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PLAINVILLE -- You might say 29 is Kelton Bernhard's lucky number.

Lady Luck smiled upon the Wood School fourth-grader Wednesday as he was playing cribbage. The 9-year-old was dealt the perfect hand - with a score of 29 - something so rare that some players never see one in their lifetime.

Just ask Paul Ares, the adviser to the school's cribbage club who said, "I've been playing cribbage for 60 years and I've never gotten a 29-point hand. It's like getting a hole in one in golf."

Actually, it's harder.

According to the American Cribbage Congress, the odds of being dealt a perfect hand while playing against a single opponent is 1 in 216,580. The odds of an amateur making a hole-in-one in golf was reported as 1 in 12,750 by Golf Digest in 1999. For anyone unfamiliar with cribbage, in the two-player game, each player is initially dealt six cards, two of which are discarded into a kitty, known as the "crib." Players keep four cards and get points for cards that add up to 15 and for other combinations like runs.

To score a perfect hand, a player must be dealt three fives and a jack, then hope Lady Luck smiles as a card is turned up from the deck. The turned up card must be a five in the same suit as the jack in the player's hand.

Kelton said he knew his hand, which consisted of three fives and the jack of clubs, was good because he had lots of combinations that added up to 15. His luck continued when the five of clubs was turned up.

"He dealt and I knew I had a good hand," he said. "I needed help counting it so everyone helped me add it up to 29. I was really happy."

Kelton said his luck didn't continue - he ended up losing the game to his opponent by two points - but the excitement of having a perfect hand made up for it.

Kelton said he joined the school's cribbage club because his family plays the game.

"I was on a trip to Disney and my dad and big brother were playing, so that's why I started," he said.

About 16 students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades gather weekly at the Wood School to play in the cribbage club. Kelton said he has only been playing for about a year.

In true cribbage tradition of framing perfect hands, Kelton got to keep the cards and was awarded a special cribbage board as well.