How to play cribbage: rules, pegging and counting
Updated · 4 min read
Cribbage is a two-player card game with its own scoreboard, a long board full of holes where each player moves pegs forward as they score. It has a vocabulary all its own, from fifteen-two to his nobs, and it sounds complicated until you play a hand. After that, it is one of the most satisfying card games there is. Here are the standard rules, the common variations, and how our version handles them.
What you need and the goal
- Two players and a standard 52-card deck. Aces are low and count 1; jacks, queens and kings count 10; other cards count their number.
- A cribbage board with two pegs per player, or any way of keeping a running score.
The goal is to be the first to score 121 points. Points come from three places every hand: the play, where you score as cards are laid down, the show, where you count your hand, and the crib, a bonus hand that belongs to the dealer.
Setup, the crib and the starter
The dealer gives each player six cards. Each player then chooses two cards to lay away face down into the crib. The crib belongs to the dealer and is counted at the end of the hand, so the dealer throws cards that help it, and the other player throws cards that will not. The deal alternates every hand, so the crib does too.
The non-dealer then cuts the deck and the dealer turns up the top card of the lower half. This is the starter, and it counts as a fifth card for both hands and the crib. If the starter is a jack, the dealer pegs 2 points at once, called his heels.
The play
Starting with the non-dealer, players take turns laying one card face up in front of themselves and calling out the running total of all cards played. The total may never go past 31. You peg points during the play for:
- Making the total exactly 15: 2 points. Making it exactly 31: 2 points.
- Playing a card of the same rank as the one just played: 2 for a pair, 6 for three of a kind, 12 for four.
- Completing a run of three or more with the most recent cards, in any order: 1 point per card.
- If you cannot play without going over 31, you say go. Your opponent keeps playing while they can, then pegs 1 for the go (or 2 for reaching exactly 31). The count resets to zero and play continues.
- The last card of the play pegs 1.
The show: counting your hand
After the play, each player counts their four cards together with the starter. The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer counts their hand, then the dealer counts the crib. Every combination scores:
- Each different combination of cards adding to 15: 2 points. Fifteen-two, fifteen-four, and so on.
- Each pair: 2 points. Three of a kind holds three pairs, so it scores 6.
- Each run of three or more: 1 point per card. A card can count in more than one run.
- A flush, four cards of one suit in the hand: 4 points, or 5 if the starter matches. A flush in the crib needs all five cards.
- The jack of the same suit as the starter: 1 point, called his nobs.
The highest possible hand is 29: three 5s and the jack of the fourth suit, with the matching 5 as the starter.
Winning
Points are pegged the moment they are earned, so a game can end in the middle of the play or the show. That is why counting order matters: the non-dealer counts first and can win before the dealer counts. A loser who has not reached 91 is skunked, and one who has not reached 61 is double skunked, which some players count as extra games won.
Common house rules
- Muggins: each player counts their own hand aloud, and if they miss points, the opponent may claim them.
- Short game: some groups play to 61 for a quicker match.
- Three or four players: five cards each, one to the crib, with partners in the four-player game.
How cribbage plays on Knockout
Our Cribbage is the standard two-player game to 121, with skunks under 91 and double skunks under 61. The play is always pegged for you, and by default the show is counted automatically, line by line. The host can switch on muggins, where you count your own hand and crib: come up short and your opponent pegs what you missed, claim too many and it is corrected. It is two players only, with no 61-point game or partnership version. A Hint button suggests the two cards to lay away, using the same reckoning as the Hard computer player.
Beginner tips
- Treasure 5s. So many cards count 10 that a 5 makes fifteens everywhere. Keep them, or throw them only into your own crib.
- Do not give your opponent's crib a pair or two cards that add to 15.
- Lead a card of 4 or lower. Your opponent cannot make 15 in reply.
- Avoid making the count 5 or 21. A 10-card in reply makes 15 or 31 for your opponent.
Where to play cribbage free
Cribbage is free in a browser here. Against the computer there is no sign-up: open it and pick Easy, Normal or Hard. Hard weighs what each throw is worth to the crib and plays the pegging carefully. To play a friend, make a free player (a username and a PIN or password), create a game and send the invite link or code.
For another two-player classic, Gin Rummy is covered in How to play gin rummy: rules, knocking and scoring, and Backgammon in How to play backgammon: rules, moves and scoring. More games for two are in The best 2-player games to play online.