Master Cribbage Strategy: Understanding the Theory of 26

hey everyone do you want to win more cribbage games of course you do in this video i'm going

to explain how to accomplish that with something called the theory of 26. this theory is well known among cribbage

experts but perhaps not very well known among casual players so let's change that this theory can be

a bit difficult to understand on paper so my goal with this video is to help explain this theory visually

so that it's easier to understand and put into practice let's dive in the theory of 26 was

developed by delin culvert i mentioned him in the video i did on expected average

dylan culver was a champion cribbage player who also wrote a book called play winning cribbage

it's an excellent book on cribbage strategy that you need to check out this theory comes straight out of that

book over thousands of games charted and tens of thousands of hands analyzed culvert found that the average number of

points the dealer will score from pegging counting their hand and their crib hand

is 16.2 he also found that the average number of points the non-dealer will score

from pegging and counting their hand is 10.2 we can round off both of these numbers

so 16 points for the dealer and 10 for the non-dealer 16 plus 10 equals 26 theory of 26.

if you use this strategy culvert claimed your winning percentage will increase by as much as six percent

now that doesn't sound like a lot but this six percent is what separates the okay players from the really good

players let's put this theory into practice by walking it through on the crib board

the game starts off with the non-dealer counting first we'll call the non-dealer player 2 so

player 2 will earn 10 points on average from pegging and counting their hand then the dealer

will call the dealer player 1 they count their hand and crib and they'll have earned a total

of 16 points on average then on the next deal player one is the non-dler and they

count first ten points earned between pegging and counting their hand

player two as the dealer pegs counts their hand and their crib hand and advance 16 points and we continue

this around the board player 2 is a non-dealer they count their 10 points and then the dealer

counts 16 and so on we arrive at the 104 point hole and the

game is tied so player 2 is the non-dealer and counts first they advance

10 points bringing them to the 114 point hole then the dealer counts and advances 16

points leaving them one point away from winning and

they get first count on the next deal the non-dealer is seven points shy of winning

and they're kind of sad about it this is why being the dealer to start the game is an advantage

after nine deals the dealer is one point short of winning the game and more importantly they have first

count on the next deal meanwhile the non-dealer is seven points back

and i know what you're thinking not every game goes exactly like this and you're right not every game runs

exactly average around the board about one game and every 10 will go like this and these are the games you have to

win these are the games the theory of 26 will win for you

let's take a look at this again but this time let's work backwards this might help make things clearer

to win you need to get to the 121 point hole before your opponent does so to do that using the theory of 26

your goal is to be the non-dealer here at the 111 point hole

because you'll get to count your hand first and the 10 points earned between pegging and counting your hand

will be the 10 points you need to win let's keep walking this backwards to get to the 111 point hole

and be the non-dealer you want to be the dealer at the 95 point hole because as dealer you'll advance 16

points between pegging counting your hand and your crib hand working backwards

you'll want to be the non-dealer at 85 points the dealer at 69 and so on

until we get to the start of the board where we see that the first goal is to be the non-dealer at the seven

point hole so if you're the non-dealer to start the game you're already at a seven point

disadvantage remember those seven sad faces from before

if you're starting the game as the non-dealer your goal is to make up those seven points as you progress around the

board so that you can be in a position to count first and win

and how do you count first and win by dealing from the critical position zones the first critical position zone is 17

to 21 points 17 is the first par whole and your goal is to be dealing from there

the second critical position zone is 43 to 47 points the third zone is 69 to 73 points

and the fourth critical position zone is 95 to 99 points your goal is to be the dealer at each of

those zones on top of that you'll want to reach each of these par holes

the power hole at 33 points as non-dealer the power hole at 43 points as dealer 59

points as non-dealer 69 points 85 points 95 points and 111 points

this is quite a bit of information but mastery of board position is critical to being a good cribbage player

take your time and study these critical position zones in these par holes some things to remember

if you're starting the game as dealer your best strategy is to play defense your goal is to slow the game down and

not let your opponent peg you have nine points that you can sacrifice to defense over the course of

the game and still maintain an advantage if you start the game as the non-dealer offense is

the name of the game you'll want to peg often and hold on to high scoring hands even if it means giving away good cards

to your opponent's crib hand you have seven points that you need to make up over the course of the game

to put yourself in a position to count first and win and whether your dealer or non-dealer to

start the game you'll want to know where your opponent is in the crib board know the par holes and play offensively

or defensively in relation to them that's board position

and that's the theory of 26. thanks for watching don't forget to hit like and subscribe

and be sure to check out my other videos as well as the links below see you next time