ACC Grass Roots Cribbage Club Tournament #32 Summary

Sanctioned by the American Cribbage Congress (ACC, www.cribbage.org), the Grass Roots Program (www.cribbage.org/grassroots) is the hometown component of the ACC. Over 200 clubs in North America competes weekly, bi-weekly or monthly in 6-game or 9-game tournaments. The ACC Grass Roots Cribbage Club #43 meets every Wednesday at Stanley’s Sports Bar in Sharks Ice Fremont on Old Warm Springs Blvd for a 9-game, round-robin tournament. Check in is by 5:45 p.m. so play can begin by 6:00 p.m. Players earn 2 game points for a win, 3 game points for a skunk (win by more than 30 pegs) and 0 game points for a loss. Total game points of 12 or more after the tournament earns Grass Roots Points (GRPs) for season and lifetime accumulation. Tournament scorecards are reported as Game Points/Games Won/Net Spread and sorted by Game Points, then Games Won, then Net Spread.

There were 13 players this week, increasing the players per tournament average to 11.906 (+0.035). Out of thirteen players, six of them earned GRPs this week (46%). Tracy Yott finally found some good hands and cuts to win his first seven games to take first place with a 17/8 scorecard. With encouragement from Rich Hammock, Judy Ross busted Tracy’s Grand Slam attempt in game eight. Farokh Ziari finished in second place with a 14/7 scorecard. It was great to see Marty Froomin again; he earned GRPs with a third place 14/6/79 scorecard, dropping Carol Witt (14/6/70) to fourth place by nine spread points. Also adding to their season GRP totals were Theo Mattingly (13/6/39) and Kelsey Potter (12/6/23).

Sharon Kemp started the high hand race in game 1 with an 18-point hand. Tracy Yott upped the bar with a 20-point hand in his game 1 (first sit-out). Sharen came back with a 20-point hand in game 2. Kelsy Potter followed with a 21-pointer in game 2. In game 3, Loren Lookabill found a 22-point hand that held up the rest of the night.

With four tournaments remaining in the season, there are four players still vying for the club championship. Loren Lookabill (186), Theo Mattingly (170,-16), Farokh Ziari (162, -24) and Wayne Morris (161, -25) are still in the hunt. Although Carol Witt has added 55 GRPs in the last 3 weeks (27 in club, 28 in GRNT), her 138 GRPs is 48 behind Loren. She would need 12 Game Points per tournament and Loren to not score any additional GRPs just to tie. That’s a pretty tall order, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled it off. For the rest of us, it’s time to analyze our game and figure out our weaknesses. Too aggressive, too defensive, not aggressive or defensive enough, daring throws to the opponents crib hoping for the magic cut for your hand; some or all of the above. Identify it now so you can work on it over the summer and be a better player next season. Otherwise, keep practicing your cutting and dealing.

If you enjoy playing cribbage, no matter if you are a novice or a veteran player, join us every Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. for Cribbage Fun. We play singles and doubles and discuss a lot of strategy along the way. You can find us at Residence Inn Newark, 35466 Dumbarton Court, Newark, CA.