analysis software. Also new is Cribbage Vox, which incorporates voice activation and speech synthesis into the Halscrib line, allowing physically and visually impaired players to take on the world's premier computer cribbage engine. I believe it's the first substantive computer cribbage game to feature ease of access. Both new products are Vista-compatible. Have a look at Halscrib Central

June 2007:
After numerous outages, Cribbage Forum has given up on Interland/Web.com and switched to a new Web host provider (Aplus.net). Since the new Web server runs Apache and doesn't use host name headers or ASP, most of the pages have different names, so it may take a while for the search engines to catch up, and there may be some broken hyperlinks on referring pages (I've put in forwarding pages at the old locations, but some browsers gag on pages with ASP file extensions when served up by an Apache Web server). Our Search page now uses Google Co-Op rather than the Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions

May 2006:
Halscrib 2006, the newest version of Hal Mueller's groundbreaking computer cribbage program, is now available. Halscrib has been playing at expert level for a couple of years now, and this new version quite possibly plays at championship level. George "Ras" Rasmussen and myself have logged several hundred games against it, and we are batting only a hair above .500 (see Ras's results here). The age of computer-human parity in cribbage seems to have finally arrived. Halscrib 2006 includes several analysis tools essential for serious players, and Prof. Mueller even offers a bundle with electronic copies of books by Cribbage Forum contributors DeLynn Colvert, John Chambers and George Rasmussen. This is a crowning achievement of Mueller's career in cribbage programming. Check it out at Halscrib Central.

February 2006:
I've retired as Editor for ACC Internet Cribbage, so I have stopped writing the Internet Cribbage articles for Cribbage World and the ACC Web site, at least for the time being. You can read my brief farewell announcement here. Don't worry though, I'll still be helping out with ACC Internet Cribbage from time to time as an Assistant Commissioner, and I'm proud to have been a principal architect of that program. I'll also continue publishing Cribbage Forum updates each month. And if you're passing through Seattle, I hope to see you at my Grass Roots club. So there'll still be plenty of opportunities for us to get together in the years ahead. Keep tuning in Cribbage Forum every month!

July 2005:
Cribbage Forum extends its solidarity and sympathy to the victims of the recent terrorist atrocities in London. As you sit down to enjoy our favorite game — another British gift to the rest of us — take a moment to consider the pluck and resolve and pluck of these people who have stood with us "shoulder to shoulder" in defense of secular democracy. Today, we cribbage players are all Brits.

September 2004:
Schell ranked second in North America: Yes, I finished the 2003–4 Grass Roots season ranked 2nd of over 4,000 club players across North America, with 323 rating points in Division I, behind only Charles Barnes record-setting 380 points.

September 2004:
Mike Fetchel has won the first Internet Cribbage Championship

June 2003:
The ACC Internet Cribbage Program now has its own Web page, where you can stay informed on on the development of ACC-sanctioned Internet cribbage, which will begin on a trial basis in Fall 2003. Volunteers are needed to serve as online tournament hosts, statisticians and general coordinators. Join us, and bring legitimate sanctioned competition to the Internet!

April 2003:
On March 7, 2003, MSN Gaming Zone hosted the first HALSCRIB vs. the Rest Of The World match. Hal Mueller took one side of the table, using a prototype of HALSCRIB 5 to play the cards dealt him by the Zone. I sat on the other side, captaining a team of about 30 human players who played by consultation, discussing our discarding and pegging choices on the chat lines. It was great fun, and an opportunity to play a couple of instructive games while seeing the world's most powerful computer cribbage program in action. The bot won twice, including a skunk (click here for my commentary on the first game), but the humans will get their chance at payback soon: these matches will happen every three months or so, with the second one slated for June 19.

February 2003:
After years of lobbying by Internet cribbage enthusiasts, the ACC Board of Directors has authorized creation of an ACC Internet Cribbage Program. I've been appointed to the Internet Steering Committee, which will develop and implement the Program. This is an exciting opportunity to create bona fide play on the Internet under the auspices of the game's preeminent sanctioning organization, with a legitimate rating system and even an Internet championship cycle. It will also help attract new players to the ACC, ensuring the continuity of the Tournament Trail and Grass Roots programs. There's a lot of work to be done, and some thorny problems to solve, but if we can make this work, the upside for both the game and the ACC is tremendous.

August 2002:
The Northwest Washington Open took place on July 12-14, 2002, co-hosted by my Grass Roots club, Sno-King Peggers, and our sister club, Everett Peggers. Appropriately enough, the tournament was won by my clubmate Laurie Kenny, who prevailed in the finals against DeLynn Colvert (who topped the qualifying round with a rare 42 point scorecard). Several Cribbage Forum readers came out specifically for the event, and Hal Mueller showed up from Ontario with version 4.82 of HALSCRIB, featuring a new endgame pegging algorithm and improved middlegame pegging and board strategy technique. The bot dusted both George Rasmussen and myself in a series of demonstration games. OK, it had the better cards, but we were still impressed with its playing strength, which is roughly equal to that of a strong human tournament player. Check it out at HALSCRIB central, where you'll also find biweekly articles on pegging and discarding situations analyzed by the bot.

July 2002:
International Cribbage MEETUP Day is the third Thursday of the month, beginning July 2002. What does this mean? Well, go this Web page, select your city and vote on a local meeting place from a preselected list of possible venues. Check back for the voting results, then show up to meet any other local cribbage players who have responded. The suggested venues include restaurants, coffeehouses and the like — now you know where the MEETUP people get their money. Still if the concept takes off, it could be a good way to meet new friends and opponents if there's no Grass Roots club in your area. And if there isn't, use this to help start your own!

December 2001:
The ACC Web page has been given a major facelift by its new Webmaster, Paul Gregson. Paul has also added lots of new features, including a compete list of lifetime MRPs. I am now editing the Tips section. Check it out!

September 2001:
A dedication and a pledge to the victims of the atrocities committed on September 11, 2001. In particular, to the fallen firefighters, police and emergency workers, and to the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 who fought back against the terrorists. The heroic actions of these individuals saved untold lives. They are the first resistance fighters in the war on terror. In their honor, I will donate half of my tournament winnings in the 2001–2 season to aid relief and recovery efforts. I invite others in the cribbage community to join me in this pledge. Together, we will defeat terrorism.

July 2001:
Cribbage Forum has a new home. After 1½ years and 20,000 hits, it was time to expand. So we've moved to a new URL (cribbageforum.com), switched to a faster Web host, and redesigned the home page for easier browsing. Thanks to all of you who've helped make this the premier cribbage site on the Internet! To celebrate our expansion, I've inaugurated a regular feature called Ask the experts which will let you match your wits with some of the game's most prominent players and writers. Here's how it works: every month I'll post a new cribbage problem. A month later, I'll republish the problem along with commentary from our all-star panel. There'll be no single "correct" answer given. Each of the panelists will explain what they would do in a real game, and why. Want to see how players like Dan Barlow, DeLynn Colvert and George Rasmussen approach a tough game decision? Well, stay around and find out. Click here to view this month's problem. Try to find the best answer yourself, then check back next month to see if the panelists agree with you!

April 2000:
Cribbage Forum has received the prestigious Grandmaster Link Award from Mind Sports Organisation Worldwide, organizers of the annual Mind Sports Olympiad. Announcing the award, John Knoderer of MSO said: "Michael Schell has created a comprehensive site that helps explain the intricacies of the game of cribbage. We were especially impressed by his explanations of discarding techniques. Our Deputy Webmaster has played more than 500 games of cribbage in the last year, and hopes to compete at the Olympiad, yet he learned something about discarding techniques from reading Michael's pages. There's a lot of other good information to be found here. Whether you are a beginner, or whether you are an expert, we strongly recommend this set of pages to you." The Grandmaster Link Award recognizes sites that are "the very best on the Web in their field". Cribbage Forum is the first cribbage-related site ever to receive this award.

January 2000:
Cribbage Forum begins publication.

Cribbage Forum features articles on cribbage strategy and tactics by Michael Schell, ACC Bronze Award winner, 2001 Washington State Champion and winner of other accolades in Internet and over-the-board cribbage. Cribbage Forum is a project of schellsburg.com. Publisher/Webmaster: Michael Schell. Assistant Editor: Lauren Marshall. Contact us here.

Original Material and HTML Coding Copyright © 2000–9 by Michael Schell. All Rights Reserved. Ribbon art created by Alon Cohen.