# 29 hand in cribbage **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 18, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453 "2016-03-18T22:04:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/1 "2016-03-18T22:04:12Z")
I’ve been playing cribbage since I was 6 years old, and I’ve never had or seen a 29 hand. I’ve had 28 point hands, but never with nobs. Has anyone actually had one? ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/2 "2016-03-18T22:18:28Z")
I’ve been playing since about that long, including 1,000+ games on my phone, and I’ve never gotten one nor seen one either. (The probability of getting one is 1/216,580 (in 2-player, 2-handed), so the chances are pretty slim.) I suppose I’ve played maybe 2,000 games in my life, maybe 12 hands per game per person, so that’s 48,000 hands of cribbage, which isn’t really close to 216,580 - maybe someone can tell me what the probability is that I would have seen one in 48,000 hands, given the initial probability. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/3 "2016-03-18T22:56:37Z")
The chance of not seeing one in a given hand is 1/216,580 = 0.999995383. The chance of not seeing one in 48000 straight hands is 0.999995383[sup]48000[/sup] = 0.801. So the chance you wold have seen at least one is just under 20%. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/4 "2016-03-18T23:09:16Z")
Moved to the Game Room. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/5 "2016-03-18T23:11:40Z")
I have had one and seen another. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/6 "2016-03-19T01:13:17Z")
Two 28 hands in over 50 years of playing. Saw one 29 during a crib tournament about 20 years ago. My sweetest was dropping a 28 then a 12 crib on a cousin that was giving me all kinds of grief on how he was kicking my ass. I went from a certain skunk to winning leaving him in the stink hole. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/7 "2016-03-21T00:55:10Z")
I’ve never seen a 29 hand or a 28 hand. Granted, I haven’t played cribbage nearly as much as my father (who taught me when I was 8 or so) had. He had never seen a 29 hand either. Though he had seen a 28 hand in a game. (I can’t recall if it was him or his opponent.) He knew a guy in the army who claimed to have seen a 29 hand in a game played by that guy’s opponent. ETA: The highest I’ve ever managed is 24. But I’ve gotten 24 in every way possible to get it. (Ignoring suits, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/8 "2016-03-21T02:02:39Z")
40 years of playing and never seen one. My had has played almost seventy years and he has seen one. My highest is 24. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/9 "2016-03-21T22:18:57Z")
My dad has played almost seventy years too, including a lot of hours at sea, and he said he’s never seen one either. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/10 "2016-03-22T00:23:20Z")
Huh. I had no idea these were so rare. I want to say I’ve seen a 28 or possibly a 29, but, given the odds, I suspect it’s pretty unlikely. It’s not something that would have registered for me. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/11 "2016-03-22T01:20:45Z")
I’ve had 28 at least twice and my dad had 29 once. I accused him of stacking the deck when I went for a cup of coffee but he swore he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/12 "2016-03-22T01:45:07Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > My dad has played almost seventy years too, including a lot of hours at sea, and he said he’s never seen one either. I’ve had one - and I was at sea at the time. 🙂 No picture, alas. My camera was in my bunk, half the length of the ship away. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/13 "2016-03-22T01:45:17Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I’ve had 28 at least twice and my dad had 29 once. I accused him of stacking the deck when I went for a cup of coffee but he swore he didn’t. I did that to my uncle who taught me to play. I was probably 20 at the time (so almost 30 years ago.) He used to frequently tell us that his best friend made him promise that if he ever got a 29 to call him immediately, no matter where or when. He got up to use the bathroom and I staged the cards. I watched his face as he looked at his hand. When I cut the 5 I thought he was going to die. He jumped up before we even played a card and went to the phone. I had to stop him before he finished dialing. He was pretty steamed, but then saw the humor. But I have never seen a real 29. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/14 "2016-03-22T02:47:30Z")
I had two 28 hands in the same month, during a period I was playing constantly, but never before or since. Never a 29. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/15 "2016-03-22T03:24:32Z")
Played a zillion games. I love that game. Never seen a 29. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/16 "2016-03-22T11:19:39Z")
Saw one. My brother had one against me decades ago. Closest I have come is two twenty-eights. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/17 "2016-03-22T17:47:48Z")
Never had a 28 hand, let alone a 29. (Closest I’ve come to a 28 has been 3 fives and a face, awaiting the cut, i.e. a 1 in 46 chance at it. That’s happened to me a few times.) ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/18 "2016-03-22T19:43:29Z")
It is amazing that so many play consistently there who lives and never see one. So, if one played 5 games a day for 50 years, what are the odds that one will see or have one? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/29-hand-in-cribbage/749453/19 "2016-03-23T16:02:51Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > It is amazing that so many play consistently there who lives and never see one. > > So, if one played 5 games a day for 50 years, what are the odds that one will see or have one? Well, that’s about 23 times as many hands as the 48,000 that OldGuy calculated had a 80.1% chance of not seeing one. So, if OldGuy calculated right, the chance of not seeing one in the 50ys x 5 games is 80.1% ^ 23. By my calc 0.006. So, if you played all 50 years, you’d see at least one 99.4% of the time.