Cribbage rules

These are the standard rules for two-player, six-card cribbage, the game most people play and the one on this site. You need a standard 52-card deck and a cribbage board (ours is built in). Play cribbage online as you read.

The goal

Be the first to move your peg 121 points. Points come from pegging (during play) and from counting your hand (after play).

1. The deal

Cut the deck; the lower card deals first (ace is low). The dealer gives 6 cards to each player, one at a time. The deal then alternates every hand.

2. The crib

Each player chooses 2 cards to put face down in the crib. The crib belongs to the dealer and is counted at the end of the hand, so the dealer throws cards that score well together (like a pair or two cards that make 15), and the non-dealer throws cards that don’t.

3. The starter

The non-dealer cuts the deck and the dealer turns up the top card: the starter. It counts as part of both hands and the crib. If the starter is a jack, the dealer pegs 2, called “two for his heels.”

4. Pegging (the play)

The non-dealer lays the first card face up and says its value. Players take turns, each adding a card and calling out the new total. Face cards count 10, aces 1, the rest their number. The total can never go above 31.

15: making the count exactly 15 pegs 2.
31: making the count exactly 31 pegs 2, and the count starts over.
Pairs: playing the same rank as the card just played pegs 2; a third in a row is 6; a fourth is 12.
Runs: if the last 3 or more cards played make a run in any order (5, 3, 4), peg 1 per card.
Go: if you can’t play without going over 31, say “go.” Your opponent keeps playing as long as they can, then pegs 1 for the go (or 2 if they hit 31 exactly). The count starts over and the other player leads.
Last card: whoever plays the very last card of the hand pegs 1 (unless it made 31).

5. The show (counting)

After pegging, players pick their cards back up and count them with the starter, in this order: the non-dealer’s hand, then the dealer’s hand, then the crib (for the dealer). The order matters: near the end of a game, the non-dealer can reach 121 and win before the dealer gets to count.

Fifteens: every different group of cards that adds to 15 scores 2.
Pairs: every pair scores 2 (so three of a kind is three pairs: 6).
Runs: 3 or more cards in rank order score 1 each. A run counts again for each different card that could make it: 7, 8, 8, 9 is two runs of three.
Flush: all 4 hand cards of one suit score 4, or 5 with the starter. In the crib, only a 5-card flush counts.
Nobs: the jack of the same suit as the starter scores 1.

starter

12 points. Fifteen 2, fifteen 4, pair is 6, run of 3 is 9, run of 3 is 12.

starter

20 points. Fifteen 2, fifteen 4, fifteen 6, fifteen 8, pair is 10, run of 3 is 13, run of 3 is 16, flush of 4 is 20.

And the best hand in cribbage, 29:

starter

29 points. Fifteen 2, fifteen 4, fifteen 6, fifteen 8, fifteen 10, fifteen 12, fifteen 14, fifteen 16, pair is 18, pair is 20, pair is 22, pair is 24, pair is 26, pair is 28, one for his nobs is 29.

Winning

The game ends the moment someone reaches 121, even in the middle of pegging. If the loser hasn’t reached 91, it’s a skunk, which many players count as two games.

Ready? Play a game of cribbage, or check what a hand is worth with the cribbage hand calculator.