I've been playing Cribbage since -- well -- since the early '60s.
I clearly remember my father, uncle, and grandfather in our basement playing cribbage, drinking beer and smoking cheap cigars. My grandfather died in 1967, and didn't travel much in his last years; putting a narrow window between when we moved to that house (at age 5) and when he died (at age 11).
I hadn't really understood cribbage until about 2019 or so, when my partner and I started playing a daily game. My partner had read an essay from someone who played a daily game with their partner. (Maybe this: An ode to cribbage, the game that taught me a new (love) language). It is a chance to simply connect and spent dedicated time together doing nothing of real consequence.
A time to flirt. Really.
We've been together for over 45 years. A chance to be flirty with each other is a gift. There are so many other things -- house, cars, jobs, kids, parents, etc., etc. -- that recede in the face of a quiet 45 minutes together.
Getting Started
Cribbage is generally a two-player game. There are modifications to play with 3 or 4 people. We'll leave those for a later post.
A deck of 52 cards is essential. We like big poker cards, not little bridge cards.
A cribbage board is central, literally and figuratively. The board sits between the players, and the crib is clearly on the dealer's side of the board.
In the next post, I'll talk about boards. It's a surprisingly deep topic.
Then we'll move onto how the game works. Then, we can talk a little about how to play well.