Valentine’s Day Cribbage Tournament! “29 Again!” Saturday, February 14th – (Worcester Store)

Make friends, or bring a friend to our next Cribbage tournament on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14th!

Time: 12pm-5pm
Entry Fee: FREE!
Ages 13+
Tournament Judge: Bradley Momberger

Cribbage Boards will be provided!

Register Below! Scroll down past the registration button to see our complete cribbage tournament rules.

Introduction
Hello participants! My name is Brad Momberger and I’ve been playing cribbage since I was
nimble enough to peg. I had the idea for having a cribbage tournament on or around my
birthday for years, and last year I was pleased to make it a reality and a success by partnering
with That’s E! 2026 will be the second annual tournament, of hopefully many more.

The Game of Cribbage
For this tournament we will be following the ACC rulebook with modifications for four player
partnership, which are detailed in the next section. Some key points to note:
– Cutting before dealing is mandatory, and separate from the cut for the upcard
– Players must not mix the upcard into their hands when scoring.
– Penalties exist for improper overpegging, incorrect declaration of game, and other
infractions. Call a Tournament Official over for adjudication if you believe an infraction has
happened.
– If an incorrect number of cards is dealt to a player’s hand or the crib, there is a table of
remedies that a Tournament Official will guide players through. Stop play and call the Official
over.

A copy of the ACC rulebook is available at the tournament director’s table.

Cribbage boards
The cribbage boards used for this tournament may have different track configurations. It’s
important to note how each board counts to 121 and where skunk lines exist:
– “Classic” 60-peg loop boards have two or more sets of peg holes in a 2×30 configuration,
with each line of 30 holes called a “track”. Pegging starts at the outside track (the ones
closest to the edge of the board) with the hole closest to the starting holes for the pegs, and
continues from the end of the outside track to the hole of the inside track nearest to the last
hole of the outside track. 121 points is counted by going twice around the track in this
manner (outside-inside-outside-inside) plus one peg back into the starting holes.
– “Spiral” 121-peg boards with three straight line tracks of 35 holes joined by arcs of 10 and 5
holes, with a single peg-out hole and usually three starting holes for pegs. One partnership
shall use the outermost tracks of the spiral and the other shall use the innermost tracks. 121
points comprises one trip from the starting holes to the single peg-out hole.

SKUNK LINES
– For a classic board, the boundaries of each track (outer and inner) mark the skunk line.
– For spiral boards, the skunk lines are not neatly delineated, but a printed guide is available at
each table
– In either case it is important to note the total points scored each game.

Four Player Partnership Cribbage
In partnership cribbage, partners sit across from each other at the table. All players are dealt
five cards, and contribute one card each to the crib. No cards are dealt directly into the crib.
Playing cribbage in partnerships separates the dealer’s opponent into two roles:
– Pone, who sits to the right of the dealer and is offered cuts of the deck
– Lead, who begins the play and who scores their hand first. Scoring and card play passes
clockwise (to the left) from lead, to dealer’s partner, to pone, to dealer.

Partners peg their score together on the same track with the same pegs. The first partnership
to reach 121 points of combined score is the winner.
Cutting for first deal at the start of a round is conducted in three steps:
1. A representative from each team cuts the deck. Low card determines which team deals first
2. Each teammate of the first dealing team cuts the deck. Low card becomes first dealer
3. For the second game, the opponents of the first dealer cut for first deal. Low card becomes
first dealer.

Muggins
Muggins is allowed and encouraged in this tournament.
A player may call muggins on themself in the case of an undercounted hand or scoring play.
This is the only way that a player may recover points on an undercount once the player has
touched a peg for the purpose of scoring the hand or play.
A player may call muggins on their partner just the same as calling muggins on an opponent.
If two or more players call muggins at the same time, and it cannot be determined who called
first, priority is given to the opposing players.

Tournament format
The format of the tournament shall consist of no more than six rounds if fully registered (no
byes needed), or seven rounds if a bye is necessary.
A round robin format shall be employed for this tournament, with each partnership playing a
round with each other partnership at most once (if more than eight teams register) or twice (if
fewer than eight teams register). The Tournament Director will announce pairings and assigned
tables before the start of each round.

The start time for the first round of cribbage will begin after the initial meeting and
announcements of the rules. The start time for a round of cribbage, other than the first round,
is after all games in the previous round have concluded; a five minute break will be added after
each even-numbered round. Participants are expected to be seated and ready at the start
time. The tournament director may declare a longer break after the first three rounds have
completed.

A round shall consist of two games of cribbage, with each partnership at the table given the
first deal once. Regardless of who dealt last at the conclusion of a game, the first deal of the
next game shall be given to the winner of a cut between the opponents of the first dealer.
Games shall be played to 121 points, except for provisions for tournament timing as explained
in the TIMING and QUICK GAMES section below.
The Tournament Director shall have final say regarding all disputes. Any Tournament Official
may adjudicate a dispute and provide a decision regarding the rules of cribbage or their
interpretation.

TIMING: A round ends after 45 minutes or after all partnerships have completed their second
game, whichever happens first. The Tournament Director will begin timing the round from the
time the last partnerships sit down to play, at the conclusion of a scheduled break, or five
minutes from the conclusion of the previous round, whichever comes first. If both partnerships
are available to start a round before the conclusion of the previous round, they are permitted to
start their next round by mutual agreement.

If all games for a round have not ended at the conclusion of 45 minutes, the tournament
director will call time. Unfinished games with a hand dealt to players will be permitted to finish
their current hand through the scoring of the crib. At this time each team’s peg score will
become the official score for that game, except in case of a tie the team which did not deal the
final hand shall be awarded one bonus peg and the tournament points for that game.

QUICK ROUNDS / QUICK GAMES: A game will be played to 61 points instead of 121 points
under the following circumstances:
* The game starts with less than 15 minutes remaining in the round. The Tournament Director
will announce when 15 minutes remain. Please make every effort to play swiftly.
* The Tournament Director declares the current round and all following rounds to be “quick”
rounds to comply with venue scheduling requirements

SCORING: Tournament points shall be awarded to partnerships according to the following
schedule:
– 2 points for winning one game: being the first partnership to peg 121 points, or the
partnership ahead in points at the conclusion of the round.
– 1 bonus point for skunking: winning by a margin of 30 or more points
– 1 additional bonus for a double skunk: winning by a margin of 60 or more points
– 1 additional bonus for a triple skunk: winning by a margin of 90 or more points

SCORING IN QUICK ROUNDS: If a quick round is declared, then tournament points shall be
awarded to partnerships according to the following schedule:
– 2 points for winning one game: being the first partnership to peg 61 points
– 2 bonus points for skunking: winning by a margin of 30 or more points
Game scores are reset to zero at the beginning of each game; there are no laps or rollover
points.

FORFEITURE: A partnership which declares its intention to discontinue playing before the
final round, or which does not sit for a round within a reasonable duration from the start time
for a round, will have forfeited all claim to prizes. Opponents of forfeited teams will be given
reasonable accommodation to play and finish their rounds against idle competitors, spectators,
Tournament Officials, or other persons. In these cases, only teams which were scheduled to
play forfeited teams shall be eligible to earn Tournament points. If accommodations cannot be
made, the Tournament Director shall award walkover points, totaling no less than two
Tournament points with peg scores of 121-120 or 61-60, to teams unable to participate in a
round due to forfeited opponents. More points or pegs than prescribed herein may be
awarded at the Director’s discretion.

Record keeping
A scoresheet will be provided to each table for each round. Players must record the round
number, team names, and the peg scores and tournament points earned for each game on this
scoresheet. At the end of each round, players must submit the scoresheet to the Tournament
Director.

Tournament record sheets will be issued to each player for their own record keeping. While
these are not official scores sheets, they may be useful for resolving disputes and
discrepancies. These sheets need not be returned to the Tournament Director.

Tournament winner
The partnership with the greatest number of tournament points at the end of the final round
shall be declared the winner, and the partnership with the second most tournament points shall
be declared the runner up. In case of a tie between two or more partnerships for first or
second place, the average margin of victory for each partnership’s won games will serve as the
tiebreaker. Every point and peg counts! Play well!