Close to winning means no go for you?

Question

A long while back I was playing crib with a friend, and his crib board (I might be imagining things here, but I'm fairly certain) was shaded in the 118, 119, and 120 point area. This three-point zone before the "I won!" hole was a special area within which you were no longer allowed to peg a "go" point. You could peg a go into the zone, but once you were there you needed to get your winning points from some (any!) other source.

I didn't see mention of this 'no-go zone' in the rules, so is this just a common variant? Or did I managed to get my leg pulled by someone who had penciled a shaded area onto their board?

Answer 1

Short answer: There is no such rule in cribbage and your friend owes you a drink (and 120 pts in your next game)

Even among variants of the game, I've never heard of this rule. The closest I could come is a variation where in order to win you must peg out exactly. But even then, Go's are allowed (and encouraged as it's amazingly difficult to get a 1 otherwise).

Sorry you got hoodwinked, but kudos to your friend for his attempt.

Answer 2

Not the official rules bit can be a house rule if agreed upon before the game starts. The house rule may include while in the sinkhole you cannot win by a "go " or by cutting the Jack anything else like 15 for 2 or 31 for 2 or runs can win the game while in the sinkhole.