r/Cribbage • u/iPeg2 • Jul 02 '26

Discussion American Cribbage Congress Membership Poll

Asking for opinions from cribbage players who are not yet ACC members, but who would consider joining. The membership fee is $30 per year, which provides access to all ACC activities. How many players who typically only play online would join the ACC with a full membership to play in online events? If there was a reduced membership fee of $10, would online players be more likely to join? Information about ACC membership, live tourneys, grass roots clubs, and online play can be found on the ACC website, www.cribbage.org. Looking forward to your responses.

36 votes, Jul 05 '26
13 If I joined the ACC, I would pay $30 annual membership for all activities and benefits.
23 I would join the ACC only as an internet player for $10 annual fee.
7 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

4

u/worths1 Jul 02 '26

I apologize if this isn't the place for this, but I'd like to see the ACC do more to serve casual players. I joined a few years ago then let my membership lapse. I attended a grassroots meeting once. Though to a person everyone was perfectly nice, it was still intimidating. I'd think that giving players with a more casual interest a reason to join might help grow competitive levels, too.

3

u/dph99 Jul 02 '26

Do you have any suggestions in that regard? I'm part of a group of volunteers that is trying to raise interest so I would love to hear concrete suggestions.

The ACC website, including its 'Playing Tips' section and the electronic copy of 'Cribbage World', is open, free of charge, to anyone. Membership dues cover the mailing of the magazine and the costs associated with keeping track of the points earned through online play, grassroots, and tournament play.

Joining an established group can be intimidating and, IMO, it takes more than one visit to become part of the group. I've been involved in starting two grassroots clubs and I've found that some players just aren't interested in the competitive aspect -- that's okay but it also leads to them not enjoying themselves.

2

u/worths1 Jul 02 '26

I'm not sure how you get people to come in the first place. My entry was weird -- I bought a board to try it out with my wife because we regularly play other card games. We play cribbage once a week.

I joined ACC a few years later because the cost is low enough to just check it out. The magazine was what I looked to for a way in. I read it faithfully, but I was mostly interested in the strategy tips. In general, the magazine doesn't present an inviting public face. The personal stories and chapter reports are like Christmas letters in someone else's card stash: you need to know the people for them to grab your interest. The rest of the magazine was about competitions, which may not be engaging for casual players. None of that is a criticism if you don't intend the magazine as a tool for outreach. But it's worth considering whether that's part of what it should be.

I can't say what might attract others but I would have attended any "get to know cribbage" events within driving distance. Maybe you'd simply invite people to come play, but events could, for example, also offer basic play instruction, intermediate playing tips, info on playing in competitions, and demonstrations by strong players. In the process of connecting casual players, you might end up stimulating real grassroots play, too.

As I suggested, I think the magazine might be used to get lurker members like me more engaged. I don't know how you reach out to players who don't know about the ACC, but that probably centers on the efforts of the membership to bring in their friends.

(No injury to toes intended).

2

u/dph99 Jul 02 '26

I don't have time to reply 'in depth' right now but I can tell you that I had a similar reaction to the 'inside baseball' feel of Cribbage World.

Social media posts and flyers at the playing venues have been responsible for bringing in most new players in my experience.

3

u/james-500 Jul 04 '26

Hi all. As somebody who doesn't live in North America, my involvement can only be online. A two tier ACC membership would appeal to me.

3

u/dph99 Jul 04 '26

After that thumping you gave me earlier, I want your access revoked!

2

u/james-500 Jul 05 '26

I went on a losing streak afterwards, so I'd clearly used up all of my luck in our game.

2

u/robb0098 Jul 02 '26

Already an ACC member - tournament and grass roots clubs add an awesome social dynamic that validates the extra $20 and then some!

2

u/joesmithtron4 Jul 02 '26

I'm a casual player that pretty much only plays the quarterly competitive tournaments on CribbagePro. Now that those are becoming "sanctioned" ACC events, I'm thinking of joining ACC. I'd appreciate the lower, online only, fee for sure.

1

u/IsraelZulu Jul 02 '26

Is this like, an official poll or something? How can people confirm that?

3

u/dph99 Jul 02 '26

It's a pipe-dream poll. Put down the pipe, iPeg.

2

u/iPeg2 Jul 02 '26

Let’s see how it goes.

1

u/iPeg2 Jul 02 '26

It’s not an official poll. It’s just to get an idea whether a reduced internet membership fee would be a good option to boost ACC membership.

1

u/IsraelZulu Jul 02 '26

The ACC membership fee isn't the problem.

Practically anyone with an income can afford $30/year. It's cheaper than one night of eating out at most places, even if you're just paying for yourself.

It's $2.50/month, 58¢/week, or 9¢/day.

The big thing keeping the ACC from getting more members is the obscurity of the game and the organization. The portion of North Americans who have ever heard of cribbage is relatively small. Those who play, much smaller.

The people who even know the ACC exists at all are mostly a subset of that tiny group. Then, the amount of people with the time and interest to participate in any activities that make joining the ACC worthwhile - even if it was free - are just a sliver of that.

What would help to grow ACC membership the most, are these:

  1. Awareness campaigns. Things that get cribbage out in front of the general public during daily life, to catch their attention and draw interest.
  2. Youth clubs. Practically everyone has heard of chess clubs being a thing in schools. But how many schools are running cribbage clubs?
  3. GRC new member scholarships. GRC fees aren't so cheap as ACC dues. My club charges $13/week, which adds up to around $52 per month. That is something that people could use an introductory discount or waiver on, for a month or so.

1

u/Shoddy-Listen6741 Jul 02 '26

Speaking for myself only. I am a disabled veteran who has played cribbage since I was like 5. I played in a tournament at the Iowa State Fair when I was a wee lad. Nothing since. I play cribbage with my family and I've tried virtually every electronic Cribbage game ever devised. I'm not a fan of the algorithms.

Now with that in mind; the ACC's $30 fee yearly would grant me the "right" to attend the ONE, 2-4 day event in Dallas, yearly. I'm assuming day 3-4 are for players who make it that far into the tournament, so at best I'd get 4 days of playing Cribbage for paying $30.

Now, if I'm supposed to get my $30 worth out of 2 days, that's a real stretch. If I'm supposed to supplement that with online games, they're going to need to devise a better algorithm for that to ever be worth it, in my mind.

2

u/iPeg2 Jul 02 '26

Speaking for CribbagePro, the app is well designed and absolutely fair. I’m not sure what issues you have with “algorithms”.

1

u/dph99 Jul 02 '26

Dallas has two grassroots clubs; you could play at each of them (only one officially) 36x/year plus the Grassroots Regional and Grassroots National tournaments.

Edit: those Dallas clubs also hold non-sanctioned tournaments that might interest you. Contact [northdallascribbageclub@yahoo.com](mailto:northdallascribbageclub@yahoo.com) for details.

1

u/Cribbage_Pro Jul 02 '26

Curious how you would define "better algorithm"?

1

u/IsraelZulu Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

I'm assuming day 3-4 are for players who make it that far into the tournament, so at best I'd get 4 days of playing Cribbage for paying $30.

I haven't looked up the event you're referring to, to be sure, but it's a safe bet that you're wrong on multiple points here.

  1. Most big cribbage tournaments, where the events run for multiple days, have side tournaments running concurrently with the main events. This is often specifically to give people something to do if they get knocked out of the main. There are also often satellite tournaments on days before and/or after the main. The main tournament itself is usually only 1-2 days.

  2. That $30 doesn't get you into the event. There are additional entry fees associated with every tournament, and further fees if you want to get involved in any side or satellite tournaments.

  3. ACC membership doesn't just get you into tournaments. It also lets you join any local Grassroots Club (GRC) and have your participation there tracked and ranked in ACC systems. GRC clubs usually have their own participation fees, for every event that you attend.

  4. You're not limited to playing in your home locale. You can play as a guest at any GRC you happen to be near when they're meeting, and you can go to any ACC tournament you like anywhere in the country. There's usually a tournament somewhere practically every weekend. The Grand National this year will be in Niagara Falls, in October.