Cribbage is a 400-year-old counting game with its own scoreboard - a wooden track you move pegs along. Every hand you score points twice: once while cards are being played, and once when hands are counted at the end. It rewards spotting number combinations quickly. A game takes about 20 minutes.
What You Need
- Players: 2 is the classic game. 3 and 4 player versions exist.
- Deck: One standard 52-card deck. Aces are low and worth 1; face cards are worth 10.
- Extras: A cribbage board and pegs if you have one. Pen and paper works fine.
Key Terms
- Crib: A fifth hand made from the cards both players throw away. It belongs to the dealer.
- Starter (or cut): A card cut from the deck and used by both hands and the crib.
- Pegging: The scoring that happens while cards are being played out.
- Go: What you say when you cannot play without passing 31.
- His heels: A jack cut as the starter, worth 2 points to the dealer immediately.
- His nobs: Holding the jack of the same suit as the starter, worth 1 point at the count.
Setup
- Cut for deal - low card deals first. The deal alternates every hand after that.
- Deal 6 cards to each player.
- Both players choose 2 cards to put face down into the crib. Think carefully: the crib scores for the dealer, so the non-dealer wants to throw junk into it.
- The non-dealer cuts the deck and the dealer turns up the top card of the lower half as the starter. If it is a jack, the dealer immediately pegs 2.
How to Play
Pegging
Players alternate laying cards face up in front of themselves, keeping a running total out loud. The non-dealer goes first.
Score as you go:
| Combination | Points |
|---|---|
| Total reaches exactly 15 | 2 |
| Total reaches exactly 31 | 2 |
| Pair (matching the last card played) | 2 |
| Three of a kind | 6 |
| Four of a kind | 12 |
| Run of three or more, in any order | 1 per card |
| Last card played before a "go" | 1 |
If you cannot play without passing 31, say "go" - your opponent keeps playing and scores 1 for laying the last card.
The total can never pass 31. When it stops, reset to zero and continue with the remaining cards.
The show
Once all cards are played, hands are counted out loud - non-dealer first, then dealer, then the dealer's crib. Add the starter card to each hand so you are always scoring five cards.
Count every combination separately - the same card can score in several of them:
| Combination | Points |
|---|---|
| Each distinct set of cards adding to 15 | 2 |
| Each pair (three of a kind counts as three pairs) | 2 |
| Each run of three or more | 1 per card |
| Four-card flush in hand | 4 |
| Five-card flush including the starter | 5 |
| His nobs - the jack matching the starter's suit | 1 |
A flush in the crib only scores if all five cards match suit.
Scoring & Winning
- The first player to 121 points wins, and you win the moment you get there - you do not finish the hand.
- Because the non-dealer counts their hand first, they can win a close game before the dealer ever counts.
- If your opponent finishes under 91, it is a skunk and traditionally counts as a double win.
Example
You play a 7 for a total of 7. Your opponent plays an 8, making 15, and pegs 2 points. You then play another 8 for a pair, scoring 2 and bringing the total to 23.
Variations
- Three-player: deal 5 cards each plus one straight into the crib.
- Four-player: two partnerships, 5 cards each, one to the crib from each player.
- Muggins: if you miss points in your own count, your opponent may claim them. Brutal, and traditional.
Tips for New Players
- 5s are the most valuable cards in the game because so many cards are worth 10. Never throw a 5 into your opponent's crib.
- Leading a 4 is safer than leading a 5, which hands your opponent an easy 15.
- The maximum possible hand is 29 points: three 5s, the J matching a 5-card starter. You will probably never see it.