Cribbage Game Rules
Cards
Standard deck of 52
Keeping Score
Typically, you will have a cribbage board composed of a series of pegging holes laid out in tracks or lanes for each player. Most boards count to 121 holes for “The Win” and there are smaller versions which count to 31 or 61. Don’t have a board or pegs? Just keep track of your points using pencil and paper.
Players
2, 3, and 4 players can be accommodated. All players/opponents, who are not the current dealer, are referred to as a “Pone”.
Object of the Game
Be the first player to obtain 121 points. Points are earned during stages of gameplay by making a specific combination of cards. Points are tracked by “Pegging”. The act of moving pegs by the amount counted during play. A pair of pegs are used by each player to keep track of points acquired during gameplay. The rear most peg leap frogs over the first to count out the players' points.
Game Setup and Play
2 Players
Variations for 3 & 4 players are listed later.
- The Setup: Cutting, dealing, and discarding.
- The Play: Alternating play of cards to obtain points while counting to 31.
- The Show: Each player tally’s points in their hand. The dealer of each round gets an extra set of cards which were earlier discarded, called The Crib.
Points and Pegging
- Nibs, Heels or His Heels: Starter card is a Jack – the Dealer pegs 2 points
- Wrong Person Cuts the Deck: Opponent pegs 2 points
- Upper Cut: Pone examines the bottom card of the split when revealing the starter card – Dealer pegs 2 points
- Left-Right Jab: Dealer accidentally puts the starter card into their hand. – Dealer pegs Negative 2 as a penalty. Then the pone randomly selects two cards from the dealer’s hand, choses one card to become the starter card and returns the other to the dealer’s hand.
- Go: Unable to play a card less than 31 - Opponent pegs 1 point.
- 31: Played card brings cumulative total to "31" - Player peg 2 points.
- Last Card: Last card played during "The Play" - Peg 1 point.
- Fifteen: Any combination of cards which total 15 - Peg 2 points
- Pair: Any matching pair of cards - Peg 2 points
- Triple, Triplet or Three of a Kind: Any three matching cards - Peg 6 points
- Four or Four of a Kind: Any four matching cards - Peg 12 points
- Nobs or “His Nobs”: Jack with the same suit as the starter card – Peg 1 point
- Sequences or “Runs”: A sequence of three or more cards, regardless of suit. Points are pegged for the number of cards in the run.
- Flush in the Hand: Any four cards of the same suit in the player's “Hand” only - Peg 4 points
- Flush in the Crib: If the four cards in the Crib match the suit of the Starter card - Peg 5 points
- Muggins: “Stealing” points from your opponents because they failed to account for them in their hand. Muggins cannot be called on “Nibs”.
Detailed Scoring Examples
Here are some specific examples to illustrate how scoring works:
- A hand of 6, 6, 4, 9, with a starter card of 5, scores 12 points: two pairs of 6s (4 points) and two combinations of 15 (6 + 9, 5 + 4 + 6) for 8 points.
- A hand of 7, 8, 8, 2, with a starter card of 3, scores 8 points: one run of three (7-8-9) for 3 points, and a pair of 8s for 2 points, plus three combinations of 15 (7 + 8, 8 + 7, 2 + 3 + 8) for 6 points.
Strategy Tips
To improve your game, consider these basic strategies:
- During the discard phase, think ahead about potential combinations, especially if you're the dealer and will benefit from the crib.
- Pay attention to the pegging phase, aiming to control the flow and force your opponent into difficult positions.
- Try to remember which cards have been played, to better anticipate what your opponent holds.
Misdeals
If a misdeal occurs, here's how to address it:
- A misdeal is declared if a player is dealt the wrong number of cards. The deck should be reshuffled, and the deal passes to the next player.
- No penalty is typically applied for a misdeal, but repeated misdeals by the same player may result in the deal passing to the next player as a courtesy.
Winning / Wins
When a player has reached the last peg hole or 121 points. Some boards have a series of pegs outside of the game-playing area to keep track of “Wins”. This is where you would use the third peg, to track the number of wins for each player.
Multiple Players
There are slight differences when playing with more than 2 players. Play is clockwise, and the person to the right of the dealer cuts the deck.
- 3 Players: Each player gets 5 cards during the setup and one card is dealt directly to the crib. Each player discards one card to the crib so that each hand has 4 cards.
- 4 Players: Each player gets 5 cards during the setup. Each player discards one card to the crib so that each hand has 4 cards.
- 4 Players – Partners or Teams: Partners sit diagonally from each other. Each player gets 5 cards during the setup. Each player discards one card to the crib.
Dealing With a Tied Game
In the rare event of a tie, where both players reach the winning score in the same hand:
- The player who reached the score during play, not during the show, is declared the winner.
- If both players reach the winning score during the same phase of the game, the player who did not deal the hand is declared the winner.
Variations of Cribbage Play
- Aces: Aces can be high or low (1,2,3 or Q,K,A) and counted as either 1 or 11.
- Sevens or Sevens and Eights: Mandatory discard of sevens and eights into the Crib. No more than two cards.
- Play to Lose: Objective is to lose the game. Sabotage the dealer’s crib with good cards so you have the lowest points possible for each hand.
- Peg Out Challenge: You can only win by getting the exact number of points needed to peg out to 121. Generally won during “The Play” since you can get 1 or 2 points to reach 121.
- The Black Hole: If your leading peg is within 5 points of 30, 60, 90, and 120, then you cannot count your hand – you can only get points during the play. Sorry – if you are the dealer, then you throw out the crib too.
- 19: If you have Zero points when counting your hand (not the crib), peg negative 19 points.
- Five Card Cribbage: Generally, only played to 61 points for the win. Due to the advantage the dealer has during Five Card play, the pone starts the game with 3 points pegged on the board.
- Seven Card Cribbage: Generally, played to 181 points for the win. 7 cards are dealt to each player and one to the crib. Two cards are discarded to the crib from each player. Flush can be with 6 cards – 1 point for each card.