The first deal is determined by each player cutting a card. The lowest card wins the deal. After, the deal alternates from hand to hand until the game is over. Each player is dealt 6 cards in a 2 player game or 5 cards in a 4 player game.

Discard

Each player selects two cards (one card if 4 players) to discard to form a 4-card crib. This 4-card crib is set aside until the end of the hand. The crib will count for the dealer. Non-dealer (or Pone) will try to throw cards that are unlikely to make valuable combinations, but must balance this against keeping a good hand for himself. Dealer, on the other hand, may sometimes find it pays to place good cards in the crib - especially if they cannot be used to best advantage in hand.

Starter Card

One of the undealt cards is turned face up. It is the starter card - it will count for combinations as part of all players' hands as well as for the dealer's crib. If the starter card is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs 2 holes - this is called Two for his heels.

The Play

Starting with the non-dealer (or player to the left of the dealer in 4 player game), the players take turns to play single cards. You play your own cards to form a face-up pile in front of yourself, keeping them separate from the other players' cards. In this stage of the game the total pip value of the cards played by both players must not exceed 31. The pip values of the cards are: Ace = 1; 2 to 10 = face value; jack = 10; queen = 10; king = 10.

As each card is played, the running total is shown under the starter card next to the open cards (e.g., 'on table: 16'). If a card is played which brings the total exactly to 31, the player who did it pegs 2 points - called '31 for 2'.

A player who cannot play without exceeding 31 does not play a card but says 'Go', leaving his opponent to continue if possible, pegging for any further combinations made (see below). Bringing the total to exactly 31 pegs 2, but if neither player can lay a card without going over 31, then the last player to lay a card pegs one for the go or one for last.

The cards that have been played are grayed and a fresh round of play starts with the unplayed cards in exactly the same way. The opponent of the player who played last in the previous round (scoring Thirty one for two or One for last card) plays first in the new round. This second round of play again continues until neither can play without going over 31. The last player again scores "1 for last" or "31 for 2", and if either player has any cards left there is a further round. Play continues for as many rounds as necessary until every players' cards are exhausted. Towards the end, it may happen that one player has run out of cards but the other still has several cards. In that case the player who still has cards simply carries on playing and scoring for any combinations formed until all his cards have been played.

Example: Player A has king-king-2-2; player B has 9-8-7-6.

First round: A plays king - "10"; B plays 6 - "16"; A plays king - "26"; B says "go"; A plays 2 - "28"; A plays 2 - "30 for 3". A pegs 3, namely 2 for the pair of twos and 1 for playing the last card of this round.

Second round: B plays 8 - "8"; A has no cards left so cannot do anything; B plays 7 - "fifteen two" (B pegs 2 points); B plays 9 "24 for 3 and 1 for last" (B pegs 4 points: three for the run 7-8-9 and one for playing the last card).

Please note: it is never possible to score "one for last" and "31 for 2" at the same time. They are alternatives. If you make exactly 31 for two points you do not get an additional "one for last".

Tactical note: It is often worth keeping low cards in hand for this phase of the game, especially when there is a strong possibility of being able to peg out before one's opponent.

Scoring During Play

A player who makes any of the following scores during the play pegs them immediately:

• 15: If you play a card which brings the total to 15 you peg 2 claiming Fifteen two.
• 31: As mentioned above, if you play a card which brings the total to exactly 31 you peg 2.
• Pair: If you play a card of the same rank as the previous card (e.g. a king after a king) you peg 2 for a pair.
• Pair Royal: If immediately after a pair a third card of the same rank is played, the player of the third card scores 6 for pair royal
• Double Pair Royal: Four cards of the same rank, played in immediate succession. The player of the fourth card scores 12.
• Run: A run or sequence is a set of 3 or more cards of consecutive ranks (irrespective of suit) - such as 9-10-jack or 2-3-4-5. The cards do not have to be played in order, but no other cards must intervene. Score equals to a number of cards in a run.
• Last card: If neither player manages to make the total exactly 31, whoever played the last card pegs 1 point.

The Show

All of the cards that were put down during the play are now retrieved and score for combinations of cards held in hand. First the non-dealer's hand is exposed, and scored. The start card also counts as part of the hand when scoring combinations. All valid scores from the following list are counted:

• 15: Any combination of cards adding up to 15 pips scores 2 points. For example king, jack, five, five would count 8 points (four fifteens as the king and the jack can each be paired with either five). This combination would be marked as fifteen: eight.
• Pair: A pair of cards of the same rank score 2 points. Three cards of the same rank contain 3 different pairs and thus score a total of 6 points for pair royal. Four of a kind contain 6 pairs and so score 12 points.
• Run: Three cards of consecutive rank (irrespective of suit), such as ace-2-3, score 3 points for a run. A hand such as 6-7-7-8 contains two runs of 3 (as well as two fifteens and a pair) and so would score 12 altogether. A run of four cards, such as 9-10-J-Q scores 4 points (this is slightly illogical - you might expect it to score 6 because it contains two runs of 3, but it doesn't. The runs of 3 within it don't count - you just get 4), and a run of five cards scores 5.
• Flush: If all four cards of the hand are the same suit, 4 points are scored for flush. If the start card is the same suit as well, the flush is worth 5 points. There is no score for having 3 hand cards and the start all the same suit. Note also that there is no score for flush during the play - it only counts in the show.
• One for His Nob: If the hand contains the jack of the same suit as the start card, you peg One for his nob.

After a non-dealer's hand has been shown and the score pegged, dealer's hand is shown, scored and pegged in the same way. Finally the dealer exposes the four cards of the crib and scores them with the start card. The scoring is the same as for the players' hands except that a flush in the crib only scores if all four crib cards and the start card are of the same suit. If that happens the flush scores 5.

Cribbage Hands -- Statistics and Facts

Cribbage 29 Hand!

The highest possible cribbage hand score is 29 points -- three Fives and a Jack in hand with the starter card (or cut card) being a Five of the same suit as the Jack - for "One For His Nobs".

The chances of getting this highest possible 29 Cribbage hand are 1 in 216,580!

Cribbage 28 Hand

This 2nd highest scoring cribbage hand can happen with any combination of Ten or Jack or Queen or King for a cut card combined with four Fives in hand except the above 29 hand

The chances of getting this 28 Cribbage hand are 1 in 15,028.

Cribbage 24 Hand

The 3rd highest cribbage hand is 24 Examples include: Ace with four Sevens, Nine with four Threes, etc.

Impossible Cribbage Hand Scores

It is impossible to get point scores of 27, 26, 25 and 19 for a cribbage hand. There is no possible combination of 5 cards that will produce the above point totals. In over-the-board cribbage, sometimes a Cribbage player will score zero points for their hand if they claim that they have a "19 hand".

Cribbage Hands' Stats

There are 12,994,800 possible cribbage hands if the cut card variations are included. Mathematically, the average hand score is calculated as 4.77 points. In the real hand statistics, however, the average hand point score is higher as cribbage players exercise control over their hands when they discard.

Dealer and Pone Average Hands

As the dealer tries to maximize the score in both the hand and the crib, the average hand for the dealer is lower than the average hand for pone. Statistics show that real Dealer's hands averages 7.95 points and the Pone's hand: 8.10 points.

Crib

Statistics show that average crib score in Cribbage averages 4.65 points.

Highest Dealers Score for a Hand and a Crib

The highest possible Dealer's score (excluding the pegging stage) for a dealer is 53 points. The starter must be a 5, and one hand must have J555 while the other has 4466. The first being a 29 (with the Jack of the correct suit) and the second being 24.

Minimal Points for Pegging

The dealer will always peg at least one point during the pegging stage. If pone is able to play at each turn then dealer must score at least one for "last", if not, then dealer scores at least one for "go".

Average Pegging

Statistically, the dealer outpegs the pone during the average hand. On average, the dealer pegs 3.5 points per hand, while pone pegs an average of only 2.1 points.

Average Sum Points

The dealer can expect to score about 16 points on each hand (including crib and pegging), and pone can expect to score, on average, 10 points (including pegging).

Maximum Scores During Pegging

Dealer can score up to 26 points. Dealer holds 4,4,4,7, pone holds 4,8,10,K, and the cut card is a Jack. The sequence of play is 8, 7, 4, 4, "go", 4, "go", 4; K, 10. Dealer scores 2 for his heels, 2 for fifteen, 2 for pair, 6 for pair royal, 12 for double pair royal, and 2 for 31. Pone scores 1 for last.

Pone can score up to 18 points. The first 7 cards played are in the order 2,A,3,5,4,7,6, and dealer's last card is 4 or larger for "go". Pone scores for runs of 3, 5, and 7, plus 2 for fifteen and one for "go".

Cribbage rules simplified

First, for the people who don’t know Cribbage, let me give you a quick primer. In a two-player match, each player is dealt six cards. They each discard two cards into a hand that we call “the crib.” Then, the non-dealer cuts the deck and the dealer reveals the card at the cut point. This is the starter card. There’s a part of the game called the play, but we’re not going to focus on that here. Instead, we’ll look at the count. There are five (5) ways to make points at the count:

• Fifteens: every card combination that adds up to fifteen is worth 2 points. Numbered cards have a value equal to their rank, the ace is worth one point and all figure cards are worth 10 points.
• Pairs: every pair (two cards with identical rank) is worth 2 points. This means that three of a kind is worth 6 points and four of a kind is worth 12 points.
• Flush: If every card in the hand is of the same suit, each card is worth one point. If the hand is the crib, the starter card must be of the same suit, otherwise no points are awarded.
• Straights: straights of three or more cards are worth one point per card. Only the longest straight(s) are counted.
• His Nobs: if you have a jack in your hand and that its suit is equal to the suit of the starter card, that is worth one point.

Starter Card

One of the undealt cards is turned face up. It is the starter card - it will count for combinations as part of both players' hands as well as for the dealer's crib. If the starter card is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs 2 holes - this is called Two for His Heels.