What is Lowball Cribbage?

Lowball cribbage follows the rules of regular cribbage, with one major difference.  In regular cribbage, the first to 121 (or 61) is the winner, but in lowball, the first to 121 (or 61) is the loser.

Because of this, hands that are good in regular cribbage, are bad in lowball, and 5's are the worst cards that you can be dealt, especially if you are the dealer (and therefore own the crib).

As an example, following is a sample hand:

                    5, 5, 7, 9, King, King

In regular crib, you'd normally keep the 5, 5, King, King (12 points), and throw the 7, 9.

In lowball, if it is the opponents crib, you'd keep the 7, 9, King, King (2 points), and throw the 5, 5, in the hope that the crib will be worth lots of points.  If it is your crib, throwing the King, King, leaves you with 2 in your hand, and 2 in your crib.

I did get this exact hand in a game, and I did throw King, King, and it worked out fine for me!