What you need
Two players, a pack of 52 cards and a cribbage board with two pegs each. The board is the score: each point moves you one hole, and you leapfrog your back peg over your front one, so the gap shows your last score ACC r.8.1.
Card values: an ace is 1, kings, queens, jacks and tens are 10, every other card its number ACC r.1.3.c. For pairs and runs, cards go by rank, ace low: a 10 and a jack are not a pair, and queen, king, ace is not a run.
The goal
Be the first to 121 points ACC r.1.1. The game ends the moment someone gets there, even in the middle of a count.
One deal, step by step
- Cut for the deal. The lower card deals first ACC r.3.2.a.
- Deal 6 cards each, one at a time ACC r.4.2.a.
- Throw 2 cards each face down into the crib, a spare hand that belongs to the dealer ACC r.1.5.c.
- Turn up the starter. The pone cuts the pack and the dealer turns up the top card of the bottom part. A jack gives the dealer 2, his heels.
- The play. Take turns laying cards and keep a running count, never past 31. Score for 15, 31, pairs, runs and the last card.
- The show. Count each hand with the starter: the pone first, then the dealer, then the crib ACC r.9.2.
- Deal again. The deal passes to the other player, until someone reaches 121.
Scoring at a glance
| In the play | Points |
|---|---|
| Count reaches 15 | 2 |
| Count reaches 31 | 2 |
| Pair | 2 |
| Three of a kind | 6 |
| Four of a kind | 12 |
| Run, in any order, a card | 1 |
| Last card, or go | 1 |
| In the show | Points |
|---|---|
| Each fifteen | 2 |
| Each pair | 2 |
| Run, a card | 1 |
| Flush in the hand, or with the starter | 4 or 5 |
| Flush in the crib, only with the starter | 5 |
| Nobs: the jack of the starter’s suit | 1 |
| His heels: the starter is a jack, to the dealer | 2 |
Winning
Reach 121 first. Win while your opponent is still under 91 and you skunk them.
These pages follow the American Cribbage Congress rulebook, 2025 edition. The ACC numbers point to its rules. Where players differ, we say so.
Questions
- How many cards do you deal in cribbage?
- 6 each with two players. Each player throws 2 into the crib and keeps 4.
- What do you need to win at cribbage?
- 121 points. The game ends the moment a player reaches it.
- Does the starter count in the play?
- No. The starter is never played. It counts as a fifth card in each hand and in the crib.