Cribbage rules and scoring

• Scoring
• The deal
• The play
• Counting a hand
• Winning
• Score sheet

Each hand, players are dealt six cards and put two face down into the crib — a bonus hand the dealer counts later — and one shared cut card is turned face up. First comes the play (pegging): you take turns laying cards against a running total, scoring for fifteens, runs, pairs and 31. Then comes the show: each hand is counted, with the cut card as a fifth card. First to 121 wins.

The rules below are for two players, the classic game. Three- and four-player differences are noted in the deal.

What's worth what

Every combination counts, and cards are reused across them — score each fifteen, each pair and each run your five cards can make, then add them together.

Combination	Points
FifteenAny cards totalling exactly 15. Face cards count 10, aces 1. Count every combination separately.	2
Pair	2
Three of a kindThree separate pairs.	6
Four of a kindSix separate pairs.	12
Run of three or moreOne point per card. Suits don't matter; aces are low, so K-A-2 isn't a run.	1 per card
Flush in the handAll four hand cards one suit; 5 if the cut matches too. In the crib, all five cards must match.	4
His NobsIn the show: the Jack in your hand matching the cut card's suit.	1
His HeelsWhen the cut card is a Jack, the dealer scores immediately.	2
Hitting 31In the play, bringing the count to exactly 31.	2
Last cardIn the play, laying the final card of a sequence that stops short of 31.	1

Double and triple runs

These are the same rules applied to overlapping cards, but they're worth knowing by sight:

Double run of threee.g. 3-4-5-5: two runs of three and a pair.	8
Double run of foure.g. 3-4-5-6-6: two runs of four and a pair.	10
Triple rune.g. 3-4-5-5-5: three runs of three and three of a kind.	15
Double double rune.g. 3-3-4-5-5: four runs of three and two pairs.	16

Fifteens are counted on top of all of these.

The deal

• Deal six cards each. Both players look, then discard two face down to the dealer's crib, leaving four cards in each hand and four in the crib.
• The non-dealer cuts the deck and the dealer turns the top card face up — the cut card. If it's a Jack, the dealer pegs 2 for His Heels.
• The crib stays face down until the show. Nobody looks at it, the dealer included. The deal alternates every hand.

Three players: five cards each, plus one card dealt straight from the deck into the crib; everyone discards one. Four players: five cards each, everyone discards one, and partners sitting opposite peg a single shared score.

The play (pegging)

• The non-dealer plays first, then you alternate, laying one card face up and calling the running total out loud. Nobody may take the total past 31.
• Combinations come from the cards on the table, not just your own: lay a 7 on their 8 for fifteen-two, or match the card just played for a pair.
• A run doesn't have to be played in order — 4, then 6, then 5 completes 4-5-6 — but it can't span a pair: play 2-3-3-4 and only the pair scores.
• If you can't play without going over 31, say “go.” The other player keeps playing if they can. When neither can, whoever laid the last card pegs 1 — or 2 for hitting exactly 31, never both.
• The count then resets to zero and play continues. Nothing played before a reset can pair or run with anything after it.

The show: counting a hand

• The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer, then the dealer's crib — turned face up for the first time. Order matters near the end: the non-dealer can win before the dealer counts.
• Every hand counts the cut card as a fifth card, and so does the crib.
• By convention, count fifteens first, then pairs, then runs, then flush and His Nobs — it makes a missed point easy to catch.

The best possible hand: 29

Three 5s and a Jack in hand, with the fourth 5 cut in the Jack's suit. Eight fifteens (16), four of a kind (12), and His Nobs (1). No hand can score 19, 25, 26 or 27 — which is why players say “nineteen” for a hand worth nothing.

Winning

First to 121 wins, the instant they get there — mid-play or mid-count, with no finishing the hand. There's no landing on it exactly and no going bust.

Common variants

• Muggins: if a player undercounts, an opponent can call it and take the missed points.
• Skunk: beat someone who hasn't reached 91 and it counts as two games; under 61 is a double skunk.
• Short game: play to 61, once around the board.