How to play cribbage: rules and counting

Rules in short: each player gets six cards and throws two into the crib, an extra hand that belongs to the dealer. A starter card is cut. Players take turns laying cards and keeping a running count up to 31, scoring for fifteens, pairs, runs and thirty-one. Then each hand, and the crib, is counted together with the starter. The first player to 121 points wins.

Deal and crib Starter Pegging Counting hands Scoring chart Example Winning and skunks Strategy Variations FAQ

The deal and the crib

Cut the deck; the lower card deals first, and the deal alternates after each hand. The dealer gives six cards to each player, one at a time. Each player then chooses two cards to put face down into the crib. The crib is a third hand that the dealer scores at the end, so the dealer throws good cards to it and the non-dealer (the pone) throws cards that are unlikely to help it. On Snug Table every deal has a number and comes from a provably fair shuffle.

The starter

The pone cuts the remaining deck and the dealer turns up the top card: the starter. It counts as a fifth card for both hands and the crib. If the starter is a jack, the dealer scores 2 points at once, called his heels (or "two for his heels").

Pegging: the play

Starting with the pone, players take turns laying one card face up and saying the running total: "five", "fifteen", "twenty-one". Face cards count 10, aces 1. The total may never go past 31.

• Fifteen: bring the count to exactly 15 for 2 points.
• Thirty-one: bring the count to exactly 31 for 2 points.
• Pairs: play the same rank as the card just played for 2. A third in a row is a pair royal for 6, a fourth is a double pair royal for 12.
• Runs: if the last three or more cards played form a sequence in any order (4, 6, 5), score 1 point per card. A run must be unbroken by other cards.
• The go: if you can't play without passing 31, say "go". Your opponent keeps playing as long as they can, then scores 1 for the last card (2 if they hit 31 exactly). The count starts again from zero, led by the player who said go.
• Last card: whoever plays the very last card of the hand scores 1 (unless it made 31, which already scored 2).

Counting the hands (the show)

After pegging, the hands are picked up and counted, each with the starter: first the pone's hand, then the dealer's hand, then the dealer's crib. The order matters near the end of a game, because the pone counts first and can win before the dealer counts. Count these combinations:

• Fifteens: every different combination of cards adding to 15 scores 2.
• Pairs: every pair of the same rank scores 2 (three of a kind is three pairs, 6; four of a kind is six pairs, 12).
• Runs: three or more cards in sequence score 1 per card. Each different way to make the run counts: 4-5-5-6 has two runs of three (a "double run", 6 points, plus the pair).
• Flush: four cards in your hand of one suit score 4, or 5 if the starter matches. The crib only scores a flush of five.
• Nobs: the jack in your hand of the same suit as the starter scores 1.

Players traditionally count aloud: "fifteen two, fifteen four, and a pair is six". On Snug Table every hand is counted for you line by line in that style, so you can learn the counting as you play.

Cribbage scoring chart

The highest possible hand is 29: three 5s and the jack of the fourth suit, with the matching 5 as the starter. No hand can score 19, 25, 26 or 27, which is why "nineteen" is cribbage slang for a hand worth nothing.

An example count

Winning and skunks

Points are moved on the board with two pegs per player: the front peg jumps ahead and the back peg shows the previous score. The first player to reach 121 wins immediately, even in the middle of pegging or before the other player counts. If the loser has not reached 91, it is a skunk (often counted as two games); under 61 is a double skunk.

Cribbage strategy

• As dealer, feed your crib. Throw 5s, pairs and cards that add to 15 into your own crib.
• As pone, starve the crib. Avoid throwing 5s, pairs or touching cards like 7-8. Kings and widely separated cards are safest.
• Keep 5s and fifteens. Ten-cards and 5s make fifteens with almost any starter, because 16 of the 52 cards count 10.
• Don't lead a 5. Any ten-card makes 15 for your opponent. Leading a card under 5 is safest, since no single card can make 15 with it.
• Avoid leaving 21. A count of 21 lets a ten-card make 31 for 2.
• Lead from a pair. If your opponent pairs you, you can make a pair royal for 6.
• Play to the board. Near the end, defend when you are ahead and take chances when you are behind.

On Snug Table the coach works out every possible starter for each discard, estimates the crib, and tells you which two cards it would throw and why.

Variations

• Muggins: if a player misses points in their count, the opponent may claim them. Snug Table counts every hand for you.
• Five-card cribbage: the older game to 61, with five cards each.
• Three or four players: five cards each with one to the crib (three players), or partners with five cards each (four players).