Cribbage Rules

Setup and Deal

Use one standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Two players sit across from each other. One player is the dealer for the hand. Deal six cards face down to each player. The remaining deck stays face down until the starter card is cut.

Each player chooses two cards from hand and discards them face down to form the crib. The crib belongs to the dealer. That means discarding is strategic: when you are the dealer you want to feed the crib useful combinations; when your opponent deals you want to avoid giving them easy points.

Cutting the starter

After both players discard, cut one starter card from the remaining deck and place it face up. The starter is used later when counting both hands and the crib. If the starter is a jack, the dealer immediately scores two points for "his heels."

Discarding to your own crib

When the crib is yours, discard cards that create extra ways to score with unknown help from the starter. Fives are powerful because any ten-value card makes fifteen. Connected cards such as 6-7 or 7-8 can become runs. Pairs can grow into three or four of a kind if matching ranks arrive. The dealer can take more risk because the crib points come back to them after both hands are counted.

Discarding to opponent's crib

When the crib belongs to your opponent, avoid giving easy combinations. Tossing a 5 is dangerous. Tossing connected cards can feed runs. Tossing a pair can feed pair points. Sometimes you must give away something useful to preserve a strong hand, but the discard decision should compare hand points against likely crib points, not just hand points in isolation.

Pegging to 31

Pegging is the play phase. Non-dealer plays first. Players alternate placing one card face up and announcing the running total. Aces count 1. Number cards count face value. Jacks, queens, and kings count 10. The running total may never go above 31.

1. Non-dealer plays one card and announces its value.
2. Dealer plays one card and announces the new running total.
3. Continue alternating while each player can play without exceeding 31.
4. If a player cannot play, they say "go."
5. The other player continues if possible.
6. When neither player can play, reset the total and continue with unused cards.

Making exactly 15 during pegging scores two points. Making exactly 31 scores two points. If a player says go and the opponent cannot continue to 31, the player who made the last legal play scores one point for go or last card.

Pegging Pairs and Runs

Pegging also scores pairs and runs from the most recent cards played in the current sequence. A pair scores two points. Three of a kind scores six because it contains three different pairs. Four of a kind scores twelve because it contains six pairs.

Runs score by length when the latest cards can be rearranged into consecutive ranks. For example, if the recent cards are 7, 9, 8, the player of the 8 scores three for a run of 7-8-9. The cards do not need to be played in sorted order, but they must form an unbroken sequence with no duplicate rank inside that run.

Pegging example

You play a 5 for total 5. Opponent plays a 10 for total 15 and scores two. You play another 5 for total 20 and score two for the pair of fives. Opponent plays a 6 for 26. If you cannot play without exceeding 31, you say go. If opponent also cannot play, they score one for last card and the total resets.

Counting Hands

After all eight hand cards have been pegged, players count hands with the starter. The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer counts, then the dealer counts the crib. Each count uses five cards: the four cards in that hand plus the starter.

Fifteens

Every unique combination totaling 15 scores two points. A hand can contain several fifteens. For example, 5-5-5-J with a 10 starter has many separate fifteen combinations because each 5 can pair with either 10-value card.

Pairs and runs

Pairs count the same way as pegging: two points per pair. Runs count by length, and duplicate ranks can create double runs. A hand of 7-8-8-9 with any non-run starter has two separate three-card runs: 7-8-9 using the first 8 and 7-8-9 using the second 8.

Flush and nobs

Four cards of the same suit in your hand score four for a flush. If the starter matches that suit too, the flush scores five. In the crib, a flush usually scores only if all five cards, including the starter, share the same suit. One for nobs means a jack in your hand matches the starter suit.

Common Scoring Examples

Example 1: Your hand is 5, 5, 10, K and the starter is Q. Each 5 with each 10-value card makes fifteen. There are six fifteens for twelve points, plus one pair of fives for two points, for a total of fourteen.

Example 2: Your hand is 7, 8, 8, 9 and the starter is 2. You score two separate runs of three because either 8 can complete 7-8-9. You also score two for the pair of eights, for a total of eight points.

Example 3: Your hand has the jack of hearts and the starter is the 4 of hearts. That jack scores one for nobs. If your other four hand cards are all hearts, the same hand also scores a five-card flush.

Winning and Edge Cases

Traditional cribbage is a race to 121 points. Many quick online rounds summarize one hand at a time, but the scoring logic is the same. Pegging points happen immediately. Hand and crib points are scored after play. The crib always belongs to the dealer, so the deal alternates between players across hands.

You cannot peg a card that would take the running total above 31. Saying go is not a penalty; it simply means you have no legal card. Aces are always worth one in pegging and counting. Face cards are worth ten for fifteens, but their ranks remain jack, queen, and king for runs.

What counts as the current pegging run?

Pegging runs are checked from the latest card backward within the current count. The most recent cards must be rearrangeable into consecutive ranks, and no rank can repeat inside the run. A sequence of 4, 6, 5 scores three when the 5 is played. If the next card is another 5, it may score a pair with the previous 5, but it does not extend the run because duplicate fives break the consecutive set.

Counting order near the finish

In traditional cribbage, pegging points can win before hand counting begins. If neither player reaches the finish during pegging, the non-dealer counts hand first, then dealer counts hand, then dealer counts crib. That order matters in close games. A non-dealer at 118 can win by counting three points before the dealer ever reaches a larger hand or crib.

Hand Counting Checklist

The cleanest way to count a cribbage hand is to use the same order every time. First count every fifteen. Then count pairs, including three-of-a-kind and four-of-a-kind as multiple pairs. Then count runs, watching for double runs created by duplicate ranks. Finally count flush and nobs. Using a fixed order prevents the common beginner mistake of counting the same run twice while missing a fifteen.

A useful practice hand is 5-6-7-8 with a 9 starter. The run of five scores five, but the hand also contains fifteens: 6+9 and 7+8. That makes nine points before any flush or nobs. Another useful hand is 4-4-5-6 with a 6 starter. It has pairs, double runs, and fifteens, which makes it a good test of whether you are counting combinations rather than just spotting the first obvious pattern.