The deal, the discard, and the crib
Every hand of cribbage starts the same way. Six cards each, keep four, and throw two into a side pile called the crib. This first stop covers where the game came from, what you are playing for, and how a hand begins.
Cribbage, in short
Cribbage is a card game for two people, played with a normal 52-card deck and a board with 121 holes. An English poet named Sir John Suckling invented it around 1630, and the rules have barely moved since. You will find it in British pubs, on American submarines, and at a great many kitchen tables.
You are racing to 121 points. Every point you score moves your peg forward on the board, and the first peg to reach the last hole wins, even in the middle of a count. Points come from combinations of cards, mostly cards that add up to fifteen, pairs, and runs of three or more.
Every hand has five beats, and the stops on this path follow them in order. This stop covers the first three.
- Deal six cards each
- Throw two to the crib
- Cut one card for all
- Play count to 31
- Show score your hand
What the cards are worth
Three card facts power all the counting that follows. An Ace counts as 1, never 11. Number cards count their number. Jacks, Queens, and Kings all count as 10. Suits never matter for totals. They only matter for flushes and for one small bonus called nobs.
An Ace is 1, a seven is 7, and a Queen is 10.
The deal
Cut the deck to see who deals first. Lowest card deals. The dealer shuffles and gives each player six cards, one at a time. After that the deal alternates every hand, and that matters more than it sounds, because the dealer owns the crib.
The discard and the crib
Look at your six cards and pick two to throw away. Both players do this at the same time, face down. Those four cards form the crib. It is a third hand, and it belongs to the dealer. At the end of the hand the dealer counts their own four cards first, then the crib.
So the first question every hand is, whose crib is it? When the crib is yours, the two cards you throw still work for you, so throw cards that fit together. When the crib is your rival's, throw the coldest cards you can spare. A King and a loose low card travel well. A pair of fives is a gift.
The usual rule of thumb is to keep the four cards that score together right now, before the cut. Pairs, cards that add to fifteen, and three in a row are all worth holding.
Eight discards, worked out
The same hands the trainer deals, with the best throw picked out and the numbers already run.
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Rival's crib
Three fives and a Jack make fifteens all day. The 7 and the 2 make nothing with them, so they are the easy throw.
Hand 16.6 · throw 0.6 · net 16.0
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Your crib
4-5-6-6 is a double run before the cut even lands. The King and the 9 add nothing, and it is your crib, so they still count for you.
Hand 15.4 · throw 0.5 · net 15.9
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Your crib
Your crib. A pair of threes thrown into it is a gift to yourself. It can pair again, run with a two or a four, or make a fifteen with a nine.
Hand 6.3 · throw 2.3 · net 8.6
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Rival's crib
Same six cards, but now the crib is the rival's. The pair of threes would feed them, so the six and a ten-card go instead. Flip the toggle and watch the best throw change.
Hand 6.7 · throw 0.6 · net 6.2
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Rival's crib
Six through nine is a run of four already. Six and nine make a fifteen, and so do seven and eight. The King and the Queen are the throw.
Hand 10.6 · throw 0.9 · net 9.7
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Rival's crib
Four hearts is a flush worth 4 before anything else scores. The two off-suit cards are the throw.
Hand 6.4 · throw 0.6 · net 5.8
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Rival's crib
Some hands have no good keep. Hold the cards closest to each other in rank and give the crib the loose ends.
Hand 5.3 · throw 0.6 · net 4.7
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Your crib
Two sevens, an eight, and a nine pair and run together. The 2 and the 3 go to your own crib, where they still might help.
Hand 14.4 · throw 1.5 · net 15.9
The cut
Once both players have thrown, the non-dealer cuts the deck and the dealer turns the top card of the lower half face up. That is the cut card. Older books call it the starter. It never joins the pegging count, but in the show it acts as a fifth card for your hand, your rival's hand, and the crib. One cut card, three hands.
If the cut card is a Jack, the dealer scores two points on the spot. That is called his heels. It is easy to confuse with nobs, which is holding the Jack of the cut card's suit in your hand. Heels is the Jack turned up. Nobs is the Jack held.