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The Impossible Realities of Cribbage Board Photos

Posted on April 13, 2018 - Sports/Leisure - 2 Comments

Have you ever gone through life not realizing that something common was around you at all times? Then one day you take notice of that something and are left with a mind-blowing experience where now notice that something everywhere, and you are amazed how you've never noticed that thing before?

Well, hold onto your spilikins, because we here at 6SO are about to point one out that you possibly never have noticed.

Ready?

People who photograph cribbage boards have no clue how to play cribbage.

Let that sink in.

...

Ok. Now that it has sunk in, let's look at some examples of product photos used to sell cribbage boards. Remember, the max score on any given hand is 29 points, and that score is incredibly rare. If you want a complete recap of what scores are possible in cribbage, gamecolony.com has a good overview.

Cardinal Industries Solid Wood Folding Cribbage Set

Cardinal Industries Solid Wood Folding Cribbage Set

Amazing. Red did the impossible with a 34 point play. But what is even more impressive is how Red got 70 points before the other two players could get 10 points. What is then even more impressive is that Blue tallied up a whopping 83 point hand. Then, to be EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE, Green comes out of nowhere and drops a big fat 97 POINT HAND. WOW.

Makes you wonder who's zero point hand that is displayed next to board doesn't it? The crib perhaps?


GrowUpSmart Premium Cribbage Board

GrowUpSmart Premium Cribbage Board

This one is going to take a while to unpack.

At first glance, I thought that just the player using the black colored peg was only using one peg to count their points. But on closer inspection, we can see that the peg getting inserted into the cribbage board is not in the same track as the trailing peg. Thus, this is a three hand game where everyone is only using one peg to score. Not something I would do as I play with a bunch of people who I assume are cheaters but to each their own.

Anyways, showing four hands of cards indicates that board is scoring a three-handed game. One hand per player and the crib, plus the crib cut card, That makes sense and fits within the rules! But, then why do two hands have six cards, and the other two have five when they all should only have four cards?

AND JUST WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT ALL THREE HANDS PLUS THE CRIB GOT DEALT A STRAIGHT FLUSH?! WOW!!

To be fair, this board's description describes it as a "brain-teasing 3-track board."

GrowUpSmart Premium Cribbage Board

Same board, different game. It's nice that this time the players are following protocol and are using two pegs per track to keep score. It is also neat that the players using the black & gold pegs each exchanged a peg so they could each use both colors. How friendly.

But look at those pegging gaps! Middle track black/gold wins the game with an impressive 107 point hand! Quite the comeback given that Silver nearly made it a one hand game with their 116 point hand!


House of Cribbage - Continuous Cribbage Board (Three Track)

House of Cribbage - Continuous Cribbage Board
  1. Is there a region of the world where cribbage players keep score with three pegs?
  2. Why are Silver and Copper using the same track?

House of Cribbage - Continuous Cribbage Board / Box inlaid in Bloodwood

House of Cribbage - Continuous Cribbage Boar
  1. Is there a region of the world where cribbage players keep score with four pegs?
  2. Why are Silver and Bronze using the same track?
  3. Why are Gold and Copper using the same track?
  4. Why do Gold and Silver only get three pegs while Bronze and Copper get four?

House of Cribbage - Continuous Cribbage Board / Box inlaid in Maple Wood

House Of Cribbage - 4 Track Maple
  1. Is there a region of the world where cribbage players keep score with five pegs?
  2. ::sigh::

Harley-Davidson Skull Cribbage Board

Harley-Davidson Skull Cribbage Board

Surely a cribbage board that earned the right to have get Harley-Davidson's trademark bestowed onto it would only hire the best cribbage experts to photograph the board?

Track 1: Looks legit.
Track 2: Looks legit.
Track 3: Why is there only one peg?
Track 4: WHY ARE TWO PEOPLE PLAYING IN TRACK FOUR?


Cardinal Collectors Cribbage Set

Cardinal Collectors Cribbage Set

Again with using three pegs to score.

But imagine that play between Red and Blue. They are sitting there neck to neck at the 41 point mark and Red counts first. "Sixty-three points bitch! Let's see you come back now!"

Blue, holding a perfect poker face while Red gloats then calmly counts out his hand. "...and knobs for sixty-nine... Bitch."

Lightning Round

To help further illustrate the epidemic, here are a some more cribbage board photos we found presented with minimal commentary.

De'Nadi Collection Royal Cribbage Board

Royal Cribbage Board

Gold: 34 point hand.
Silver: 50 point hand.


House of Cribbage - 3 Track Continuous Curved Design Cribbage Board

House of Cribbage - 3 Track Continuous Curved Design Cribbage Board

Silver: 51 point hand.
Copper: 40 point hand.
Gold: Impossible 27 point hand


Da Vinci Classic 3-Track Wooden Cribbage Set

Da Vinci Classic 3-Track Wooden Cribbage Set

Green: 83 point hand.
Red: 85 point hand. Blue: 91 point hand.
Apparently, nobody pegged during the first hand?


TCG Toys Solid Wood Cribbage Board Game

TCG Toys cribbage board

Blue and Green are playing four pegs, while Red is playing two.
Green: 42 Point Hand.
Blue: I don't even know what blue is doing.


Ideal Folding Wood Cribbage Board with Cards

Ideal Cribbage Board

This one is subtle, but blue has scored an impossible 26 points.


Outside Inside Tin Boat Cribbage Board

Outside Inside Tin Boat Cribbage Board

Green: Impossible 26 point hand.
Red: 47 point hand.


Outside Inside Rv Cribbage Board

Outside Inside RV Cribbage Board

Blue: 91 point hand.
Brown: 92 point hand.




2 Comments

Thomas H

Thomas H - July 23, 2022, 11:01 AM

I know it doesn't make it any better, but the TCG Toys one Red actually has 3 pegs, but Green and Blue are still using 4 pegs. The third Red peg is blending with the bottom peg.

Reply to Thomas H

Tom McHugh

Tom McHugh - May 24, 2021, 9:13 PM

Thanks for the laughs!!

Reply to Tom McHugh

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