(Image: Club 29)

By Domenic Strazzabosco

On the third Wednesday of every month, in the back section of E Pike’s Elysian Capitol Hill Brewery, queer cribbage group Club 29 meets to play the centuries-old game. With roughly two dozen attendees, the players gather for a few hours in a round robin-style, many also enjoying a bite to eat or a draft beer from the local brewery.

Tim Maass founded the club almost three years ago after he noticed a friend from a gay dodgeball group posting about the table game on Instagram. He recalled thinking to himself, “Wait, other gay millennials play cribbage?” Maass then posted on social media, asking if others he knew played, and instantly got enough comments to coordinate a meetup. A friend offered space at their restaurant, Otter Bar & Burger in Eastlake, where the group originally formed.

Last fall, a TikTok featuring the group’s custom rainbow board quickly accumulated over 40 thousand views and culminated in another monthly Seattle meetup, as well as one in Tacoma and another in Everett. The Seattle locations now include Elysian Brewing and Baja Bistro in Beacon Hill on the first Tuesday.

Going on three years since his first Facebook post, Maass has only missed one meetup, and now considers the unofficial title “That Gay Cribbage Guy” to be the best he’s ever had.

“It’s so great to look around at a room with 25 LGBTQ+ folks playing a game that they’ve all loved, or have just recently come to love, and thinking that I had something to do with that.”

Cribbage traditionally involves two players using a single deck of cards and a pegboard to keep score. There’s the pegging phase, and then combinations of your cards — including runs, pairs or a sum of 15, as well as your “crib” on your respective turn — determine the number of points scored in a round. You need 121 points to win.

The group’s name, specifically the number 29, comes from the single highest number of points that you can score in one turn. That’s very difficult to get. Fitting for a queer group, it was also inspired by a fictional Club 96 nightclub on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.

(Image: Club 29)

(Image: Club 29)

“It’s a very personal, family game for a lot of us,” Maass said, describing how many of the people who attend the meetups have mostly, if not exclusively, played growing up but tapered off as they got older. Some who’ve attended haven’t played for almost a decade, he said.

That was the case for Maass as well, and he still regularly texts his grandma, with whom he grew up playing the game, when there’s a big turnout. Thus, Club 29 presents attendees with an opportunity to revisit a game from their childhood and create connections within their community at the same time.

After welcoming attendees and giving the lay of the land, Maass helps coordinate games by directing and introducing people. Once things have settled down and most have arrived, he joins in. The only competition held is an optional annual tournament during Pride month, where the Prince X of Pegging is crowned with a 3D printed tiara made of cribbage pegs.

(Image: CHS)

CHS went to the Elysian Brewing meetup and spoke with a few of the attendees.

Alec Kroll remembers cribbage throughout his entire life, saying he probably was playing before he even knew how to read. From old memories of playing with his great-grandfather, grandparents and parents, to now playing with nieces and nephews, at least five generations of his family have played the game together.

He joined the group last year when he was new to Seattle after finding it on social media. Kroll recalled thinking that he really didn’t know anyone in the city, was looking to make friends and thought, “Oh great, gays who play cribbage!”

Amanda Shaffner, who found the group via TikTok, joined, just hoping to meet new friends to play card games with. Though she’d played card games growing up, she never played cribbage until a roommate in college taught her.

“I was really bummed when I moved here, because I no longer had someone to play with,” she said. “It’s been really cool to find this group.”

DJ Landes, who attended only his second meetup this month, also played with family growing up. Before trying out Club 29, he’d been mostly playing on his phone, but said the app didn’t provide the same experience. Hearing about others’ relationships to the game and getting to interact with people that he might not have ever met were reasons why he was excited to attend again.

Aside from the Seattle meetups, Club 29 gathers on the second Thursday of the month at Odd Otter in Tacoma, and on the fourth Thursday of the month at Catalyst Cafe in Everett.

You can learn more on the website and follow Club 29 on Instagram or Facebook for further updates.

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