The aim and the board
The first player to score 121 points wins. Points are kept on a cribbage board: each player has a row of holes and two pegs, and moves the back peg past the front one by the points just scored, so the gap between the pegs shows the last score. On this site the board is pegged for you.
Cards and their values
Two players use one pack of 52 cards, no jokers. For adding up to 15 and 31, the Ace counts 1, the 2 to 10 their number, and the Jack, Queen and King 10 each. For runs and pairs the cards keep their rank: Ace, 2, 3 is a run, but Queen, King, Ace is not, and a Jack and a Queen are no pair.
The deal and the crib
Each player cuts the pack, and the lower card deals first (Ace is lowest). After that the deal takes turns. The dealer gives six cards to each player, one at a time.
Each player then puts two cards face down in the crib, an extra hand of four that belongs to the dealer and is counted at the end of the hand. So the dealer wants to give the crib good cards, and the other player, called the pone, wants to give it cards that score little.
The starter and his heels
The pone cuts the pack and the dealer turns up the top card of the lower part: the starter. It is not played, but it counts as a fifth card in both hands and in the crib. If the starter is a Jack, the dealer pegs 2 at once, for his heels (also called nibs).
The play, or pegging
The pone plays first. Players take turns laying one card face up in front of themselves and calling out the running count of all the cards played. The count may never go past 31. Points are pegged straight away for:
| In the play | Points |
|---|---|
| Making the count exactly 15 | 2 |
| Making the count exactly 31 | 2 |
| A pair: the same rank as the card just played | 2 |
| Three of a kind in a row (a pair royal) | 6 |
| Four of a kind in a row (a double pair royal) | 12 |
| A run: the last three or more cards make ranks in a row, in any order | 1 a card |
| The go: the last card when neither player can play | 1 |
| The last card of the whole play (unless it makes 31) | 1 |
Here is a play from start to finish of one count:
| Who | Plays | Count | Pegs |
|---|---|---|---|
| You | 7 of Spades | 7 | 0 |
| Computer | 8 of Diamonds | 15 | 2: 15 for 2 |
| You | 8 of Clubs | 23 | 2: a pair for 2 |
| Computer | 8 of Hearts | 31 | 8: 31 for 2 and three 8s for 6 |
The computer’s last 8 is the third 8 in a row, a pair royal for 6, and it makes the count 31 for 2 more. The count then starts again at 0.
Go
If you cannot play a card without taking the count past 31, you say go. Your opponent then plays on as many cards as they can, still pegging any 15s, pairs and runs, and pegs 1 for the last card. Then the count goes back to 0 and the player who did not play the last card leads. For example, at a count of 27 the computer holds a 9 and a King, so it says go; you play a 3 to make 30 and peg 1 for the go.
Play goes on like this until both players have played all four cards. The very last card pegs 1, or 2 if it makes 31.
The show: counting the hands
After the play, each hand is counted with the starter as a fifth card: first the pone’s hand, then the dealer’s hand, then the dealer’s crib. The pone counts first because it matters near the end: a player who reaches 121 wins at once, before the other has counted. A hand scores:
- Fifteens: 2 for every different combination of cards that adds up to 15.
- Pairs: 2 for every pair, so three of a kind is 6 (three pairs) and four of a kind 12 (six pairs).
- Runs: three or more cards of ranks in a row score a point a card. A run made two ways, with a pair inside it, counts twice: 3, 4, 4, 5 is two runs of three.
- Flush: four cards of one suit in the hand score 4, or 5 if the starter is that suit too. In the crib a flush counts only when all five cards are one suit.
- Nobs: 1 for a Jack in the hand of the same suit as the starter (“one for his nob”).
Players count out loud in that order: “Fifteen two, fifteen four, and a run of three is seven.” Here are some hands counted, each with the starter on the right.
The 29 hand
The best cribbage hand is 29: three 5s and the Jack in your hand, with the fourth 5 cut as the starter in the Jack’s suit. There are eight fifteens (16), four 5s make six pairs (12), and the Jack is nobs (1). With the Jack as the starter instead, the same cards score 28, because nobs needs the Jack in the hand. The hand counter opens on the 29 hand, with all of its fifteens listed.
Winning, and the skunk
The game ends the moment a player reaches 121, whether in the play or in the show, and the rest of the hand is not played or counted. If the loser has not reached 91, they are skunked, and in a match the win counts as two games; under 61 is a double skunk.
House rules you may meet
- Muggins. At some tables, points a player forgets to claim in the show can be taken by the opponent. On this site every hand is counted for you, in full.
- Five-card cribbage. The older game deals five cards each, plays to 61, and gives the pone 3 points at the start for the first deal. This site plays the six-card game to 121, the one most players know.
Tips
- Feed your own crib, starve the other. 5s, pairs, cards that add up to 15 and cards close together score in a crib. When the crib is your opponent’s, give it cards far apart, such as a King and a 2.
- Keep 5s and cards that make 15. Sixteen of the 52 cards count 10, so a 5 in your hand is often worth 2 with the starter alone.
- Lead low. A card under 5 cannot be made into 15 by one card. Avoid leading a 5, and avoid leaving the count at 5 or 21, where one 10-card gives your opponent 15 or 31.
- Count your hand while you play. Knowing what you hold tells you which cards you can afford to give up in the pegging.
Check any hand with the cribbage hand counter (it also lists the cribbage words: pone, his heels, pair royal), or play cribbage against the computer, where every hand is counted for you.