October 18, 2006

skunked? Curious George: cribbage quandary.

Any crib players out there? I've searched but can't seem to find the answer to this peculiar situation. Here it is: two players, one reaches the end of the board while counting the points in his hand, and declares himself the winner and the other player skunked. However, he missed two of his points when counting, and they're playing muggins. Does player two get to claim those two points and save herself from a skunking?

posted by fish tick 17 years ago
  • I would say yes because that's just what seems logical, but then again, I don't play cribbage all that much, so I'm probably the wrong person to be asking. >.<
  • i don't think you can mug the points in retrospect, you have to claim them as soon as they are missed by the person you're playing.
  • Yes, absolutely. As long as you make it around the corner, you're not skunked.
  • (but I see es el Queso's argument, too)
  • Wow, that's a hard one. I always thought when a player pegs out the round is over, but there is nothing about this in the rules of the ACC (American Cribbage Congress), but you could ask at the cribbage forum
  • While there is room for interpretation, according to rule 1.5 section g of the American Cribbage Congress Rules of Cribbage, "the game ends [...] when a player scores 121 points." Then, rule 10.4 section c paragraphs 1 and 2 state (paraphrased) that for both players, muggins must be called after the opponent pegs the underscore. This suggests to me that muggins cannot be called after a player has pegged 121, and that your friend was, indeed, skunked. [On preview: yeah, the forum's probably a good call. 's what I get for tryin' ta be all fancy with the links.]
  • Thanks for all the input; I'll try the forum. My thought was that the game wouldn't be over if he'd reached 121 by over counting, so therefore pegging out with an incorrect count of any sort would not end the game. *whirls to hide theoretical white stripe on back*
  • I prefer to play cabbage. The skunk is built right in.
  • Well, dang- I can't figure out how to get to that forum. I wrote to the guy in charge of cribbageforum.com, but his aol email addy seems to be defunct. *ponders braving the gnashing of askme*
  • My apology, curieux: it seems you skunked me good and proper!
  • Smugly smiling... and would never dream of saying I told you so!; writing it is a different matter though.
  • Don't make me come over there ... I'll double skunk you both!
  • Pffffft - je lui ai skunké ce soir. Deux fois!
  • OVraimnt? Est-il malheureuse?
  • Utbay ofhay oursecay!