Sweet crib!
Cards and desserts are on the table at Newport’s cribbage club
Story & photos by Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
Always on the lookout for two-person games, I mentioned to my husband that our friend Jane Mulholland and her husband play cribbage, a good game for two.
Hubs said he thought it was played with a wooden board and pegs, I countered that I thought it was a card game. I looked it up and it turned out that, in one of those rare, perfect ways for a marital argument to end, we were both right.
Because the world works in mysterious ways, it wasn’t long before I got a work call about, you guessed it, cribbage.
Linda Briggs was calling to let me know about a lively and committed group of cribbage players who meet weekly in Newport for a friendly round of games that include a small amount of betting, a large amount of laughs and, most importantly, very good desserts.
“It’s mostly a social event for us to get together every week,” she said. “We have members that are passionate about the game and tour around to different tournaments.”
The betting is also mostly just for fun, with a buy-in of $8 and a payoff that is usually no more than $30.
“The betting just adds a little thrill,” Briggs said. “No one’s getting rich or going to the poor house.”
Also, winners of the week are tasked with bringing the next week’s dessert.
“We take the dessert pretty seriously,” Briggs said. “I won last week so I had to bring sweets this week.”
The “sweets” she described so casually were a homemade apple pie and cherry cheesecake.
If the club were to have a mascot, it would be the “cash frog,” who holds a $5 bill for one lucky winner each night.
Cribbage boards are actually only for scorekeeping but do add a lively flavor to the game and something for people that like collecting game-related accessories.
“You can keep score on paper if you don’t have a board,” Briggs said. “The board is just a helpful way to do it and makes it go faster. Boards are often awarded as trophies in tournaments. Some are actually quite beautiful.”
Briggs learned about the club by a happy accident.
“I’ve played cards my whole life and often played cribbage with one of my late husbands,” she said. “I ran into Monica Newton at the hardware store and she said ‘Come to our cribbage club.’ I can’t imagine how we got on the subject of cribbage but I’m so glad we did.”
Wayne Momsen has been playing the game for almost 70 years.
“My dad taught me and my whole family played,” he said. “It’s easy to learn but takes a lifetime to master.”
Momsen said that it is also the friendships and camaraderie that keep him coming back most weeks, adding that it’s also a great way to meet new people.
“People will come into a new town and google if there is a cribbage club to see if they can join,” he said. “We’ve met lots of new folks that way. It’s fun to hear the stories from people that travel around the country.”
The weekly play includes nine games, with each taking about 15 minutes.
“We are happy to help teach new members how to play,” Momsen said. “We give you a couple of months to learn.”
Because I was in work mode during my first visit to the club, I left with photos, quotes and, thanks to the insistence of Briggs, a slice of apple pie. But no knowledge of how to play the game.
So the Mulhollands kindly gave me and hubs a lesson. Though it would be a stretch to say we grasped more than the basics in that one afternoon, I am confident they gave us enough to go back to the American Legion Hall where the club meets and join in the play. And maybe even win a hand or two, though that’s not necessarily the goal.
“It’s not about the winning, it’s about the playing,” Briggs said. “And I just love these people.”
Cribbage Club meets every Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the American Legion Hall, 424 W Olive Street, Newport. For more information, go to cribbage.org or call 541-819-1034.