# Cribbage players: have you ever got the maximum score of 29 for a hand?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 31, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312 "2006-01-31T04:06:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/1 "2006-01-31T04:06:05Z")
I noticed in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356528) 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)?
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### Author:  [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/2 "2006-01-31T04:23:12Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/3 "2006-01-31T05:51:16Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/4 "2006-01-31T06:07:38Z")
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!)
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### Author:  [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/5 "2006-01-31T15:05:50Z")
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 😃
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/6 "2006-01-31T23:17:05Z")
In 26, 27 years of playing…not continuously…I’ve probably hit 29 only three or four times.
> [@GrizzRich](#):
>
> I’ve had more “nineteen” hands than I can count, though.
(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.”)
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/7 "2006-01-31T23:42:12Z")
> [@MadPansy64](#):
>
> In the last 35 years? Yep. As a rough guess, maybe 10 or 12 times.
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.
> [@GrizzRich](#):
>
> 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.”
We’ve always used those terms too: 2 for his heel, 1 for his nobs.
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### Author:  [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/8 "2006-02-01T01:22:43Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/9 "2006-02-01T01:27:10Z")
> [@Cunctator](#):
>
> We’ve always used those terms too: 2 for his heel, 1 for his nobs.
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).
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/10 "2006-02-01T02:40:01Z")
28 is the best I’ve had. I once pegged 28 in a hand, but can’t remember the order. It was amazing.
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### Author:  [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/11 "2006-02-01T03:22:33Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#):
>
> 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).
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 😃
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### Author:  [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-players-have-you-ever-got-the-maximum-score-of-29-for-a-hand/342312/12 "2006-02-01T03:49:51Z")
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 😉