Dealers Crib - Basics

* All of the following is my opinion only.  Other people might have different ideas! *

When you are the dealer, the basic idea of lowball, is to make the total of your hand, and your crib, as small as possible.  The easiest way to demonstrate this, is with a couple of example hands.

Example 1 - 2, 3, 4, Jack, Queen, Queen

The best toss into your crib, is 3, Queen.  This is because you'll have 2, 4, Jack, Queen in your hand, which is worth 0 points (before the cut), and the 3, Queen in crib, is unlikely to be turned into a high scoring crib.

Example 2 - 2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 9

This hand is trickier, as there are many options available to you, including:

Throwing 3, 4 - Leaves 2, 3, 7, 9 (0 points) in your hand, but the crib might be expensive.

Throwing 2, 9 - Leaves 3, 3, 4, 7 (2 points) in your hand.  The crib is safer, but a bad cut hurts the hand.

Throwing 2, 4 - Leaves 3, 3, 7, 9 (4 points) in your hand.  The crib is quite safe, as there are only two 3's left, to complete the run.

It's a good idea, to imagine that a 5 is waiting in your crib, when throwing cards.