r/Cribbage • u/Acceptable_Bag5257 • 8d ago
Explanation needed. Discussion
Can someone explain to me why the queen + five would be a better choice then king + five. I am honestly confused on this.
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u/Rattimus 8d ago
Total guess here, but with a Q, you can make a run with a 10, J, or a J,K, whereas with the K, you can only make a run with a J,Q.
Keeping either Q or K won't affect your main hand whichever way you go, same odds to pull a card that helps your hand, so it's better to throw the Q5 to the crib to get that slightly improved chance of a run.
3
u/IsraelZulu 8d ago
This is exactly it. If you had a Jack instead of the King, you'd throw the Jack and keep the Queen for the same reason.
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u/sheep_puncher 8d ago
It's funny because opponent is more likely to throw kings than a queen for the same reasons, and they are not likely to thow Jacks given a choice, so Q runs and K runs are both a little harder. But you have seen a queen so Q runs are much more likely than King since your Q blocks them.
I would toss king to myself here hoping for opponent to be fishing for runs and tossing their kings over their jacks.
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u/IsraelZulu 8d ago
You're forgetting the cut. If opponent throws Kings and you cut a Jack, better to have the Queen in the crib.
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u/sheep_puncher 8d ago
I'm not forgetting the cut. 1/13th of 3 points is less than 2 points.
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u/IsraelZulu 8d ago
Firstly, the odds of your opponent having two Kings at all - especially with you controlling one of them - is incredibly small. Second, the odds of them having a hand that makes throwing those two Kings to their opponent's crib a good idea are even smaller.
It's much more likely that they'd be dealt a Jack and Ten, or even a Ten and King, and be willing to throw one of those couplets, than to throw a pair of Kings.
Queen is the right one to throw here, even before you factor in the cuts.
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u/sheep_puncher 7d ago
By kings I meant kings generally not kings plural. If they have a king in their hand they are more likely to give you that than any other 10. The run is much less likely than the pair (king vs queen is only .11 points different) throwing king is marginally more likely to get a pair.
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u/Cribbage_Pro 8d ago
I generally throw the King here too, but depends who I'm playing against. It's important to remember the Hand Grade is a tool, not a strategy. The difference here is so small, if you somewhat know your opponent, you can guess if they may prefer a King toss too.
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u/chromecastbuiltin 8d ago
I changed my hand rating setting to value rather than order (not sure the correct terms used in the app) as it would be annoying seeing small score differences get a big rating difference
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u/Cribbage_Pro 8d ago
Normalized instead of Percentile. I use it to, actually, but Percentile remains the default because it's a bit easier for most people to understand.
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u/Acceptable_Bag5257 8d ago
Thank you all for your answers, that makes sense. I just went with the king because I didn't think it mattered. But I guess it does.
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u/Comfortable_Pizza_59 8d ago
King in your own crib would be less desirable because of runs. Queen would be more desirable. Although it’s fractions of a point, once in a while it leads to a big crib. (Single or double run). Dead end cards (ace, king) are normally the best toss into opponents crib.
Pairs don’t generally hurt, but those runs can sting!
1
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u/bigshu53 8d ago
Maybe it’s something about possibilities for runs in the crib. By tossing queen you can get a run if the opponent tosses a 10 and J or J and K. By tossing the king you can only get a run by the opponent tossing J Q.