2025-12-25
Cribbage is the very best weird asymmetrical card game about counting and pattern matching that is also about racing around a little track on a board with pegs.
It’s awesome because of the variety of ways to play and score. When you get dealt a hand, you have to think about three different ways to play it! First you have to do some strategy and discard two cards to the crib to build points for yourself if you’re the dealer. (It’s like setting aside a little treat for yourself for later!) Or if you’re not the dealer, to bust the crib and keep the dealer from scoring too much. Then you play your hand against your opponent to peg points on the board. Then, you score your hand on its own merits. Lastly, if you’re the dealer this round you score the crib. That’s totally cool.
You should get a cribbage board because it’s totally cool, but it’s not strictly necessary. You can make tally marks on a piece of paper. Or you can grab a handful of pennies and draw some boxes on a sheet of paper: one row for the ones, tens, and hundreds places and keep track that way.
If you wanna play cribbage then listen up, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.
Fan the deck, cards face down. Each player draws a card. Low card is the first dealer. The player who is not the dealer is called the “pone” which officially is short for “opponent” but you can pretend it means “pony” if you want. And if the pone is a pony then you might as well call the dealer the “horse” or something.
The dealer deals out six cards to themself and to the pony.
Now to build the crib! Each player looks at their hand of six and discards two cards face down to the crib. So each player, and the crib, all now have four cards. If you’re the pony, you want to discard your worst cards that won’t score anything. If you’re the dealer, you want to balance making your current hand awesome, but also reserving some awesomeness for the crib since you’ll get to score it later.
Now for the starter card! (Sometimes called the turn-up, so feel free to call it a turnip if you want, because that’s cute.) Dealer shuffles the deck and the pony cuts the deck. (I consider it a trifling detail, but the official rules require that the cut both take and leave at least 4 cards minimum.) Dealer places the bottom cut on top of the top cut and flips the top card. This is the starter! Both players get to consider it the fifth card of their hand. This is awesome because it introduces a little bit of randomness into your hand, but a randomness that is slightly predictable and which you can try to think strategically about and try to calculate the odds about.
Now it’s time for the play! Each player takes turns playing their cards, starting with the pony. Rules for scoring and playing will be detailed below in the The Play.
After the play, it’s time for The Showing! This is when you get to score your four-card hand plus the turnip.
If you are the dealer, you also get to score the crib (plus the turnip) during the showing.
That’s one hand! Now the players switch roles: the pony becomes the dealer and the dealer is now the pony. Keep playing until one player hits 121 points (or 61 for a “short game”), at which point the game immediately ends even if you’re in the middle of a hand!
You score points by making pairs, triplets, or quadruplets; and runs or sequences or straights; and flushes; and combinations of cards that add up to 15.
And then there are some special rules for Jacks but we’ll get to that later.
You get to score each unique combination of cards. For example, a triple (or three of a kind) is scored as three pairs. Suppose you have in your hand KING_HEARTS KING_DIAMONDS KING_SPADES. Scoring a triple is the same as scoring three pairs: Kings 1 and 2, 1 and 3, 2 and 3. ( KING_HEARTS KING_DIAMONDS, KING_HEARTS KING_SPADES, KING_DIAMONDS KING_SPADES. )
Same for double runs. Suppose you have THREE_HEARTS FOUR_SPADES FOUR_HEARTS FIVE_DIAMONDS. You would score two runs of three and two pairs: THREE_HEARTS FOUR_SPADES FIVE_DIAMONDS. THREE_HEARTS FOUR_HEARTS FIVE_DIAMONDS. FOUR_SPADES FOUR_HEARTS. So double runs are always 8 points.
But watch this! What if you have this double run? SIX_HEARTS SEVEN_CLUBS EIGHT_SPADES EIGHT_DIAMONDS. You’d get 8 points for the double run. But you’d also get 4 additional points for each EIGHT SEVEN combo (2 points for each 15) for 12 points total.
Anyway, here’s how scoring works.
| Points | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fifteen | Cards that add up to 15 | 2 |
| Pairs | Two cards of the same kind (Pair) | 2 |
| Three of a kind (Triple, or “Pair Royal”) | 6 | |
| Four of a kind (or “Double Pair Royal”) | 12 | |
| Sequences | Three in a row | 3 |
| Four in a row | 4 | |
| Five in a row | 5 | |
| Flush | Four of the same suit in your hand | 4 |
| Four of the same suit in your hand and also the starter matches | 5 | |
| Four of the same suit in your crib | 0 | |
| Four of the same suit in your crib and also the starter matches | 5 | |
| His Heels | When the starter is a Jack (dealer only) | 2 |
| His Nobs | When you have a jack the same suit as the starter | 1 |
Aces have a value of 1. Face cards count as 10s.
You keep score on the board with two pegs, leapfrogging one over the other as you go. When you score during the play or during the show, move the back peg forward of the front peg the number of points you scored. This is so that if you score incorrectly, the original peg is still there marking your previous score. (And so your opponent can be certain that you haven’t pegged more points than you should have.) It’s a built-in undo button!
It is remarkable to note that once both of your pegs are in play you never touch the front peg, but only ever the back peg. In fact, some old rules require that if you ever touch your front peg, on purpose or on accident, you must then place it in the hole immediately behind the back peg! So don’t go around front pegging.
Okay, now you have an idea of how to play and how to score.
The only other thing you need to know during the play, is how to count to 31. Because during the play you can only play cards up to a grand total of 31, at which point you start over counting over from 1.
If you play a card that brings the total exactly to 31, that scores you 2 additional points.
If you bring the total high enough that your opponent cannot play without the total exceeding 31, then that is called a GO and you score an additional 1 point, and get to go again.
So during the play, that’s why each player says the running total out loud.
| Points | ||
|---|---|---|
| Go | When your opponent cannot play without going over 31 | 1 |
| Last Card | When you play the last card without reaching or going over 31 | 1 |
| 31 | When you bring the total to 31 exactly | 2 |
The play is awesome because you get to play off your opponent trying to make 15s and sequences and matches off their cards.
During the showing, you gather all four of your hand cards back up and you score them and the starter as a five-card hand.
If you’re the dealer, you score your hand and the starter, and also the crib plus the starter. So it’s like you have two separate hands to score.
During the showing there is an optional rule called MUGGINS where if you miss any scoring combinations when scoring your hand, and your opponent notices, they can say, “MUGGINS!” and claim your missed points! This is an okay rule because it makes you get really good at scoring out of fear of losing points and giving them to your opponent. But it is also kind of brutal for new players who are trying to learn to score, and can also slow down play while players obsessively score and re-score their hands. So you may or may not enjoy using it.
It is a vulgar error to suppose, that if G, having to score eight, mark but six, — H, his opponent, can take the two points, and add them to own score. I think it the more necessary to speak decidedly on this point, inasmuch as it is a case of frequent dispute. It is, surely, penalty quite sufficient, that G should lose the two points he might have taken, without his being punished in addition, for what may be termed, his unthinking generosity, — anglice “his folly”
The Cribbage Player’s Text-book, George Walker, 1837
First player to hit 121 points, no matter what phase of the game, wins and the game ends immediately.
If the loser only has 90 or fewer points, (that is, they failed to turn the final corner) that is called a SKUNK 🦨, or getting skunked, and it’s worth double (two game points) if you’re playing a match or for money or something.
If the loser has only scored 60 points of fewer, (that is, they are two corners or two streets behind) that is a DOUBLE SKUNK 🦨 🦨 and is worth three game points! For example, if you are playing a three point match (first player to win three games wins) and you double skunk your opponent during the first game, then you won the match!
Skunking is also called LURCHING, or getting left in the lurch.
There are four of every card, one for each suit. But there are 16 tenth cards: the TEN, JACK, QUEEN, and KING of each suit. So you should probably never lead with a FIVE since you opponent will likely respond with a tenner and score fifteen–two. Likewise, be cautious of bringing the total to 20 or 21, because your adversary likely has a tenner with which to score a Go or a 31.
FOUR is always a good card to lead with because it is the largest number that is too small to make a 15 with a single reply.
You can try to tease a run by “playing on” your opponent. (Playing a card value close to theirs, as opposed to “playing off,” or playing a card far away from theirs.) Suppose you hold THREE_HEARTS FOUR_SPADES FIVE_DIAMONDS and your opponent leads with SEVEN_CLUBS. You could try to force the run by playing on the FIVE_DIAMONDS in hopes that they follow up with a SIX. This would peg them 3 points for the SEVEN FIVE SIX run, but it also allows you to respond with the FOUR_SPADES and peg 4 for the run.
Traditional boards have rows of 30, divided up into groups of five for easy counting. So make one trip up and down the board (30 and 60 points), and then a second lap (90 and 120). This is where the “street” terminology comes from. You might hear somebody talk about being on First Street. Or second, third, or fourth streets. This refers to which 30 point segment of the track they’re on.
This also makes some terminology more clear and visually apparent: a skunk happens if you haven’t started the last half of your second lap. And a double skunk is when you haven’t even started your second lap.
Modern popular boards have a continuous track with three segments and two bends, kind of like a paperclip. This is nice because you don’t have to keep track of which lap you’re on.
For three players, you need a three track board. Deal five cards to each player, and one card to the crib. Each player discards one card to the crib, leaving each with four in hand. With one card dealt to the crib, and three cards discarded to the crib, the crib has four cards. Play proceeds as normal.
There is another variation called Captain that can be played with three players on a two track board. One player is the Captain and starts at the end of 2nd street, on peg 60. Thus, the Captain only needs 61 points to win. The other two players are on a team and track their combined scores with the remaining pegs on the remaning track, starting at peg 1. Play otherwise proceeds as normal for 3 players.
Four players can play doubles on a two-track board. Partners sit across from each other like in bridge. One partner from each team is responsible for pegging and keeping score. Deal five cards to each player. Each player discards 1 card to the crib. Play proceeds as normal. Partners can help each other score their hands and the crib.
I know of two solitaire cribbage games: cribbage solitaire, and cribbage squares.
For cribbage solitaire, deal three cards face down to your hand, two cards to the crib, and three more cards to your hand. View your hand and discard two cards to cards to the crib. (You are always the dealer, and the crib always belongs to you.) Flip the top card of the stock to show the starter. There is no play, so simply score your hand and your crib. (Keep track of your score on a board or on paper.) Discard the eight cards from your hand and your crib and return the starter to the bottom of the stock. Repeat this process a total of six times: dealing, scoring, discarding 8 cards, returning the starter to the bottom of the deck. After the sixth hand, there will be four cards left. Score these as a hand with no starter. If you don’t get skunked, you win! Alternately, reshuffle the deck and continue playing until you score 91.
Cribbage squares is played similar to poker squares, for those who are familiar. The goal is to arrange 16 cards in a four by four grid to score as much as possible vertically and horizontally. Start by mentally blocking out 16 foundations in a 4x4 grid. Deal one card face up to square 6, assuming the squares are numbered left to right, top to bottom. (That’s the square one column over and one row down.) Subsequent cards can be played in any square adjacent to an existing card, up down left right or diagonal. If there are no available adjacent squares, a card may be played two spaces away. If there is no space available two squares away, a card may be played three spaces away. After all 16 squares have been filled, flip one card to the side to be the starter. Score each column and each row. If you score at least 61 (if you don’t get double skunked) you win!
In Reverse Cribbage, you try to force your opponent to score 121 before you.
In Auction Cribbage, any player may bid for the right to own the crib after the cards are dealt. Bidding continues in turn until no further bids are offered. The winning bidder then immediately deducts that number of points from their score. The winner both gets the crib and also scores their hand first, making it especially valuable in a tight endgame. If no bid is placed, the dealer retains the crib.
There is a variation designed for the Heckadeck called Bizarro Cribbage that you can find at the morelies.pub forum: https://moreliespub.freeforums.net/thread/17/bizarro-cribbage
This is such a great story.
A Chemistry Teacher Learns a Lesson
If you are thinking of putting a bragging Cribbage player to the test and deflating his ego, here is how I did it once.
“Joe, come up to the house sometime and I’ll show you how to play Cribbage,” remarked the chemistry teacher at a Wisconsin high school where I was the head football coach some years ago.
“That’s my game,” continued the test-tube expert. “I know all the hands at a glance, and I know all the tricks of the trade, especially in pegging,” my friend with the superiority complex continued.
I thought to myself, “I know how I’ll fix him. I’ll put him to my special test; and I do hope it works.”
So one night when I had no special plans, I casually dropped in on him and he immediately pulled out the board and the deck of cards, saying: “Joe, you’ll never forget this night.”
I retorted: “I probably won’t, and I think that you’ll always remember it too.”
There was nothing at stake except honor. We split the first two games and he said: “What will you have to drink?” I answered that any kind of soft drink would do, and while he was at the refrigerator I took the four fives out of the deck and placed them neatly under the Cribbage board.
Believe it or not, we played five more games and he never missed the five-spotters. I beat him four of those five games and his balloon was apparently punctured.
I thanked him for the enjoyable evening and lifted the Cribbage board to show him the fives, remarking: “You certainly know your Cribbage. You played five games without missing the fives.” I have used this treatment on other braggarts, and fortunately, no one has popped me on the jaw. So be careful, and keep your distance with your chin up if you try this stunt.
How to win at cribbage, Joseph P Wergin, 1980
In the 1600s, there was a guy named Johnny Suckling, which means Johnny “Yet To Be Weaned From The Teat.” Which is ironic because he inherited the entirety of his considerable family fortune at 18 years old, and then spent all his time writing poems and being an absentee landlord. One time he laid in bed for five days playing with a deck of cards and invented Cribbage. It was based on an older, now extinct card game called Noddy, which means “fool,” which is what he proceeded to take all his friends for. He sent a deck of marked cards to each of his wealthiest friends, and then visited them and played Cribbage for money, and made “£20,000.” The source is unclear on whether this was 1600s pounds or 2000s pounds. But if that was 1600s pounds, then that is the equivalent of millions today, which is absolutely bananas.
Johhny Suckling then planned a prison heist to rescue a friend of his who was incarcerated in the Tower of London. Unfortunately, the plot was discovered and he fled to France for safety. Rather than just living amongst the French as a fugitive and exile, he instead decided to take poison and die.
He was 33.
So there you have it. Presumably invented to rob a bunch of rich lords and ladies of their ill-gotten generational wealth, Cribbage nonetheless (or therefore!) remains a much beloved game today. Eat the rich! Play Cribbage!