Cribbage

Overview

Cribbage is a race to 121 holes. You score in two ways: during the play, when cards go down one at a time toward a running total of 31, and in the show, when each hand is counted together with a shared fifth card called the starter. Your two pegs leapfrog up the board, so the gap between them always shows what you just scored.

The cut, the deal and the crib

Both players cut the pack. The lower card deals and takes the first crib; the ace is low, and equal cuts are cut again. After that the deal alternates every hand.

Each player gets six cards, dealt one at a time starting with the non-dealer (the pone). Each player then lays two cards away face down. Those four cards are the crib, and they count for the dealer at the show, so as pone you throw cards that are unlikely to combine.

The pack is then cut and a card is turned face up as the starter. It counts as a fifth card for both hands and for the crib. If the starter is a jack, the dealer immediately pegs two for his heels.

The play

The non-dealer leads. Players lay cards in turn, calling the running total. Court cards count ten and the ace counts one. The total may never pass 31.

• Fifteen pegs 2, and thirty-one pegs 2.
• A card matching the rank of the one before it pegs 2 for a pair. A third of that rank pegs 6 (pair royal) and a fourth pegs 12 (double pair royal).
• Completing a run of three or more consecutive ranks, in any order, pegs one for each card in the run.
• If you cannot play without passing 31, you say Go and your opponent carries on while they can. The last player to lay a card pegs 1 for the go (nothing extra if the total was exactly 31), and a fresh count starts from zero.
• The player who lays the very last card of the hand pegs 1 for last card.

The show

Each player takes back their four cards and counts them with the starter. The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer, then the dealer counts the crib. The same card can score in several ways at once.

• Every combination of cards adding to fifteen scores 2.
• Every pair scores 2, so three of a kind is 6 and four of a kind is 12.
• A run of three, four or five scores one for each card, and each separate run counts (a double run of three scores 6 plus the pair).
• A flush: four hand cards of one suit score 4, or 5 when the starter matches too. The crib only scores a flush when all four crib cards and the starter share a suit, for 5.
• A jack of the starter's suit in your hand or crib is one for his nobs.

The order matters near the end: the non-dealer counts first, so they can peg out before the dealer gets to count.

Winning, skunks and counting

Game is 121 holes. The moment a player reaches it the game ends, whether that happens during the play, in the middle of the show, or on two for his heels. A loser who finishes under 91 is skunked; under 61 it is a double skunk.

This game counts every hand and crib for you and shows the breakdown line by line, so the muggins rule (claiming points your opponent overlooked) never comes up.

Tips

• Fives are gold: they make fifteen with every ten-card. Keep them, and be careful about throwing them into a crib that is not yours.
• Leading a four is safe. Leading a five hands the dealer an easy fifteen.
• Avoid leaving the count on 5 or 21, where any ten-card makes fifteen or thirty-one for your opponent.
• When the crib is yours, throw cards that work together: fives, pairs and cards adding to fifteen.

Playing online

Choose Play Online to join the Cribbage lobby, then challenge a player or accept a challenge. The lobby is shared with the Android app, so you can play people on either. You get a guest name like G-12345 that you can change in Settings. If your opponent leaves, the match ends and you can go back to the lobby.