Cribbage

What you need

Two players and one standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Cards rank from king down to ace, and the ace is always low. For counting, an ace is 1, the twos through tens are their face value, and the jack, queen and king are 10 each.

The board is the other thing on the table. A cribbage board has a track for each player, and each player has two pegs. You score as you go, not at the end of the hand. When you make points, move your back peg ahead of your front peg by that many holes, so the front peg shows your score and the back peg shows where you were. Boards come with 60 or 120 holes to a track. On a 60-hole board, a game to 121 is twice around. With no board in the house, the score keeper at the bottom of this page does the same job.

You play hand after hand, and the first player to reach 121 wins at once, in the middle of a hand if that is where it happens.

The deal and the crib

Cut for the first deal, and the low card deals. After that the deal alternates. Dealing is worth something in cribbage, because the dealer owns the crib.

The dealer shuffles, the other player cuts, and the dealer gives each player six cards, one at a time, face down. Each player looks at the six and puts two face down in front of the dealer. Those four cards are the crib. It stays face down until the end of the hand, and then it counts for the dealer as a second hand, with the same starter card.

You keep four cards and give two away. As the non-dealer you want to give the crib nothing: no fives, no pairs, no cards that sit next to each other. As the dealer you can throw good cards in, since they come back to you at the show.

The starter and his heels

After the discards, the non-dealer cuts the rest of the pack, lifting the top part off without showing it. The dealer takes the top card of the bottom part, turns it face up, and sets it on top once the pack is back together. That card is the starter. Nobody plays it. It joins both hands and the crib when the counting starts.

If the starter is a jack, the dealer pegs 2 at once. That is two for his heels. It can end a game: a dealer sitting on 119 who turns a jack has pegged out before a card is played.

The play

The non-dealer lays the first card face up on their own side of the table and says its value. The dealer lays a card on their side and says the running total. You go on like that, one card each in turn, adding as you go, and the total must never pass 31. Keep your played cards in front of you, face up, so the hand can be counted afterwards.

You peg for what your card does to the total, and for how it fits the cards played before it.

Pegging in the play

You peg for	When	Points
Fifteen	Your card brings the total to 15	2
Pair	Your card is the same rank as the card before it	2
Pair royal	A third card of that rank, with nothing between	6
Double pair royal	The fourth card of that rank, with nothing between	12
Run	Your card completes three or more consecutive ranks, in any order, with no other card among them	1 a card
Thirty-one	Your card brings the total to exactly 31	2
Last card	You played the last card of a round and the total is under 31	1

A pair is by rank, not by value. Two queens pair. A queen and a king do not, though both count 10.

A run in the play does not have to arrive in order. The cards 4, 2, 3 make a run of three for whoever plays the 3. If the next card is a 5, that player pegs 4 for a run of four, and a 6 after that pegs 5. One stray card breaks it: 4, 2, 7, 3 is nothing. Ace is low, so queen, king, ace is not a run.

When you cannot lay a card without passing 31, you say go. Your opponent keeps playing alone for as long as they can, pegging any fifteens, pairs or runs along the way. When neither of you can play, the player who laid the last card pegs 1 for last card. If that card made exactly 31, it pegs 2 instead, and never both.

Then both of you turn your played cards face down, the count starts again from zero, and the player who did not lay the last card leads. This goes on until all eight cards are played. Pairs and runs never reach back across a reset.

A worked round of play. You are the non-dealer, holding 7, 6, 4 and a king. You lead the 7. The dealer plays an 8 for 15 and pegs 2. You play the 6 for 21: with the 7 and the 8 that is a run of three, and you peg 3. The dealer plays a 6 for 27 and pegs 2 for the pair. You play the 4 for 31 and peg 2. The cards go face down. The dealer leads a 5, you play the king for 15 and peg 2, and the dealer plays a last 5 for 20. Nobody has a card left, so the dealer pegs 1 for last card. In the play you pegged 7 and the dealer pegged 5.

The show

When the play is over, each of you picks your four cards back up and counts them with the starter as a fifth card. The non-dealer counts first. Then the dealer counts their hand, turns the crib face up and counts that too, with the same starter. The order matters near the end of a game: the non-dealer can peg out first even when the dealer is holding more points.

A hand is counted by combinations, and the same card can sit in several of them.

Counting a hand

Combination	What is in it	Points
Fifteen	Any set of cards that adds to 15	2 each
Pair	Two cards of one rank. Three of a rank is 6, four is 12	2
Run	Three or more consecutive ranks, counted once for every way it can be made	1 a card
Flush	All four hand cards in one suit, and 5 if the starter matches too	4
His nob	The jack of the same suit as the starter	1

Three of a kind is 6 because it holds three different pairs. Four of a kind is 12 for the same reason.

A run counts once for every way you can make it. Hold 7, 8, 8 and a king with a 9 for a starter: each 8 makes its own run of three, so that is two runs for 6, plus 2 for the pair, plus two fifteens for 4. Twelve. Players call the runs a double run.

Three hand cards and the starter in one suit score nothing. All four hand cards in one suit score 4, and 5 when the starter matches.

The crib counts the same way as a hand, with one exception. A crib flush needs all four crib cards and the starter in one suit, for 5. Four matching crib cards with a stray starter score nothing for the flush.

A worked count. You hold the 5 of hearts, the 6 of spades, the 7 of diamonds and the 7 of clubs, and the starter is the 8 of hearts. Fifteen two: the 7 of diamonds and the 8. Fifteen four: the 7 of clubs and the 8. A pair is six. Then 5, 6, 7, 8 is a run of four, and it can be made with either 7, so that is two runs of four for 8. Fourteen in all. Say it the way every table does: fifteen two, fifteen four, a pair is six, and a double run of four makes fourteen.

Between hands: shuffling 52 cards

Card sizes and finishes are covered in what cards work with a card shuffler.

How to use Lotus for Cribbage

Cribbage shuffles before every deal, and the deal alternates. Set a Lotus card shuffler beside the board where both players can reach it.

At the table	With Lotus
The pack	One standard deck, 52 cards, no jokers.
Loads	One, with room to spare. Lotus holds up to two standard decks, 104 cards, loaded together.
Who shuffles	The dealer, and the other player cuts. One touch on the sensor on top starts each pass. No buttons, nothing to grip.
When	After the show, once both hands and the crib are counted and pegged.
Passes	Drop the squared deck into the center tray and touch the sensor. Lotus deals the cards into two piles. Stack one pile on the other, and that is one pass. A pass takes about five seconds. About three passes suit a home game. About seven bring a 52-card deck to near-random, the figure from Bayer and Diaconis (1992).
The discard pile	Cribbage has none. Gather both hands, the crib and the starter back into the pack, face down.
The deal moves	It alternates. Lotus runs on a 9V battery with no cord, so it stays beside the board, in reach of both players.

Another game for two: Gin Rummy. Every game is in the game table.

Scoring

Everything in cribbage is pegged the moment it happens, so the board is the running total. Here is every way a point is made, in the play and in the show.

Every way to score

Score	In the play	In the show	Points
Fifteen	Your card brings the total to 15	Each set of cards adding to 15	2
Pair	Same rank as the card before	Two cards of one rank	2
Pair royal	Third of the rank in a row	Three of one rank	6
Double pair royal	Fourth of the rank in a row	Four of one rank	12
Run	The longest run your card completes, three cards or more	Three to five consecutive ranks, once for every way it can be made	1 a card
Flush	Not scored	Four hand cards in one suit, 5 with the starter. In the crib, all five or nothing	4 or 5
His nob	Not scored	The jack of the starter's suit, in hand or crib	1
His heels	The dealer, when the starter is a jack	Not scored	2
Thirty-one	Your card makes exactly 31	Not scored	2
Last card	The last card of a round, under 31	Not scored	1

A hand in the show counts anywhere from 0 to 29, with four gaps: no hand can make 19, 25, 26 or 27. A hand worth nothing is called a nineteen at most tables.

A worked hand, start to finish. Take the round of play above, with the 5 of diamonds as the starter. You pegged 7 in the play and the dealer pegged 5. Now the show. You hold 4, 6, 7 and a king: fifteen two for the 4, 5 and 6, fifteen four for the 5 and the king, and 4, 5, 6, 7 is a run of four. Eight. The dealer holds 5, 5, 6 and 8: fifteen two for the three fives, and three fives are a pair royal for 6. Eight. The dealer turns the crib: 2, 3, 9 and a queen. Fifteen two for the 2, 3 and queen, fifteen four for the 5 and the queen. Four.

On the keeper, that hand reads: you pegged 7 and counted 8, 15 in all. The dealer pegged 5, counted 8 and took 4 in the crib, 17 in all. The deal passes to you, and the next crib is yours.

Winning

The first player to 121 wins, and the game ends the moment a peg gets there, whether that is in the play, in the show or on two for his heels. The rest of the hand is never counted.

Skunks are for pride, and for the stake where there is one. On this page a loser who has not reached 91 is skunked, and a loser who has not reached 61 is double skunked. At tables that play for a stake, a skunk doubles it and a double skunk triples or quadruples it. Some tables draw one line only, at 61, and call that loss the lurch.

How other tables play

Cribbage has been played for a long time, and the details drift from table to table. Settle these before the first deal.

Rule	This page	Other tables play
Game	121	61, the five-card game, or 91 in and around Manchester
Skunk lines	Under 91 skunked, under 61 double skunked	One line at 61, the lurch, or no skunk at all
The stake	Doubled for a skunk	Tripled or quadrupled for a double skunk
Muggins	Off	On: miss points in your own count and your opponent pegs them
The board	60 holes a track, twice around	120 holes a track, once around

Five-card cribbage, three players, four players

Game	Pack and deal	What changes
Five-card	52 cards. 5 each, 2 to the crib, 3 kept	The non-dealer pegs 3 for last at the start of the game. There is one round of play to 31, and cards left unplayed stay unplayed. A flush is 3 hand cards for 3, or 4 with the starter. Game is 61
Three players	52 cards. 5 each and 1 to the crib, then each player discards 1	Everyone plays alone. The player to the dealer's left cuts the starter and leads. The show starts at the dealer's left and ends with the dealer. Game is 121
Four players	52 cards. 5 each, 1 to the crib from every hand	Partners sit opposite and one partner pegs for both. Play and the show go around to the left, starting at the dealer's left and ending with the dealer. Partners may help each other count, never advise on play. Game is 121

Rules as recorded by pagat.com, Six Card Cribbage, including its three- and four-player notes, with its page on five-card cribbage.

Common questions

How many cards are dealt in cribbage?

Six each in the two-player game. Each player puts two into the crib and keeps four, and a fifth card, the starter, is turned up to count with everyone. Three and four players are dealt five each and give one to the crib.

What is a 29 hand in cribbage?

The best hand there is. Three fives and a jack in the hand, with the fourth five as the starter, in the same suit as the jack. The fifteens come eight ways for 16, four fives are 12, and the jack is one for his nob: 29. Only four such hands exist in the deck, one for each jack.

Why is 19 impossible in cribbage?

No four cards and a starter count to 19, however you arrange them. The totals a hand can make run from 0 to 29 with four gaps: 19, 25, 26 and 27. Since 19 cannot happen, players announce a hand worth nothing as nineteen.

What is muggins?

An optional rule. Miss points when you count your hand or your crib, and once you have pegged, your opponent calls muggins and pegs the points you missed. Agree before the first deal whether it is on. On this page it is off.

What is a skunk in cribbage?

A loss by a wide margin. On this page a player who loses without reaching 91 is skunked, and one who has not reached 61 is double skunked. Tables that play for a stake double it for a skunk. Some tables call a loss under 61 the lurch.

Score keeper

Type your two names in the columns. Each hand, enter what each player pegged in the play, what the hand counted in the show, and the crib on the dealer's line, plus two for his heels when the starter was a jack. The keeper stands in for the board, not for the counting. Add the next hand with the plus button. It keeps the game on this device.