Men develop new twist for old game
Detail shot of the TurboCrib board, the game is similar to traditionally cribbage but it uses a longer board and makes use of the Jokers.
TurboCrib creators Don Robinson, left, and Keith Bassett demonstrate how to play the game on Thursday at the Cottage Inn in Kila.
Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake Keith Bassett, co-creator of TurboCrib shows how a hand in their game can utilize the Joker, a card not used in traditional cribbage.
Two Kila men found a new twist for the 500-or-so-year-old game of cribbage and after about three years of development are now marketing their new game, TurboCrib.
TurboCrib is similar to the card game cribbage, inventors Keith Bassett and Don Robinson said, but the game has been enhanced.
Key differences in TurboCrib are that aces can be played as high, low or null, Robinson said, and that jokers are genuinely wild and can be played essentially any way. In cribbage, jokers are removed from the deck.
“The jokers’ flexibility is the beauty of TurboCrib,” Bassett said. “By introducing the joker and expanding the role of the ace, we changed the game.”
TurboCrib has two versions — basic and advanced play. Basic play introduces the jokers and the enhanced play of the ace and advanced play caters to “people who are really interested in seeing how far the game can go,” Bassett said.
Robinson and Bassett met at The Cottage Inn in Kila, which Bassett and his family own.
Thursday nights at the inn traditionally had been cribbage nights with locals gathering to play the game. Both men were cribbage players and, one night three years ago during a game, they stumbled on the idea of altering it. Bassett grew up in England and said the game remains wildly popular there.
That night, “We were just playing each other in cribbage,” Robinson said, “I’d had a pint or two ...”
“And I’d had a pint or two,” Bassett said.
They discovered they accidentally had left the jokers in the deck, which inevitably happens in card games, Robinson said. Usually when a joker is found, a re-deal occurs. But that fateful night, instead of dealing again, they decided to leave the jokers in the deck and play them as wild cards.
“We saw what the possibilities were,” Robinson said.
Their interest in manipulating and improving the game led to countless more cribbage games and tinkering with the rules, they said. Finally they realized they couldn’t remember which rules had changed and how, so Robinson decided to start writing them down and created a rule book.
They played with the new rules and got other regular cribbage players to test the rules out, too, which led to more changes and adaptations to perfect the game.
The two men claim they’re finished tinkering with their game. “At some point, we said, ‘We’re finished with the rules,’” Bassett said.
Robinson developed a new board for scorekeeping in TurboCrib. It’s half-again as long as a standard cribbage board because players can score more points more often in TurboCrib. The longer board means players don’t have to circle the board as many times in keeping score.
They’re optimistic the game will catch on with cribbage players looking for new challenges and with younger people wanting to learn the game.
“Every cribbage player can understand our game in 10 minutes,” Bassett said. “I think that when the cribbage community sees this, it will take off.”
Yet, they realize some die-hard cribbage fans never will play TurboCrib because it’s not the same game.
They’ve set up booths at local farmers’ markets and at the county fair touting the game and found plenty of people interested in TurboCrib.
Any time people want to play at The Cottage Inn, there’s usually a board available and Bassett is ready to play in between serving customers. Sets have been sent to England, Antarctica, Canada and states in the southwest and eastern United States, Robinson said.
The boards, carrying cases, peg bags and rules books sold by TurboCrib are all manufactured in Flathead County. Unable to find anyone local to make the pegs, those are made in Ohio.
People may purchase a TurboCrib board, pegs, rules book and deck of cards at The Cottage Inn or at www.turbocrib.com for $49. For players who want a carrying case to hold all those goodies, the price increases to $79. TurboCrib sets can also be used to play standard cribbage.
Both Robinson and Bassett would love to see TurboCrib take off on a grand scale and someday, perhaps they say, there will be a world championship TurboCrib tournament. They realize they have much marketing and promoting of their product to do first.
Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.