eCribbage Newsletter #7

April, 2011 - Written by Damien Blond

Tshirt contest - win a free 3-year PRO Membership!

Have you purchased your ecribbage tshirt yet? They went like hotcakes in Reno; the design was voted on by eCribbage players and came out great. We are now holding a contest for the most unique picture of you with your ecribbage tshirt on. Whether posing in front of a landmark with your ecribbage shirt or a purse-hangin' pooch mugging with his shirt on, send 'em in!

The tournament directors will pick the winning picture for a 3-year membership. The contest will last for 3 months, so order your shirt now and send in your pictures! Buy your shirt here!

ACC Open in Reno

I had a blast in Reno at the world's largest cribbage tournament. I met many interesting people:

• Jordan Wiklund - Jordan is working on a book called Cribbageland: The People, Craft, and Culture of a Curious Game, a book exploring the wide world of cribbage! Find his blog here (you may even find some eCribbage features).
• Dave Anderson - Creator of Round the Bases (Cribbage Baseball), launched at the start of baseball season!  
• Jim Hicks - Creator of some of the finest wood crafted cribbage boards I've ever seen. Jim's boards are made of burlwood and are as much a pleasure to see as they are to play on.

I even won the very first ACC Internet tournament out of 30 players that was played in Cribbage Cup format. I won $50 in eCribbage cash value!

Round The Bases - Cribbage Baseball

Have you tried out the new cribbage baseball game yet? If you like baseball and enjoy cribbage variations, you'll love Round the Bases. The rating for Baseball Cribbage will be the same as the Traditional Cribbage rating.

Odds & Ends

The Spring League Season is starting up so get your teams in asap!

Soon the ACC tournament will be switching to the 9 game grassroots format. Everybody will be able to play in this tournament (including non ACC members), but only ACC members will earn ACC Internet Rating Points. For those looking to bolster their ACC participation, this is a great solution for players old and new!

Crib Notes

by Jordan Wiklund

Cribbage is back!

That's what many of the early eCribbage promotional materials say, and rightfully so! The burgeoning success of eCribbage.com is a powerful testament to the vibrant culture and passionate players that constitute the worldwide cribbage community. In a sense, though, cribbage never left--the rise of the modern Internet and new media like Facebook and Twitter have given the game a whole new agency, allowing players from Canada to Khatmandu to count "15-2" a world apart.

As we march up and down the board, we're asked to make the choice between what we throw and what we keep. We make the same choices in life, and therein lies one of the best lessons the game can teach you; that what we cast away can (and often does) continue to impact us. I was reminded of this simple lesson a few months ago at the world's largest tournament in Reno, where I not only met Damien (he smoked me over three games) but a whole cast of characters, including one Boyd McDonald. Just a year shy of 90--near the skunk line, you see--Boyd reminded me that cribbage is what you make it. His mantra is a good attitude gives you good cards, and the rest works itself out from there. We can't always control the hand we're dealt, but we can certainly make the most of it. Maybe that, more than anything, is why cribbage endures. We learn to count. We learn strategy. And we have the opportunity to learn a lot more.

Jordan Wiklund is the author of the forthcoming book "Cribbageland: The People, Craft, and Culture of a Curious Game."

www.cribbageland.com
JordanW (eCribbage)
@JordanWiklund (Twitter)