Champoux Family Cribbage Tournament

So we play a little cards in my family. Poker, Pinochle, Pitch, Hearts, O Hell, Cribbage - we play 'em all. In fact, you could almost say that playing cards is a family tradition - it's a part of our heritage, it's who we are. My dad is one of six siblings who grew up on a hop farm in the Yakima Valley and the culture of cards was passed down from my Gramma and Grampa to each and every one of them. There are 15 of us grandkids and every one of us is a card player. We all know what the river card is, that a bicycle wins both the high and the low, that a 19 point cribbage hand is impossible, and that there is nothing as sweet as the double run. We also know you don't cut the deck in crib, you don't lead trump on the first hand (because that's not how they do it in Moxee), and that even though Gramma threatened to shark your points, she never did. She just looked at you with a twinkle in her eye and said, "Count 'em again."

Last May, we lost Gramma almost 20 years to the day after we'd said good-bye to Grampa and with her a legacy of great card playing passed on - but it was not to be forgotten. We were determined about that. So in order to pay homage to a true matriarch (and patriarch!) of Champoux card playing, we held the first annual Champoux Family Cribbage Tournament.


Twenty of us gathered together from near and far to take place in the memorial competition. We were divided into four pools with five players each. We played each person in our pool round robin in order to get a seeded ranking. The bottom player from each pool was eliminated from the competition (aww), leaving 16 players going into the Championship. From there it would progress like a regular NCAA Championship. The Top 8 players would walk away with their very own shaker of Deccio's Seasoning Salt (aka Johnny's for those of you west of the mountains), courtesy of Uncle Joe as well as a picture with our event host and MC, Mark. The Top 4 players would not only get the aforementioned SWAG, but a fancy wood cribbage set and matching deck of cards, to boot (thanks TC!). When the one final player emerges victorious - and undefeated, he or she will walk away with the commemorative plaque and bragging rights for one year's time.

I entered my pool play nervous, but excited. My first game was against Shawn - not a Champoux by blood, but a worthy adversary. It was a slow two-point-at-a-time crawl for both of us, but in the end, I beat him out. One win under my belt felt pretty good. I matched up with Pete next (again, not a Champoux by blood, but as I found out - a great cribbage player). Sadly I encountered my first loss. I was 1-1 heading into my third game. Jane and I went head-to-head and soon I was back to a winning record. My last pool play game was with Katy Jo and unfortunately I came up short. I was getting too many 6 point hands and 2 point cribs. That just wasn't going to cut it. Fortunately my 2-2 record made me the #3 seed in my pool. It was time to move on to the Championship and (hopefully) leave my losses and crappy crib hands behind.

The Championship was single elimination, but each round was best of three. So that meant that for each match, a player had to take 2 out of 3, otherwise it was Elimination City. Monica was my first round match and despite being a brand new player, she was on a hot streak. I had barely eked out my two wins already (praise the Lord for pegging!), so I was a bit weary. I wanted to make it past the first round, but if I was going to lose, I'd be happy to go down for the sake of my sister-in-law's glory. First game out, I fell victim to the hot streak. The second game was pretty even but I managed to squeak out a win. With one game a piece, the third game was neck-and-neck from the very beginning. As we turned the final corner and began the home stretch, Monica was only about ten points from going out. It was a few too many to peg out, but certainly she would go out with the hand. I was a few points further behind, but had the advantage of counting my hand first. It would all come down to my hand. As fortune would have it, I managed enough points between pegging and my hand to go out and steal the first round win from Monica. In all honesty, I had already consigned myself to the loss and was pleasantly surprised to find myself in round two.

Next up was my Aunt Barb. My match with Monica had taken a while, so she was ready to play. We sat down and immediately I knew it was not going to be good. Sure enough, she jumped out to an early lead. My streak of zero and two point cribs had returned and weren't helping my cause. I soon realized that I had to race to the skunk line before Barb won the game. If she skunked me, I'd be eliminated (a skunk counts for two wins). I'd never wanted to lose a game so much in my life. A loss I could take - I would live to play another game - but a skunk! I had just fought to stay alive in the previous round, I couldn't go down so quickly now! Again I was in a situation where I would count before my opponent. It was the only thing between me and Elimination. As I picked up my hand, I was pleased to see a double-card run in my hand, 6-6-5-4. That would definitely get me across the skunk line, I began to breathe a little easier. We cut the deck for the fifth card...and it was a 6. My hand just sky-rocketed to 24 points! I pegged across the skunk line then zipped ahead of my aunt to come within 3 points of winning. Just like that (!) I had gone from near elimination to possibly stealing the game! If Barb had a small hand, I could actually come back and win it. Unfortunately for me, she had enough points to go out and I took the loss. Despite the roller-coaster, I was happy. That hand was a turning point for me, I could feel it: the momentum was finally with me. A small curl of excitement began to come to life in my stomach. I was gonna win. I just knew it. The next game was a quick one (my gut is never wrong). I skunked my Aunt Barb and stole the victory from her in one fail swoop.

Round 3 brought me back to the table with Pete again. I was already 0-1 on the day with him, but I was bolstered by the recent turn of events and went into the round with checked confidence. Though I tried repeatedly to dupe him into pegging traps, he was too sharp and avoided every one (just play your face card on my 11, would ya?). Despite my failed attempts I manged to take two games from him and suddenly found myself with a seat in the Championship round. (How had that happened?) After hours of playing, it had come down to me and Billy Meyer III.

As we sat down to the final match, we did our best to ignore the hilarity (and slurring) coming from the O Hell card game a few feet away and do Gramma proud. With everything on the line, we cut for the first deal and got underway. I had been confident going into my match with Pete, but as I began playing with Billy I realized, neither one of us had lost a match all day - and it was about to end for one of us. This. Was. It.

Now, I think almost every family member can say they learned a thing or two from Gramma through the years, but as it happened Gramma was the one who taught me how to play cribbage. And I don't know if all the grandkids feel this way, but I've always felt that I had Gramma's luck flowing through my veins. It is the inexplicable feeling when you know you're going to win, despite what the score says. It's the tingling in your skin when the cards are being dealt and you can just tell it's going to be a good hand. It's the moment in the game when something invisible suddenly shifts and you know you're about to cream your opponent. It's a magical sixth sense and I know it's been passed on to me from Gramma herself.

It was over in two games. They were close games - not blow outs, but not nail-biters either. We finished at 5 minutes to midnight, making it about an 11 hour event. After four games of pool play, four rounds of gritty competition, 8 shakers of Deccios, 4 crib boards and endless Gos...I emerged victorious. I persevered through hot streaks, bad cribs, a near skunking and great competition all the way to the end and came out on top.

The title belongs to me. Thanks Gramma - this one is for you.