The deal and the crib
Each player gets six cards and sends two face down to the crib, which belongs to the dealer. A starter card is then cut from the deck; if it is a jack the dealer pegs 2 for his heels.
Cribbage is a two-player card game scored by pegging points on a board to 121. Each hand you discard to a crib, play cards in turn to make fifteens, pairs and runs, and then count the points in your hand.
Each player gets six cards and sends two face down to the crib, which belongs to the dealer. A starter card is then cut from the deck; if it is a jack the dealer pegs 2 for his heels.
Players take turns laying cards and calling the running count, which can never pass 31. Score 2 for making exactly 15 or 31, 2 for a pair, 6 for three of a kind, 12 for four, and the length of any run. If you can't play, say go — your opponent scores 1 for the last card under 31.
Using the starter as a fifth card, count every combination totalling 15 (2 each), every pair (2), runs of three or more (1 per card), a flush (4, or 5 with the starter) and his nobs — the jack of the starter's suit (1). The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer, then the crib.
The first player to reach 121 points wins immediately, even in the middle of pegging or counting.
The board has two tracks of 121 holes (some boards use 61 and go round twice) and each player has two pegs. Score by moving the back peg in front of the front peg by the number of points earned, so the gap between pegs always shows the last score — which makes miscounts easy to spot. The first player to peg out by reaching 121 wins immediately, even in the middle of the play. A player who wins before the loser passes 91 has skunked them, which usually counts as two games.
Count your four cards plus the starter in a fixed order so you never miss a combination. First, fifteens: every distinct group of cards adding to 15 scores 2 (face cards count 10). Second, pairs: each pair scores 2, so three of a kind is three pairs for 6 and four of a kind is six pairs for 12. Third, runs: three or more cards in sequence score one per card, and duplicated cards double the run — 5-6-6-7 contains two runs of three for 6. Fourth, flush: four cards of one suit in the hand score 4, or 5 with the starter. Fifth, nobs: the jack of the same suit as the starter scores 1. Example: 5-5-J-Q with a 5 starter is 14 for fifteens, 6 for pairs, 0 runs — 20.
Players alternate laying cards face up, announcing the running total, which may not pass 31. Points come from making exactly 15 (2), exactly 31 (2), pairs and triplets laid consecutively (2, 6, 12), and runs of three or more in any order (one per card). If you cannot play without passing 31 you say go, and your opponent scores 1 for the last card, or 2 if it makes 31 exactly. Good pegging means avoiding totals of 5 and 21 — they invite the opponent to make 15 or 31 with a ten-card.
When the crib is yours, keep cards that score together and give the crib cards that might score with each other, such as a pair of 5s or connected cards like 7-8. When it is your opponent's crib, never give them a 5, a pair, or two cards adding to 15. Throw wide, unconnected cards such as a king and a 2 or a 9 and a queen. Over a whole game, careful discards are worth more points than pegging.
The highest possible hand is 29: three 5s and the jack of the fourth suit, with the 5 of that suit cut as the starter. It occurs about once in 216,000 hands. No combination of five cards can score 19, 25, 26 or 27, so players jokingly say 'nineteen' when a hand scores zero. A 28 hand (four 5s with any ten-card) and a 24 hand (4-4-5-5-6 style double runs) are the more realistic big scores. Use our cribbage hand counter to check any hand in a second.
In traditional play each player counts their own hand aloud, the non-dealer first, then the dealer's hand, then the crib. Under the optional muggins rule, if a player undercounts, the opponent can call muggins and claim the missed points. Agree whether muggins is in play before the game starts. Card Game Parade's computer opponent always counts exactly, so you can learn the right totals by watching it.
Fifteen scores 2, a pair scores 2 (so three of a kind is 6 and four of a kind is 12), and a run scores 1 per card counted for each variation. A four-card flush in hand is 4, five is 5, and in the crib only a five-card flush counts. His nobs — the jack matching the starter's suit — is 1, and his heels, cutting a jack as dealer, is 2.
During play you also score: 15 for 2, 31 for 2, a go for 1, pairs and triples as they appear, and runs of three or more made by the cards just played. Last card played when nobody can reach 31 scores 1.
The perfect 29 hand is three fives and a jack with the fourth five cut as the starter, matching the jack's suit. Nineteen is the joke score: it is impossible, so players call a hand with nothing 'a nineteen hand'.
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