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Dan Barlow:

First of all, how did I get into the Tournament of Champions? I play one tournament a year. Secondly, I keep 2-3-10-J. Sure, 6-7 is a bad toss if dealer happens to have a 7-8 that works with nothing else in his hand. But it's not like dealer tosses 7-8 in his crib every hand. I'm not expecting a skunk if I end up with a two-point hand here. My chances aren't bad for eight to ten points with 2-3-10-J, and that could be enough to maintain a skunk threat.

John Chambers:

In this situation I would discard the 6-7. This means that I am keeping the 2-3-10-J. With this discard I have seven cards out of 13 that will help me. If you do get the cut, it is likely that you will, at worst, remain the same distance ahead of your opponent. Also remember that if you had discarded the 10-J and a tenth card is cut, your opponent could have eight points in the crib anyway.

DeLynn Colvert:

I keep 2-3-6-J. The 2-3-6 is a Magic Eleven combo and works well in pegging. The 7-10 is a fair discard, although the 7 will kill you at times.

George Rasmussen:

I am more likely to score a skunk if I play some defense on this hand. It's not wise to toss 6-7 for a potential 24 crib to hold just four points. Strange as it may seem, having recorded 1,785 7-10 discards and 1,646 6-10 discards over a period of nine years in actual play, the 7-10 had an average of 4.171 and 6-10 had an average of 4.224. Toss 7-10 and retain 2-3-6-J.

Retaining the 6 also increases the chance that I can close the count at 31 if opponent is playing some combination of fives with x-pointers. Lead the 3. Few players will put the 5 on it. Instead they'll make the count 13, then play that 2 for 15-2. Few players drop the 5 at this point also, but will make the count 25 instead. Then the six surprises them for 31-2.

³  _x  ^2 (15-2)  _x  ^6 (31-2)

The question is often why would you keep a 6 with that hand? Now you know!

Michael Schell:

For a normal win, I start the deal +3 to my opponent's -38. Since the positional hole for averting a skunk is thirty points behind the corresponding normal positional hole, to calculate my opponent's position relative to hole 40 (70 minus 30). Thus reckoning for a skunk I'm still +3, but dealer is -2. So even if I'm interested in a skunk (which in most ACC tournaments like this is worth three game points compared with two for a normal win), balanced play is the best strategy. It's not worth tossing 6-7 just to keep two more points in hand, so I'm tossing the 10 with a mid-card.

6-10 gives up a trifle less in opponent's crib than 7-10, but I like 2-3-6-J for the pegging potential of the three-card Magic Eleven.

Phyllis Schmidt:

Keep the most points: 2-3-10-J. Shunks are nice, but you must always go for the win first. Any card is going to help the hand or crib and maybe it will help both.

Peter Setian:

I would still play conservative and keep 2-3-7-J. A decent cut will still give a chance at a skunk. But better to clinch the win, than a possible skunk/loss. The exception would be near the end of the qualifying round, and I needed a skunk.

HALSCRIB:

The thing is, dealer is so far back that it'd take about a dozen points above average just to get into position if you falter. So you can afford to take a few chances with the discard to help prevent your own position from tanking. So my choice is the aggressive 2-3-10-J. Just look how much it does better in games that win four or five deals hence:

			Deal 4				Deal 5
Keep	Toss		Loss	Skunk	Win		Loss	Skunk	Win
2-3-6-7	10-J		0.1%	10.8%	14.7%		1.8%	35.3%	53.4%
2-3-6-J	7-10		0.0%	9.6%	12.2%		1.3%	35.5%	49.1%
2-3-10-J	6-7		0.1%	12.9%	18.0%		1.9%	37.8%	58.4%

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Panelists

Dan Barlow won the 1980 National Open Cribbage Tournament, and made the 1985 All American Cribbage Team. His cribbage strategy articles appeared in Cribbage World for many years, and can be seen on the ACC Web site. He also provides strategy tips at MSN Gaming Zone. He has written seven books on cribbage, two of which have been glowingly reviewed in Games Magazine. All, including his latest book Winning Cribbage Tips, are available at The Cribbage Bookstore.

John Chambers was one of the original founding members of the ACC. He is a Grand Master, winner of seven major tournaments, and author of Cribbage: A New Concept, He also directs three annual tournaments: the Ocean State Cribbage Classic, New England Peer Championship and Charity Cribbage Challenge.