Cribbage Rules
The complete rules of standard two-player cribbage, as played on this site and at kitchen tables everywhere. If you've never played at all, start with the gentler beginner's guide.
Players, cards, and the board
Cribbage is played with a standard 52-card deck, most often by two players and also by four in fixed partnerships (partners sit across from each other and score together). Aces are always low and count 1; face cards count 10; other cards count their number. Rank order for runs is A-2-3 … J-Q-K (runs don't wrap around). Score is kept on a cribbage board; the first player or partnership to peg 121 points wins immediately, at any point in the hand. A short game to 61 is also common.
The deal
- Players cut for first deal; the lower card deals first. The deal then passes to the left every hand.
- The dealer shuffles, an opponent may cut, and the dealer deals six cards to each player, one at a time.
- Four-handed: each player is dealt five cards instead, and the deal moves around the table.
The crib
Each player discards exactly two cards face-down to form the crib — or one card each in the four-handed game, which fills the same four-card crib. The crib belongs to the dealer and is scored at the end of the hand, so the dealer wants good cards in it and the non-dealer wants junk in it. Discards are hidden until the crib is counted.
The starter ("his heels")
The non-dealer cuts the remaining deck; the dealer turns the top card face-up. This is the starter. If it's a jack, the dealer pegs 2 points at once ("his heels" or "his nibs" — terminology varies; on this site, the 2 for the turned jack is his heels, and the 1 for a jack in hand is nobs). The starter takes no part in the play but is added to every hand and the crib for the show.
The play (pegging)
- The non-dealer plays first. Players alternate laying one card face-up, announcing the running count of all cards played.
- The count may never exceed 31. A player who cannot play a card without exceeding 31 says "go".
- After a go, the opponent must keep playing while they legally can. They then peg 1 point for the go — or 2 points if they bring the count to exactly 31 (the 2 replaces the 1; it isn't added to it).
- The count then resets to zero, and the player who did not play the last card leads the new count.
- Play continues until all eight held cards have been played. The player of the very last card pegs 1 for last card (2 if it makes exactly 31).
- During the play you also peg for fifteens, pairs, and runs — the values are on the scoring chart. Runs during play may form in any order across the most recent cards, as long as no interrupting card sits between them and the count hasn't reset.
The show
Hands are counted in a fixed order: non-dealer's hand, dealer's hand, then the crib. Each is scored as five cards — the four held plus the starter — and every distinct combination counts: fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes, and nobs (a jack of the starter's suit). One special rule: a flush in the crib only counts if all four crib cards and the starter share a suit, while a hand flush counts with just the four held cards (five with the starter). The best possible hand is 29 points: three fives and a jack, with the matching five as the starter.
The counting order can decide games: if the non-dealer reaches 121 while counting first, the game ends there and the dealer's hand and crib are never counted.
Winning, skunks, and muggins
- The game ends the instant a player pegs their 121st point (61st in a quick game) — during play, on his heels, or mid-show.
- Skunk: traditionally, losing without reaching 91 is a skunk (a double game in match play); under 61 is a double skunk. On this site a win is a win — skunks are just bragging rights.
- Muggins: an optional house rule where an opponent may claim points you overlook. It's not used here — the table counts every hand automatically and shows you where each point came from.