Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Competitive Cribbage - Spring 2024

Competitive Cribbage - Spring 2024

The Winter 2024 season of competitive cribbage has finished, and once again it went far above my expectations! This is starting to sound repetitive, but yet again there were more players in the Winter 2024 competitive season than we have seen in a long time. In fact, there were more players than we have ever seen before, and more matches played than ever before! I know that the competition was intense at every level. We will be keeping the changes made last season in place at least until further improvements are made in other related areas that we are actively working towards. Spring 2024 will match the format of Winter 2024 - no changes.

Winter 2024 Wrap Up

The Winter 2024 season brought a fresh wave of participants, with numerous new faces adding to the mix. However, amidst the influx of newcomers, there were also many familiar names who returned to showcase their skills, as evidenced by the final Top 50 standings. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to each and every individual who contributed to the season's success. Your active involvement is the cornerstone of our cribbage community, shaping its vibrancy and diversity, whether you made it to the Top 50 or not. I appreciate each of you for being a part of this wonderful journey. Thank you for making the Winter 2024 season memorable and enjoyable for all!

In 1st place for Winter 2024, we have "lbolt58", who is up from just 3rd place last season. 2nd place is someone we have seen before too, "nob4one", who is up from 12th last season. 3rd place goes to "iPeg", who was 10th last season, but certainly someone we have seen in the top positions often. "Mrpadre" will get our honorable mention this season, coming in at 10th and up from 27th last season. They held on to that position for a while here at the end of the season, and I know it took some solid effort to do that, with so much strong competition this season.

Other interesting positions to note include "VGKnights", who has now finished 5th for the second season in a row. "hillchem" moved up 5 positions from 17th to 12th, and "scout3" went up from 33rd last season to finish 14th!

I hope that you all enjoyed the competition. Congratulations to you all for your putting your skills to the test!

As usual, we have the special commendation given to those who secured a place within the Top 50. In recognition of your accomplishments, you've earned an in-game "board peg" symbolizing your achievement. The highest-ranking player receives the prestigious "crown" board peg, while all others in the Top 50 receive a distinctive "star" board peg. These pegs are prominently displayed during online multiplayer matches and serve as a permanent badge of distinction. If you see an opponent with one of these pegs, know that they've earned it through their performance in competitive play, securing a spot among the top contenders.

Remember: Complete Your 10 matches per week! See the FAQ for details.

Here was the final Top 50 for Winter 2024:

1lbolt5826VT281
2nob4one27Legonaut
3iPeg28Neary74
4Dhrun29BahaShark
5VGKnights30dcpastore
6TC231cribfan44
7yank2932SMP0001
8enaud5833Gasman67
9cutajack34xxx300xxx
10Mrpadre35dixietix
11bigshane036cyrusg
12hillchem37TLC1966
13rompin38Cribbfest
14scout339mountains
15rattle1540Alaska47
16Jon3341441cribber91
17boyzzzer42yvanobc12
180ffpiste43fpster
19whersh44Ace314159
20cbx1000z45pegmstr77
21nvsru91146flashmatt
22Br1Guy47BrutusSt
234KA48jfunk44
24drg15149linurbug9
25Domerzag50seachica


If you have any questions, feedback on what you would like to see around prizes, structure or anything else, email us any time at support@FullerSystems.com.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Competitive Cribbage - Winter 2024

The Winter 2024 Competitive Cribbage Season is Live!

The Autumn 2023 season of competitive cribbage has wrapped up, and it was one for the record books! There were more players in the Autumn competitive season than we have seen in a long time. The competition was fierce, with some recognizable names in the world of cribbage also in the Leaderboard. The season started off extremely active, and just ramped up from there every week. I had thought that with the previous season being so active, many would slow down this time, but it was exactly the opposite! I know many of you noticed how busy things were, and with many new players (new to our competitive play, but clearly not new to cribbage itself) in the mix, it was very challenging.

New Season Updates

I want to quickly cover a handful of new season updates before providing a short summary of the end of the Autumn season. Some matchmaking adjustments have been made. We have tightened up the matchmaking algorithm in respect to what constitutes as an acceptable match between players of different estimated skill levels and expected match outcomes. There are several factors that the system considers when finding a match, and they have all had their limits narrowed to at least some degree. At the same time, other changes were made that will have the system progress through all possible matches just a little faster than in past seasons. Ultimately, we hope to see matches a little closer in ranking on average, and slightly fewer matches with larger skill rank differences, while also finding matches faster for everyone. Of course the best way to keep match wait times down is to continue to invite your friends to play! That is by far the biggest factor when finding a match, so do please encourage your fellow cribbage players to participate.

We have also enhanced how the "wait time" works while finding a match. Previously, if you started finding a match, then canceled and started again for any reason, your wait time in the matchmaking system would reset each time you started finding a match. That will no longer be the case. If you cancel finding a match, and then start again, the system will retain the original start time to calculate your total wait time. It will then "timeout" if no match is found based on when you first started finding a match. If you were someone who would stop and start a lot in a short period of time, and so rarely see any time out message, you may get the "no match found" message more often than before. If you were someone who would start finding a match and wait patiently, then this won't impact you at all. To further clarify, the total wait time before timing out has not changed. At 120 seconds from the first press of "Find Match", it will stop searching even if you canceled and restarted multiple times during that time. After those 2 minutes, regardless of if you saw the "no match found" message, if you start finding a match again, it will start the clock again too.

Autumn 2023 Wrap Up

Once again, my gratitude goes out to everyone who took part in the Autumn 2023 season. Your participation truly makes all the difference. Your dedication and involvement, whether or not you secured a place in the Top 50, mean a lot. Each player's contribution to our cribbage community is invaluable. Your enthusiasm and commitment elevate the competitive atmosphere, and make every match memorable and exciting. Thank you for being an essential part of this competition, and in bringing the incredible game of cribbage to others!

In 1st place for Autumn 2023, we have "Dhrun", who didn't place last season, but in the season just prior was in 2nd. They held that top spot for a while this season, and it was a tough season. "Dhrun" has also been in 2nd and 3rd place multiple times in past seasons, so it is really great to see them hit 1st place this time! 2nd place is also someone we have seen before too, but much more recently, "Saskie", who is up from 4th last season, and who was our "honorable mention" the season before. We are starting to get used to seeing them a lot around here as they had 1st a few seasons back too. 3rd place goes to "lbolt58", who was 19th last season (and 21st before that, and 29th before that), so quite an improvement! "konadive" held 3rd for a little while this season, but just couldn't quite hold on for the finish. They get our honorable mention this season.

Other interesting movements in the Top 50 included "VGKnights", up 21 places to finish 5th. "dph" moved up all the way from 48th last season to be 9th. As an interesting player note, "dph" has been playing in Cribbage Pro since at least February of 2011. They are one of a few long time players who play in the competitive system. So, a special thank you to "dph" for playing for so many years!

It was a lot of fun watching some names climb up (like "iPeg" making a late run to break into the top 10), and even fun to watch some who I thought were going to take it all, get bumped down this season. Although I'm sure it wasn't as much fun to actually be the player who dropped in standing, I hope that you all enjoyed the competition. Congratulations to you all for your putting your skills to the test!

As always, a special acknowledgment goes to those who achieved a place within the Top 50! As recognition for your efforts and display of skill, you have been awarded with an in-game "board peg" that represents your accomplishment. The top finisher is awarded the "crown" board peg, and all others in the Top 50 are awarded a "star" board peg. These pegs are shown to everyone when playing in online multiplayer games, and they are permanent, so if you see your opponent has one of them you can know that they have earned it by finishing in the Top 50 in competitive play.

Remember: Complete 10 matches per week! See the FAQ for details.

Here was the final Top 50 for Autumn 2023:

1Dhrun26dcpastore
2Saskie27Mrpadre
3lbolt5828AZwriter
4konadive29Geofred1
5VGKnights30networker
6cyrusg31james500
7rpmcd32QuinnA
8Muldeezee33scout3
9dph34ape0123
10iPeg35SMP0001
11super10136cribfan44
12nob4one37GoldStar1
13kdkauf38808HWK
14locust39ovaeezy
15elocke8340linurbug9
16Br1Guy41rattle15
17hillchem42pegmstr77
18mountains43WhyADuck
19Warpegs44DrewBlue
20Gasman6745TrumpetJ
21Alaska4746rocks19
22BigCrbNRG47Domerzag
23salo2548gmax
24ernie31349UberPooch
25BrutusSt50drg151


If you have any questions, feedback on what you would like to see around prizes, structure or anything else, email us any time at support@FullerSystems.com.