Cribbage terms

Cribbage

Crib

The four discards form a second hand for the dealer, counted after the dealer's own hand. Each player discards two cards face down to form the crib. It belongs to the dealer of the hand. After counting their own hand in the show, the dealer also counts the crib with the cut card. Discard well. Feed your own crib when you deal, and starve your rival's when they do.

Cut

After the discard, the deck is cut and the top card turned up as the cut card. Once both players have discarded to the crib, the deck is cut and the top card of the lower half is turned face up. That is the cut card, and it counts in every show. If it is a Jack, the dealer pegs 2 immediately (his heels).

Cut Card · cut card, starter, starter card

The card turned up by the cut. It joins both hands and the crib for the show count. The cut card is the card the cut turns face up before pegging begins. Some tables 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. A Jack cut card pegs the dealer 2 (his heels).

Dealer

The player who dealt this hand. Owns the crib, counts last in the show. The role alternates every hand. The dealer shuffles and deals, owns the crib, and pegs 2 on the spot if the cut card is a Jack (his heels). The deal alternates every hand, so the crib advantage swings back and forth. The dealer counts last in the show, which matters in a tight race to the final hole.

Double Skunk

Losing without ever reaching the halfway mark. In a 121-hole game, that means never reaching hole 61. A double skunk is the rarest rout in cribbage. The loser never reached hole 61 of a 121-hole board. It is humiliating enough that a game got named after it.

Fifteen · fifteens

Any set of cards totaling exactly 15 scores 2 points. Fifteens score 2 points everywhere. In pegging, they fire the moment the running count lands exactly on 15. In the show, every distinct combination of cards totaling 15 counts separately. Aces count 1 and face cards count 10, which is why fives are the most dangerous cards in the deck.

Flush · flushes

Four hand cards of one suit score 4 in the show. Five with the cut card scores 5. If all four cards in your hand share a suit, that is a 4-point flush in the show. If the cut card matches too, it is 5. The crib is stricter. A crib flush only scores when all four crib cards and the cut card share a suit.

Go · gos

Unable to play without passing 31, you say Go. Your rival pegs 1 and the count resets. During pegging, if every card left in your hand would push the count past 31, you say Go. Your rival pegs 1, plays any cards they still legally can, and the count resets to zero. There is no bust in cribbage. A Go is the whole penalty.

His Heels · nibs

A Jack turned up as the cut card. The dealer pegs 2 at once. When the cut turns up a Jack as the cut card, the dealer immediately pegs 2. Older rulebooks call it nibs. Not to be confused with nobs, which is holding the Jack of the cut card's suit in your hand.

Last Card · last-card, last cards

Playing the final card of a pegging sequence pegs 1. Landing it exactly on 31 pegs 2 instead. Whoever plays the last card of a pegging sequence pegs 1 point. If that final card lands the count exactly on 31, it pegs 2 instead. The 31 bonus replaces the last-card point. They do not stack.

Muggins

An optional rule. Points you miss while counting, your rival may claim. A traditional table rule. Each player counts their own show aloud, and any points the counter misses can be claimed by the rival. It punishes sloppy arithmetic and rewards knowing the rules cold.

Nobs

Holding the Jack of the cut card's suit scores 1 in the show. If your hand (or the crib being counted) holds the Jack of the same suit as the cut card, that is 1 point for nobs in the show. The mirror rule, a Jack turned up as the cut card, is his heels and pegs 2 for the dealer.

Non-Dealer

The player who did not deal. Counts first in the show, which can decide a photo finish. The non-dealer discards to the dealer's crib, plays first in pegging, and counts first in the show. Counting first is a real edge late in the match. A non-dealer can peg out on their count before the dealer ever reaches theirs. Old rulebooks call this player the pone.

Pair Royal · double pair royal, pair royals, double pair royals

Three of a kind scores 6. Four of a kind (a double pair royal) scores 12. Pairs build fast. A pair is 2, three of a kind (a pair royal) is 6 because it holds three distinct pairs, and four of a kind (a double pair royal) is 12 because it holds six. The same math applies in pegging when consecutive cards match rank.

Pegging · the play

The first scoring phase. Alternate playing cards while the shared count climbs toward 31. Pegging (the play) is the head-to-head phase between the discard and the show. Players alternate laying cards, announcing the running count, which may never pass 31. Fifteens, pairs, runs, 31s, Gos, and last cards all peg points the moment they happen.

Pone

An old rulebook word for the non-dealer. You will see pone in traditional cribbage writing. It simply means the player who did not deal. These pages say non-dealer.

Run

Three or more consecutive ranks score 1 point per card. Suits do not matter. Three or more cards of consecutive rank (suits irrelevant) score 1 point per card. In the show, a pair inside a run doubles it. 4-5-6-6 is two runs of three. In pegging, the run cards need not be played in order. 4 then 6 then 5 still completes a run of three.

Show

The counting phase after pegging. Your four cards plus the cut card score fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes, and nobs. After pegging, hands come back and are counted with the cut card as a fifth card. Every distinct combination scores, and the same card can appear in several combinations. The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer's hand, then the dealer's crib.

Skunk · skunked, skunks

Winning before the loser reaches hole 91 of a 121-hole game. A margin of 31 or more. If the loser never reached hole 91 on a classic 121-hole board, they have been skunked. League play often counts a skunk as a double win. Lose by even more, never reaching hole 61, and it is a double skunk.

Stinkhole

Hole 120, one short of victory. The worst seat in the house. Tradition names hole 120 the stinkhole. One hole short of winning, and every count seems to come up empty. Some house rules forbid pegging out of it on a Go or a 31.

Thirty-One · 31, 31s

The pegging ceiling. Hitting exactly 31 pegs 2 and resets the count. You can never pass it. The running count in pegging may never pass 31. Landing exactly on 31 pegs 2 points and resets the count to zero. If you cannot play without passing it, you say Go. There is no bust. The cap simply limits which cards are playable.

In Double Skunk

These words are the game's own. None of them change the cribbage underneath.

Consumable

A one-use card in Double Skunk. Rank cards join the play as an extra pegging card. Effect cards fire before the discard. Consumables are one-use cards, carried two at a time and restocked at the shop. Rank cards (Ace through King) are played during pegging and score like any card from your hand. Effect cards are played during the discard window, before your two cards go to the crib, and bend the hand ahead of you. Spent is spent.

Deck Tell

In Double Skunk, honest wear on a card back, pinned to a rank or suit, so a face-down card can be read by an attentive player. A deck tell is a bent corner, a torn edge, or a smudge on the back of a card, earned on the Long Tally and pinned to one rank or one suit. The worn back names the card it hides, so a marked card lying face down in the crib can still be read. Tells render on your own hand as well, since one deck deals to both seats. The table gives no readout, so a tell is worth only what your memory makes of it.

Powerup

In Double Skunk, a table modifier installed in a slot. Scores route through your powerups and grow before your peg moves. A powerup watches for a kind of score and grows it: flat additions first, then multipliers, and the grown number is what pegs. Powerups fire in slot order, left to right, level up for bigger numbers, and come from the shop.

Retreat

In Double Skunk, backward peg motion caused by disruption powerups during the play. A retreat moves a peg backward. Your disruption powerups knock the rival's peg back when you score the right thing during the play, and a rival's disruption powerups can knock your peg back the same way. A retreat never scores points for anyone.

Synergy Cluster

In Double Skunk, a family of powerups that all play off the same cribbage idea, each marked by an animal sigil and color. Every powerup belongs to one of nine synergy clusters. Fifteens, Pairs, Runs, Pegging, Nobs and Nibs, Whole Hand, Gold, Utility, and Flushes. A cluster's animal sigil and hue appear on the card corner. The powerup guide lists the full key.

The powerup guide · The consumable guide