Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Competitive Cribbage - Summer 2026

Another exciting season of Competitive Cribbage has completed, and we are now starting a really important shorter tournament with the new Summer 2026 Season of Cribbage Pro Competitive Matchmaking!

Spring 2026 is officially in the books, continuing the strong growth of Competitive Matchmaking tournaments and setting the stage for something special. Below are the full results for Spring 2026, followed by an important look ahead at the new Summer 2026 season, our new strategic partnership with the American Cribbage Congress which starts August 1st, and why this season will be a little shorter than usual.

Spring 2026

As Cribbage Pro Competitive Matchmaking tournaments continue to grow with more and more matches played each season, we remain incredibly grateful for every player who competes, shares feedback, and helps make the system better. Every match played helps build a stronger competitive cribbage community.

The final official Spring 2026 results have "Dhrun" in 1st place, a past 1st place finisher many seasons back. 2nd place went to "Natashaki" who improved 26 places from last season and up from a best past top finish of 13th in a past season, with "a2zCrib", rounding out the top three with a dramatic jump from 8th near the end of this season (nearly getting 2nd place), while also being a past best finish of 13th. The honorable mention this season goes to "Meow80" for an outstanding season and a very strong finish moving up 20 places from last season, and holding on to 4th for a while before dropping to 5th in the last few hours. There was a lot of movement these last few days and weeks of the season, making it very exciting to watch it all play out. Congratulations to all on their achievements this season!

Special awards for the Top 50 players include in game board pegs: the top player receives the "crown" peg, while others in the Top 50 get the "star" peg. These pegs are prominently displayed in online multiplayer games, serving as permanent badges of distinction earned through competitive play.

Reminder: Complete 10 matches per week, AND 10 per full week of the season!
See the FAQ for details on the timing each week

Here was the final Top 50 for Spring 2026:

1Dhrun  26dkatz1877
2Natashaki  27MplsDave
3a2zCrib  28selewis
4nob4one  29speedo11
5Meow80  30PJH1966
6vegasbrad  31mdb623
7FEC  32QuinnA
8Jahmez13  33cribhead2
9chriswh  34younggun9
10Doksboy  35dixietix
11GJanke  36Crib19guy
12RatKing  3724savage
13dustinlmu  38butlervt
14IAMFAST  39Grandude
15BarkDawg  40DashDaddy
16drg151  41Synnova
17superdow  42froso1
18gmric5  43realgoodA
19lbolt58  44rocks19
20pscohen  45kpcrib123
21mbhenjum  46biyeme
220ffpiste  47Rhuby
23BigCrbNRG  48Danman444
24ktremble  49vJimc
25DocVincnt  50Domerzag

Summer 2026: Preparing for the ACC Partnership

The Summer 2026 season is an important transition season as we prepare for the official start of our new strategic partnership with the American Cribbage Congress (ACC) on August 1st. The ACC has been a major part of organized cribbage for many years, and we are honored to work with them to help bring even more competitive opportunities to cribbage players everywhere. The ACC Cribbage World for June (available in PDF or Flipbook) also includes information about this partnership from the ACC perspective, so be sure to check it out. We are very grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to help make this partnership possible!

This partnership creates a new path for ACC members to earn valuable ACC Internet Rating Points (IRP) through Cribbage Pro Competitive Matchmaking, while still keeping the flexible format that makes Competitive Matchmaking special. There are no scheduled match times, no brackets, and no long tournament session required like in other formats. Just enter Competitive Matchmaking when you are available, select "Find Match", and play.

For ACC members, this will provide another meaningful way to compete, stay active, and build ACC standing over time. Instead of a single event that happens at one set time, Cribbage Pro seasons provide a longer running test of skill across many matches paired against similarly skilled players (see the Competitive Matchmaking help for details). Eligible ACC members who complete the season and finish in the top 25% of all Cribbage Pro Competitive Matchmaking players will be eligible to earn IRP. IRP awards will be based on each eligible ACC member's final rank relative to other eligible ACC members and, for those outside the top ten eligible ACC finishers, their final percentile placement within the full Cribbage Pro leaderboard. That makes this a great fit for players who want a flexible way to compete while still working toward ACC recognition in a meaningful way.

The approved ACC IRP table for eligible ACC members is:

Eligible ACC Result ACC IRP
1st ACC finisher 200
2nd ACC finisher 180
3rd ACC finisher 160
4th ACC finisher 145
5th ACC finisher 130
6th through 10th ACC finishers 115
Remaining eligible ACC members
Top 5% overall 100
Top 10% overall 85
Top 15% overall 70
Top 25% overall 60

Fixed rank awards are applied first. After that, any remaining eligible ACC members receive the highest applicable percentile award based on their final placement in the full Cribbage Pro leaderboard. These percentile awards are not cumulative.

In other words, the first step is finishing in the top 25% of the full Cribbage Pro Competitive Matchmaking season. After that, eligible ACC members are ranked against the other eligible ACC members for the fixed rank awards, and any remaining eligible ACC members receive the percentile award shown above.

Starting with the next season on August 1st, completing the required placement matches for a Cribbage Pro Competitive Season will be considered you joining the tournament and count as ten (10) ACC online tournaments for purposes of the ACC annual online tournament participation quota. This allows you to play a few matches before fully committing.

For players who are not ACC members, Competitive Matchmaking remains fully open and unchanged. ACC membership is not required to play, compete, place on the Cribbage Pro Leaderboard, or earn Cribbage Pro awards. Everyone continues to compete together in the same season, and every player remains part of the same Competitive Matchmaking community.

That shared player pool is one of the biggest benefits for everyone. More competitive players means more available opponents, more active seasons, stronger competition, and the potential for faster matchmaking times. Whether you are an ACC member or not, a larger and more active Competitive Matchmaking community helps make the experience better.

If you are not currently an ACC member, joining is completely optional, but it can add another layer of long term competition. ACC membership can allow eligible players to track points and progress across more than a single Cribbage Pro season through the ACC Internet Rating Point system. It also connects players with local in person cribbage opportunities, including ACC clubs, weekly games, and live tournaments.

At the same time, Cribbage Pro remains entirely independent from the ACC. This partnership does not give the ACC control over Cribbage Pro, the app, the rules, the technology, or the future direction of the game. Cribbage Pro is still operated independently by Fuller Systems, Inc. We will be promoting the ACC in various ways as part of this partnership, but Cribbage Pro remains its own independent app and community.

Why Summer 2026 Is a Shorter Season

The Summer 2026 season will end on July 31st, making it 66 days instead of the usual ~90. This shorter season allows the next full season to begin on August 1st in alignment with the ACC season calendar.

That alignment is important because it gives ACC players a clean starting point for earning ACC Internet Rating Points through Cribbage Pro. It also gives everyone a chance to experience a shorter Competitive Matchmaking season, provide feedback on how it feels and may also be a chance to try out some new strategies as well.

The usual activity rules still apply, so consistently completing matches remains important. Since this season is shorter, staying current each week will matter even more. The best strategy remains simple: play regularly, complete your weekly matches, and keep competing.

More Updates Are Coming

This is only the beginning. A Cribbage Pro app update is also coming soon with new ACC related elements, including a way to identify ACC players directly on their avatar image. The update will also include a redesigned Competitive Matchmaking screen, along with a few other additions, including one exciting new feature that will be introduced in a testing mode so we can continue improving it with player feedback.

We are very excited about what this partnership can bring to Competitive Matchmaking tournaments, to ACC members, and to the full Cribbage Pro community. Thank you to everyone who has helped make Competitive Matchmaking what it is today, and thank you to everyone who continues to compete, provide feedback, and support the game.

Good luck in the Summer 2026 season!

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Competitive Cribbage - Spring 2026

Yet another historic season of Competitive Cribbage has completed with continued increase in players and the most matches ever played in a single season! Let's keep it up in the new Spring 2026 Season of Cribbage Pro Competitive Matchmaking!

Winter 2026 is officially in the books, marking another very strong season with player participation and matches playing growing significantly. Below are the full results for Winter 2026, followed by a brief overview of some of the important improvements for Spring 2026.

Winter 2026

As Cribbage Pro competitive matchmaking continues to evolve and expand as the largest cribbage tournament anywhere, we are grateful for every player who competes, shares feedback, and helps raise the level of play each season. Your passion and input are what keep making it better every season.

The final official Winter 2026 results have "dcpastore" in 1st place (past best 3rd place). 2nd place went to "Mrpadre" (a past 1st place finisher), with "Jahmez13" moving all the way up from 23rd last season to round out the top three. The honorable mention this season goes to "Domerzag" who moved up yet again this season to finish 4th (their new personal best).  Congratulations to all on their achievements this season!

Special awards for the Top 50 players include in-game board pegs: the top player receives the "crown" peg, while others in the Top 50 get the "star" peg. These pegs are prominently displayed in online multiplayer games, serving as permanent badges of distinction earned through competitive play.

Reminder: Complete 10 matches per week, AND 10 per full week of the season!
See the FAQ for details on the timing each week

Here was the final Top 50 for Winter 2026:

1dcpastore  26Nelg1
2Mrpadre  27dustinlmu
3Jahmez13  28Natashaki
4Domerzag  29cheis123
524savage  30Ajt131
6AJackOLit  31BennieO
7iPeg  32RussRuss
8Goninnygo  332Peeps
9Ricecak11  34George60
10BarkDawg  35Screwman
11hillchem  36konadive
12holinzend  37rickgadz
13stephzzz  38NSD84
14lrzinger  39TCMMAmill
15dkatz1877  40vJimc
16pegmstr77  41Steve1542
17vegasbrad  42Push22
18Tutti  43USCANMAN
19jimbobjjj  44lynnkr
20ycharest  45IAMFAST
21Cribber54  46BT1961
22RMK800  47dph
23Paludeja  48Orelvis
24butlervt  49SMP0001
25Meow80  50card55


Updates for Spring 2026

For Spring 2026, we have refined the matchmaking algorithm to allow a small number of pairings that would not have occurred last season under very specific conditions. This adjustment is aimed at improving match availability in edge cases where CR may appear slightly farther apart, even though the underlying match quality calculation still indicates a strong and competitive pairing. As noted previously, visible CR gaps will sometimes vary, even when the actual match quality behind the scenes is similar.

We have also adjusted the 10 matches per week penalty system to make recovery a bit more manageable if you miss time. The newer rule requiring 10 matches per full week of the season overall has done an excellent job keeping the Leaderboard accurate and competitive, so the CR penalty no longer needs to stack as heavily on top of it. Last season, we saw several players experience real life interruptions that caused them to miss one or more weeks. Once that happened, the penalty made it significantly harder to find matches, which in turn made it even harder to recover. In fact, every player who contacted us about difficulty finding matches had missed time earlier in the season. We want players who are willing to put in the effort to have a fair opportunity to rebuild their standing, and these adjustments are designed to support that.

That said, consistently completing 10 matches each week remains extremely important. Missing weeks still carries a meaningful consequence, and climbing back can be challenging. The simplest and most effective strategy is to stay current each week and avoid the penalty altogether.

As always, thank you all so much for participating and for your suggestions that keep improving the game for everyone!