Normally, our weekly cribbage tournament consists of six games, a few laughs, a little trash talk, and the occasional player accusing the cribbage gods of having a personal vendetta.
Frank Fenner’s night began with the ceremonial String of Pearls, earned from last week’s unfortunate performance, and he wore them with pride. He accepted his pearls with dignity and grace, then wasting absolutely no time, Frank was immediately skunked.
In true dramatic fashion, Frank then turned around and pulled a 24 hand, reminding everyone that he may be down, but he is never boring. One minute he was wearing pearls and getting skunked, the next he was counting a hand big enough to make the table lean over and say, “Wait, let me see that.” Then the man in pearls handed out some striped emotional damage, skunking Sammi Burns by 43. Just when we thought Frank’s evening could not get any more ridiculous, he was nearly double-skunked by Merrily Fenner! (Thanks, Merrily.) Nothing strengthens a marriage like pegging your husband into the cribbage graveyard while the rest of the room quietly pretends not to enjoy it.
We had one Grand Slam winner of the night! Alan Michaels won all six games, but he also managed to skunk one player along the way, because evidently a simple victory was not dramatic enough. His surprise summer ambush even bumped Bill Russell, our ACC Grass Roots first-place champion, into second place in last week’s tournament. Around here, we call that less of a win and more of a cribbage heist. Alan and Sebastian Bennett-Rock returned to M.V. for the summer, sailing in like cribbage pirates Wednesday night. Sebastian took fourth place away from the year-round squad.
As we continue to welcome back our summer crew, 19 people gathered to play our favorite game! The results of the night are as follows:
First, Alan Michaels with a 13/6 +110 card
Second, Bill Russell with a 9/4 +61 card
Third, Merrily Fenner with a 9/4 +45 card
Fourth, Sebastian Bennett-Rock with an 8/4 +9 card
Fifth, David Christensen with an 8/4 +8 card
There were only TWO 24-point hands, dealt to Frank Fenner and Judy LoRusso. George Giosmas collected the only infamous Flush Crib of the night, and 6 skunks were suffered.
Congratulations to Frank for providing this week’s entertainment, emotional rollercoaster, and proof that in cribbage, you can be honored, humbled, dangerous, married, nearly destroyed, and still finish quietly in the middle of the pack.
Until next week: Shuffle well, count carefully, beware of spouses with good hands, and remember — in cribbage, it’s not about how you start, it’s not about how you finish, it’s about whether you can survive the evening without leaving in jewelry.
We regularly meet on Wednesdays at the American Legion in Katama; if you like cribbage, please come join us! We have a potluck every week at 5:30 pm, and we start playing at 6 pm SHARP.
If you’d like more info, please email, call or text Mary Alice Russell at
maonmv@mac.com or 508-524-1220.