Hoyle's Games Modernized

by Professor Hoffmann; Edmond Hoyle

the same suit as the start, one "for his nob" will be scored in addition.

A study of the foregoing table should be a material aid to the player in discarding for "crib." If he is dealer, he desires the crib to be as productive as possible; if non-dealer, the reverse. On the other side, he desires to retain such cards as shall be likely to score best in his hand, and these two objects frequently clash. It is therefore, important to know which to prefer.

We will first examine the question from the dealer's point of view. Both hand and crib belong to him, but the hand consists (including the start), of four cards only, while the crib has five. The possible combinations of five cards are so numerous that space will only permit us to give examples of a few leading hands. The highest possible score is twenty-nine, which is made by three fives and a knave, with a fourth five, of the same suit as the knave, turned up by way of start.[^[16]]

The mode of reckoning is as follows: the four fives, in four combinations of three, score fifteen eight. Each of them again scores a fifteen in conjunction with the knave, making eight more. To these are added twelve for the double pair-royal, and "one for his nob," making twenty-nine.

Two fives, two fours, and a six Fifteen eight, two pairs, and a run of three four times repeated Two fives, two sixes, and a four Two fours, two sixes, and a five Two sevens, two eights, and a nine	24
Four threes and a nine (Fifteen twelve and a double pair-royal)	24
Three fives, a four, and a six (Fifteen eight, a pair-royal, and run of three thrice repeated)	23
Three fours, a five, and a six Fifteen six, a pair-royal, and run of three thrice repeated Three sixes, a four, and a five Three sevens, an eight, and a nine Three eights, a seven, and a nine	21
Four twos and a nine Fifteen eight and a double pair-royal Four threes and a six	20
Two sixes, two sevens, and an eight Fifteen four, two pairs, and run of three four times repeated Two sevens, an eight, and two nines Two eights, a seven, and two nines	20
Three tens, or court cards of like denomination, and two fives Fifteen twelve, pair-royal, and pair Three threes and two nines Three sevens and two aces	20
Three threes and two sixes[[17]] (Fifteen ten, pair, and pair-royal)	18
Three fours, three, and five (Fifteen two, pair-royal, and run of three thrice repeated)	17
Three tenth cards in sequence and two fives (Fifteen twelve, pair, and run of three)[[18]]	17
Any three cards in sequence, with duplicates of two of them, but no "fifteen" (Two pairs and run of three four times repeated)	16
Any three cards in sequence, with one of them thrice repeated, but no "fifteen" (Pair-royal and run of three thrice repeated)	15

As for combinations of minor value, their name is legion.

With four cards only, the general average is very much lower, as will have been seen from the table on p. [39].

A comparison of the foregoing tables show that the crib at five-card Cribbage is likely to be much more important than the hand, and this furnishes us with a safe principle for the guidance of the player in laying out. In the case of the dealer, he should lay out for crib such cards as are most likely to form valuable combinations, even though he may, to some extent, sacrifice the scoring value of his hand. Conversely, it is to the interest of the non-dealer to lay out such cards as are likely to "baulk the crib," as it is termed, even though he may to some extent injure his own hand in doing so. On close examination of the tables, it will be found that the cards most likely to help the crib are pairs. If the other three cards chance to be in sequence, they are worth, standing alone, three only, but the addition of duplicates of either of the series will bring their value (for runs and pair-royal) up to fifteen, independently of any other points they may contain. Or suppose, with six as start, that the dealer has thrown out a four and a five, these are worth five only; but if the non-dealer had been rash enough to throw out a pair, either of fours or sixes, the score would run up to twenty-one. If the non-dealer had thrown out a pair of fives, it would have been twenty-three.

Next to a pair, two cards forming a fifteen, or two cards in sequence, are most likely to help the crib, and should therefore be preferred by the dealer, and eschewed by the non-dealer—the more so, if they chance to answer both conditions—e.g. a seven