How to Play Cribbage

Play cribbage Hand counter Scoring

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This guide describes standard two-player, six-card cribbage to 121 points. Use a 52-card deck without jokers. Aces are low; they count as 1.

Jacks, queens and kings count as 10; other cards have their printed value.

The goal is to reach or pass 121 before the other player. A score can end the game during pegging, during the show or when a jack is turned as the starter. You do not have to land on 121 exactly.

Deal six and make the crib

For a tabletop game, cut to choose the first dealer: the lower-ranked card wins the deal; cut again on a tie. The dealer shuffles, offers the deck for a cut and deals six cards to each player, one at a time, starting with the non-dealer. Alternate the dealer after each completed deal.

In this browser game, the first dealer is chosen by a cut: you and the computer are each shown one card, and the lower rank deals. A tie cuts again. After a hand that does not end the game, the deal alternates with no second cut.

Choose two of your six cards and place them face down. Your opponent does the same. These four discards form the crib, an extra hand belonging to the dealer.

Both players keep four cards for play.

Example discard: dealt A♣, 2♦, 3♥, 4♠, 9♣, K♦; keep A♣, 2♦, 3♥, 4♠ and put 9♣, K♦ into the crib. This illustrates the action, not a claim that it is the best choice.

Six dealt cards: ace of clubs, two of diamonds, three of hearts, four of spades, nine of clubs, king of diamonds.

Kept

A♣ 2♦ 3♥ 4♠

Dealer's crib

The same example after the discard: four kept cards stay face up, and the nine of clubs and king of diamonds go face down into the dealer’s crib. This is an illustration, not a recommended discard.

After the discards, the non-dealer cuts the remaining deck and the dealer turns up the starter. It is shared for counting later, not played from either hand. If it is a jack, the dealer scores 2 immediately for heels.

Deck

Starter

5♥

The starter, here the five of hearts, sits beside the deck. It is not part of either player’s four playable cards.

Peg without going past 31

The non-dealer plays first. Take turns laying down one of your four cards and announcing the cumulative value of cards played since the last reset. For example, 4, then 7, then 3 produces running totals of 4, 11 and 14.

Score immediately when your play makes a scoring combination: a total of 15, a pair or longer same-rank sequence, a run, or exactly 31. See the separate scoring tables for the points. The starter does not take part in pegging.

If you have a card that fits without taking the total above 31, you must play one; you cannot choose Go instead. If none fits, say Go. Your opponent then continues with any cards that still fit, scoring combinations along the way.

When nobody can add a card, the last player to play scores 1, unless the sequence ended at exactly 31, which scores 2 instead. Do not add another point for last on top of 31. Reset the count to zero.

The opponent of the last player leads next if they have cards; if only one player has cards left, that player continues.

Go example: at 28, one player has only a 6 and cannot play it. The opponent has an ace, plays it for a count of 29 and then cannot continue. That opponent receives 1 for last.

The player holding the 6 leads the next sequence at zero.

Player A · count 28

Holds only a 6, which would pass 31, so Player A says Go. Go itself scores nothing.

6♣

Player B · plays the ace

Count becomes 29. Player B then cannot continue and scores 1 for last.

A♣

Count reset to 0

Player A leads the next sequence and may play the 6.

6♣

28, then Go, then an ace for 29 and 1 for last, then the count resets to 0. The last-card point goes to the player who laid the ace, not to the player who said Go.

Count the hands, then the crib

After both players have played their four cards, count in this order:

Non-dealer’s hand plus the starter.
Dealer’s hand plus the same starter.
Dealer’s crib plus that starter.

Cards are not used up by pegging; each player’s original four kept cards are counted at the show. Count every distinct fifteen, every pair and all longest runs, then check flush and nobs. One card can contribute to different scoring combinations.

A flush in an ordinary hand can score for the four kept cards alone. A crib flush requires all four crib cards and the starter to match suit. Use the hand counter to explore that difference.

Non-dealer · 12

6♣ 7♦ 7♥ 8♠

Starter: king of clubs. Two runs of three, a pair, and two fifteens.

Dealer · 4

A♥ 4♠ 6♦ 8♣

Same starter. Ace + 4 + king, and ace + 6 + 8, are two fifteens.

Crib · 8

5♥ 10♠ 9♣ K♦

Same starter, the king of clubs. Three fifteens and a pair of kings. The suits do not match, so no crib flush.

One shared starter, the king of clubs, is used for the non-dealer’s hand (12), the dealer’s hand (4), and the crib (8). Count them in that order.

Return to the game

Finish as soon as someone goes out

If a player reaches or passes 121, stop immediately. Do not finish the opponent’s count, score a remaining crib or start another deal. Otherwise, change dealer and deal again.

These are the core game rules, not a complete tournament procedure manual. Muggins and other optional arrangements should be agreed separately; do not assume a house rule applies everywhere.

Sources

American Cribbage Congress, 2025 rulebook, rules 1, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 10; Pagat: two-handed play and winning. Checked 7 November 2026. This guide is not endorsed by the ACC.