Cribbage hand counter

Pick the four cards in your hand and the starter, and the counter adds up the hand the way it is counted at the table: every fifteen, pair, run, flush and nobs, each with its cards, and the total. Count the crib too: its flush needs all five cards.

Card 1: choose a rank, then a suit.

This is the crib

29 points

Fifteens 16, pairs 12 and nobs 1

Fifteen5♠+J♣2
Fifteen5♥+J♣2
Fifteen5♦+J♣2
Fifteen5♣+J♣2
Fifteen5♠+5♥+5♦2
Fifteen5♠+5♥+5♣2
Fifteen5♠+5♦+5♣2
Fifteen5♥+5♦+5♣2
Four 5s 6 pairs5♠5♥5♦5♣12
Nobs the Jack of the starter’s suitJ♣1

How to use the hand counter

The five places at the top are your four cards and the starter. The first place is chosen: tap a rank, then a suit, and the card goes in and the next place is chosen. Tap any place to change its card. A card already in the hand cannot be picked twice. The count below changes as you go, and lists every combination it found, so you can check your own counting against it. Tick This is the crib to count the crib, where a flush counts only when the starter is the same suit too.

The page opens on the 29 hand, the best a hand can score: three 5s and the Jack of clubs, with the 5 of clubs cut.

How to count a cribbage hand

Count in the same order every time and you will miss less. Players say the running total out loud: “fifteen two, fifteen four, a pair is six, and a run of three is nine.”

Fifteens, 2 each. Look for every different set of cards that adds up to 15: two cards (a 5 and any 10-card, a 7 and an 8, a 6 and a 9), then three, four and all five. Picture cards count 10, the Ace 1.
Pairs, 2 each. Every pair of the same rank. Three of a kind is three pairs, 6; four of a kind is six pairs, 12.
Runs, 1 a card. Three or more ranks in a row, in any suits. If a rank in the run is doubled, the run counts twice: 6, 7, 7, 8 is two runs of three (6) plus the pair (2).
Flush. Four cards of one suit in your hand score 4, or 5 with the starter. In the crib, only all five count.
Nobs, 1. A Jack in your hand of the same suit as the starter.

Scores of some well-known hands

Hand and starter	Points
5♥ 5♦ 5♠ J♣, starter 5♣ The 29 hand	29
5♥ 5♦ 5♠ 5♣, starter K♠ Four 5s and a 10-card	28
4♥ 4♠ 5♦ 6♣, starter 6♥ A double double run	24
7♥ 7♠ 8♦ 8♣, starter 9♥ Another double double run	24
3♥ 3♠ 3♦ 4♣, starter 5♥ A triple run	21
7♥ 7♠ 7♦ 8♣, starter 8♥ Three 7s and two 8s	20
3♥ 4♠ 4♦ 5♣, starter 9♥ A double run of three	8
K♠ Q♥ 8♦ 2♣, starter 4♠ A nineteen hand	0

No hand can score 19, 25, 26 or 27, which is why “nineteen” is what players call a hand worth nothing. Across every possible hand and starter, the average is a little under 5 points.

Cribbage words

Crib: The four cards put aside by the two players, scored by the dealer at the end of the hand.
Starter: The card turned up after the crib is made; it counts in every hand. Also called the cut card.
Pone: The player who did not deal. The pone plays first and counts first.
His heels: A Jack turned as the starter: 2 to the dealer.
His nobs: The Jack in a hand of the starter’s suit: 1 point.
Go: What you say when you cannot play without passing 31. The last card played pegs 1.
Pair royal: Three of a kind: 6 points. Four of a kind is a double pair royal: 12.
Skunk: Winning before the loser reaches 91; a double skunk is before 61.
Nineteen: A hand worth nothing: no hand can score 19.

New to the game? Read the cribbage rules, then play cribbage against the computer, where every hand is counted for you, with the same breakdown.