World Championship Cribbage Tournament

Festival Location: Quincy, CA, USA

Festival State: Californian Festivals

Festival Type: Board Game Festivals

By: © Nelson Taylor 2009

This may not be one of the stranger events, but if you know someone who plays cribbage (read: an incredibly competitive tightwad who will do anything for a game), you know why I included it. During this annual May event about 350 contestants will pack twenty-two hours of cribbage into a weekend.

Founded in 1972, this is America's oldest cribbage tournament, not to mention one of the world's largest with a purse averaging over $25,000. The singles entry fee is $60, $18 of which pays for brain food like coffee and donuts. $40 will get your team a spot in the doubles tournament. And for all you cribbage losers (can there be anything worse!), $20 will get you a seat in the consolation tournament. Warning! Do not try this at home.