Cribbage
A card and board game where counting card combinations scores points on a peg track.
- Players2 players (variants for 3 to 4)
- Play time20 to 30 minutes
- DifficultyIntermediate
- OriginEngland, early 17th century, credited to poet Sir John Suckling
- You'll needA standard 52-card deck, a cribbage board with 121 holes (or paper for scoring), and pegs.
Overview
Cribbage is a card game built around a distinctive scoring system: players earn points not just for winning hands outright, but for specific combinations of cards — pairs, runs, and combinations that add up to 15 — tallied both during play and when hands are counted afterward. Scores are traditionally tracked by moving pegs along a dedicated cribbage board rather than writing numbers down, giving the game its recognizable physical centerpiece.
The game is generally credited to the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 1600s, who adapted it from an earlier game called "noddy." Its emphasis on quick mental arithmetic, combined with a fairly short playtime, has kept it a popular pub and family game in England and North America for centuries, including a long-standing tradition of shipboard and military play.
What You Need
You need a standard 52-card deck, a cribbage board with 121 holes arranged in tracks (or a sheet of paper if no board is available), and four pegs, two per player, used to mark and remember your running score.
Setup
Deal six cards to each player in a two-player game. Each player then looks at their hand and sets aside two cards face down to form a separate four-card hand called "the crib," which belongs to the dealer and is scored at the end of the round. The non-dealer cuts the remaining deck, and the dealer flips the top card of the cut, called the "starter," setting it aside to be used later in scoring.
How to Play
Players alternate playing one card at a time face up, calling out the running total of the cards played so far, which cannot exceed 31. Points are scored immediately during this phase for reaching exactly 15 or 31, for pairs formed by consecutive plays, and for runs of three or more consecutive ranks played in a row regardless of order. If a player cannot play a card without exceeding 31, they say "go," and their opponent scores a point and may continue playing further cards if possible. Once all cards have been played, each player's original four-card hand is scored using the starter card as a fifth card, followed by the dealer's crib, also scored with the starter card added.
How to Win
Points are scored by moving pegs along the cribbage board, and the first player to reach the target score, traditionally 121 points, wins the game immediately, even in the middle of counting a hand. Hand scoring rewards combinations of cards adding to 15 (2 points each), pairs (2 points), runs of three or more (1 point per card in the run), and a flush of four or five cards in the same suit (4 or 5 points); holding the jack matching the starter card's suit ("his nobs") adds one more point.
Tips
- When setting aside cards for the crib, keep pairs and cards close to 15 out of your own hand only if it's not your crib.
- Avoid handing your opponent easy 15s or pairs during the play phase when you have a choice.
- Try to be the one to say 'go' near the end of a play sequence, since it earns a point.
- Count carefully — cribbage rewards players who spot every scoring combination, not just the obvious ones.
- Remember that a run doesn't need to be played in order, only to consist of consecutive ranks.
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting to score 'his nobs' — the jack matching the starter card's suit.
- Miscounting a hand and missing a combination that adds to 15 or 31.
- Discarding your best scoring cards into the opponent's crib without thinking it through.
- Playing a card that pushes the count past 31 by mistake.
Variations
Three- and four-handed cribbage adjust the deal and crib contributions to include more players, sometimes with one player sitting out a hand of the deal. Five-card cribbage, an older version, deals five cards instead of six and plays to a lower target score of 61. Some players use a longer "double" cribbage board and race to 121 points twice for a full match.
Frequently Asked Questions
The crib is the extra four-card hand set aside by both players during the deal, which belongs to the dealer alone and is scored at the end of the round, effectively giving the dealer a scoring advantage each time they deal.
A hand containing the four 5s along with a jack as the starter (matching one 5's suit) scores 29 points, the maximum possible for a single hand.
Traditionally each player counts their own hand aloud so the other can verify it, and an error that undercounts your own hand generally cannot be corrected once your opponent has moved on, which is why careful counting matters.