I noticed in this thread that cribbage seems to be quite popular among the card-playing Dopers.
Has any Doper ever scored the maximum of 29 for a hand (namely a hand containing J,5,5,5 with the turn up card being the 5 of the same suit as the Jack)?
One time. The key, obviously, is getting the jack to match the flip card. I have had the “perfect hand” short of this several times.
Never.
A few times though, I’ve had dealt to me four 5’s. As I recall, only ONE of those times had a face-card (NOT a Jack!) turn up as the common fifth card.
I’ve had more “nineteen” hands than I can count, though.
In the last 35 years? Yep. As a rough guess, maybe 10 or 12 times.
Nineteens? A couple bazillion.
I hate to admit it, but I have even been known to not realize just exactly what I was holding until it came time to count & peg – and worse, not even then (only once!)
Wow, 10 or 12 times? You must play a lot of crib :). I’ve never seen a 29. In fact I can’t remember ever having just the J555, although I’m sure I must have had it a few times over the years. Strangely, I don’t recall offhand ever having a 28 either, even though it should be much more likely than a 29.
Maybe my memory’s just going 
In 26, 27 years of playing…not continuously…I’ve probably hit 29 only three or four times.
(Note to non-cribbage people: A score of nineteen is impossible to achieve in cribbage; some players refer to a hand containing no points at all as a “nineteen.” I first heard this while playing with a mystery author from North Carolina, who also referred to both “nobs” and “heels” as “the right jack.”)
I’ll echo borschevsky. You must have played a lot of cribbage.
I’ve never had a 29. 28 is the closest I’ve got, on one occasion.
We’ve always used those terms too: 2 for his heel, 1 for his nobs.
Yes, I play a lot of cribbage. At least one night a week, even now, and much more frequently until a few years ago.
So, say a conservative average of 3 games a week, times 52, times 35, divided by a dozen means (if I did the math right) getting a 29 every 455 games.
I actually learned that the jack in the hand of the same suit as the starter card is “nibs.” Or “his nibs.” From my Old Man, who learned how to play in the Army during WWII.
In college, one of my best cribbage buddies called it “nobs” (he learned from his granddad, who picked it up in the Navy).
28 is the best I’ve had. I once pegged 28 in a hand, but can’t remember the order. It was amazing.
That’s how I learned it. From the same generation of teachers – my grandfathers were WWII vets, as were most of the tournament players I met. I have always had sneaking suspicion you can call them anything you like, as long as you peg correctly
I don’t recall ever seeing a 29 hand. But then I haven’t played in years, and mostly only when camping. I don’t have the odds on my side for that 