Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we give our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems.)
If you’ve never heard of the game called cribbage, you’d be excused. Unlike chess or checkers or even backgammon, it doesn’t hold much of a place in modern culture. The question I often get when I play at a bar or brewery is, “What is that?”
But that doesn’t mean itap not popular. About 10 million people play cribbage in the United States, . The statistics don’t say how many of those people were taught by a grandparent, but itap probably pretty high. Cribbage is that kind of game.
Invented in England in the 1600s, according to Wikipedia anyway, it consists of a regular deck of cards and a board with holes in it, where people move pegs as they earn points. Depending on how many tracks there are on a board, you can play with up to four people, either individually or in teams. The goal is to get to 121 points before the other player or players. It was, and remains, a popular game on naval ships, in firehouses and other places where long hours need to be filled.
I didn’t learn how to play from my own grandparents, but the friend who taught me the game learned it from his. And my wife learned how to play from hers. Cribbage is very popular in the Midwest, but I’ve met people from all over who play.
I’ve been playing for more than 30 years, and I’m still not very good, as cribbage involves mathematical probabilities when it comes to what cards might turn up – and I don’t do math well. There’s also a decent amount of strategy. Luck, of course, often has the final say in any game.
But I still love playing. I love it so much, in fact, that my wife and I now own upward of a dozen cribbage boards. One features the Denver Broncos logo while another is shaped like a snowboard, and a third is an actual table. There are also three tiny travel boards (one has a Jeep logo from the 1970s), a four-player board made in the 1960s, a board made from a deer antler, one made from Hawaiian koa wood, and another made from walrus tusk in Alaska.
The biggest, though, is a 3D representation of the Maroon Bells that my daughter bought on Etsy and gave to me. Itap really cool.
The sheer breadth and depth of cribbage board styles is mind-boggling. You can find one made of just about any material, in any shape and depicting almost any kind of subject matter. , for instance, who uses multi-colored resin to make circular boards. One has the Colorado state flag on it. Others are in the shapes of different states.
Of course, not everyone has a grandparent to teach them. So, there are a few different cribbage clubs around metro Denver, as well as phone apps that will teach you the rules. Once you feel confident, buy a cool board and join the 10 million other fans.
