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Dan Barlow:

I toss 7-9. I'll be unhappy only if a J comes up (if an 8 comes up I'll be hoping the crib compensates for what I lost in my hand). I don't see 3-7 turning into a big crib as often as 7-9.

John Chambers:

I would discard the 3-7. You are only a couple of holes short of average position (hole 96)*. You are keeping a potentially good hand with the 3-7 discard. You're in fairly good position, and with a cut you will be in very good position. Your opponent is behind you, so this gives you the flexibility of being able to peg if you need to.

DeLynn Colvert:

I'm discarding the 7-9, hoping for a 3, 4, 5 or 10 cut (or an 8 to help crib). Yes, I'm going for a skunk, playing max offense.

George Rasmussen:

I'll retain 5-9-10-10 and discard 3-7. My hand potential is enhanced with this keep. This is at least .5 point better on average than keeping the crib discards together with the 7-9 toss. I also gain something on offensive pegging potential since 9-10 in sequence might  pick up a stray 8 or J. What little crib value is gained by tossing 7-9 is more than offset by loss of hand score potential and pegging values.

Michael Schell:

Going in, pone is at par while I'm -2. If pone falters here, she'll be short of position next deal. Alternatively, I'm looking at cards that, with help, could decisively overcome my positional deficit. For this reason, I'm not inclined to gut my hand for defense by holding something like 3-7-9-10, but will try to decide between 3-5-10-10 and 5-9-10-10. 7-9 returns .4 points more in my crib than 3-7, and I have to admit that it's what I might have come up with over the board. But the numbers do favor 5-9-10-10 for offense. The potential of that half-double run combo is decisive, and 5-9-10-10 averages 8.70 points to 3-5-10-10's 8.04, which outweighs the difference in the crib. Also, if I get a lackluster cut and want to play defense, the 9 gives me a comfortable reply to a 2, 3 or 4 lead. So from the comfort of my home and computer, 3-7 looks like the percentage toss.

Phyllis Schmidt:

27 pegs is a long way to go. I'm keeping 5-9-10-10 and will try to hit the double run on both sides.

Peter Setian:

I would toss 3-7.  I need "better than average" hands to win on the next deal (or at least be able to peg out on my next deal), so speculating with the 9, a 5, 8, 10 or J cut would almost solidify the game. Also holding 5-9-10-10 can somewhat defend against any heavy pegging, in case the pone needs to be held back.

HALSCRIB:

I think the humans will keep the sure six points, and so will I. But 5-9-10-10 gets the most combined points for me, while costing me nothing on defense (it pegs about the same as 3-5-10-10).

Keep	Toss		Average  hand:		Own      crib:		Pegging			% Win
							Net	(pone/dealer)
3-5-10-10	7-9		8.04		4.09		0.57	(1.91/2.48)		40.2
5-7-10-10	3-9		7.87		3.63		0.80	(1.89/2.70)		30.6
5-9-10-10	3-7		8.70		3.71		0.61	(1.93/2.54)		42.3

Click here for a guide to cribbage notation and symbols.

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.

DeLynn Colvert (1931–2019) is the highest rated tournament player in the history of organized cribbage. He was a five-time National Champion, author of Play Winning Cribbage, and the ACC's only Life Master - Six Stars. He directs the Montana Championship and Montana Open, both held annually in Missoula, and served for many years as President of the ACC and longtime editor of the monthly magazine Cribbage World.

George "Ras" Rasmussen is a Life Master - Two Stars, a four-time All-American, the national Grass Roots Division 1 champion in 2009, a former state champion in Virginia, Montana and Washington, and holds a Gold Award and a President's Award. He also directs the Washington State Championship, held each year in Centralia, WA. His articles on cribbage are available on the ACC Web site.

Michael Schell is a pioneer of modern cribbage theory, which synthesizes traditional concepts of expert play with new computer-informed insights and analysis. He has published Cribbage Forum since 2000. Schell holds a Bronze Award, is a Washington State Champion (2001), and was one of the principal architects of ACC Internet Cribbage.

Phyllis Schmidt is a charter member of the ACC, and has been playing cribbage for about 40 years. She is a Life Master - One Star, a Senior Judge, a National Champion (1992) and winner of the ACC Tournament of Champions (2005). She attends about 30 tournaments a year.

Peter Setian has played cribbage for over 20 years, and has been a member of the ACC for about 14 years. During that time, he has won seven major tournaments and earned his Life Master rating. He plays in about eight tournaments per year, including the ACC Tournament of Champions and the annual Grand National. He enjoys participation in Grass Roots Club #72.

HALSCRIB is widely regarded as the world's strongest computer cribbage player. Its opinion was solicited using a special analysis version of the program. Since HALSCRIB only speaks binary, its thoughts have been translated into English by Michael Schell and its creator, Hal Mueller, a retired mathematics professor and eight-time ACC tournament winner. For more information, see the HALSCRIB home page.