Playing Cribbage
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game for two, or four players that involves forming combinations of cards to accumulate points over a series of hands. Cribbage has several distinctive features, including the use of the cribbage board for score keeping, the eponymous crib, or box (a separate hand made up of discards from each player, counting for the dealer), the existence of two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a scoring system that includes, among other things, points for forming groups of cards that total fifteen.
The object of the game is to be the first person to score at least 121 points. Points are mainly scored for runs (groups of three or more sequential cards, regardless of suit); pairs, triples and quadruples (cards of same rank); flushes (all cards in your hand the same suit, can also include the starter); combinations of cards that add up to 15; and a jack in your hand whose suit matches that of the starter. It is generally played by two people, but can be played by four (as two two-person teams).
The Deal and discarding to Crib
- The deal rotates with each hand. This is important because the crib gives the dealer an advantage (especially in five-card play). If at any point in a hand a player "pegs out" (reaches the winning score of 121), then the game ends and that player wins. Some cribbage boards are marked with an "S" in place of "90" because a losing player is said to be "skunked" if, when the game ends, that player has 90 or fewer points. A player who loses with 60 or fewer is said to be "double skunked". A player who loses with 120 points is sometimes said to be "left in the stink hole.
- It played with a standard 52-card deck, and six cards are dealt and the dealer turns up the top card, called the "starter". Each player then discards two cards face-down to form the crib. (In 4 player crib, players form a partnership and the scores are combined - five cards are dealt and each player places one in the crib). The crib becomes an extra hand for the dealer. The crib is not shown or used but is counted by the dealer at the end of play. Deciding which cards to place in the crib, whether or not you are the dealer, is an enormous part of cribbage strategy.
- If the up card is a Jack, the dealer scores two points for "his heels", also known as "his nibs". This latter term is occasionally confused with "his nobs", which is more correctly used for a Jack of the same suit as the starter, scored during the show part of the game.
- Aces are always low and have a counting value of 1. Face cards always have a counting value of 10 but retain their customary rank for runs, thus 9,10,J,Q,K is a valid run of 5. Because an Ace is always a low card, it forms a run only in combination with a 2 and a 3, not with a Queen and a King. All other cards are worth their face value.
The play
The non dealer starts play by leading a card, and this starts the card counting -- face cards count as 10, the ace counts as 1 and the rest of the cards count as their face value. The dealer then plays and the sum of the two cards played is counted. For instance, if the non dealer laid down a 3 and the dealer laid down a 4, the card count would be shown as 7. The play continues back and forth between players until one player makes 31 and pegs 2 points. The total can not exceed 31.
If a player cannot play a card without bringing the total over 31, the player says "Go" and the other player(s) must play any cards that keep the total at 31 or less; the last player to play a card before the count is reset to zero pegs 1 point for the "go" (if some cards remain unplayed) or for "last card" (if no cards remain unplayed). If said player tallies exactly 31 points, another point for "31" is earned, making two points in total. The count then resets to 0, and the first player having unplayed cards to the left of the player who played last leads the next card.
During the play, players peg points as follows:
- 2 points for bringing the total to 15.
- 2 points if the card is of the same value as the previous card (i.e., completing a pair).
- 6 points for playing a third consecutive card of the same value without the count resetting to zero between any two consecutive cards. This is a "pair royal". Since there are three unique pairs, each earning 2 points, the total value is 6.
- 12 points for playing a fourth consecutive card of the same value, which is called a "double pair royal". The same rationale applies.
- 3 points for completing a run of three cards, 4 for completing a run of four cards, and so on. This is regardless of the order of play, as long as no non-run-making card or a "go" stands in the way, so if the cards played are 6,6,4,2,3, then the player who plays the 3 will score three for a run (4,2,3 i.e. 2,3,4). However, if the order is 2,5, "go",6,7, then no points are awarded for the 5,6,7.
- 2 points for bringing the total to 31.
- 1 point for playing a card such that the total is less than 31, but none of the other players can play without exceeding 31. This is "one for go". The last card played from anyone's hand automatically scores 1 if it does not score 2 for 31, and in this case is called "one for last".
- Flushes do not score points during the play.
The show
After the play, points in each hand are tallied -including the starter card and added to score. The non dealer counts first then the dealer, counts both their hand and the crib. The order in which this is done is important as a player who scores first may peg out and thus win the game even though another player's tally would exceed that score.
Points are scored as follows:
2 points
- for each combination of cards that total 15;
- for each pair
- three of a kind, sometimes called a "pair royal"or "prial", forms three pairs for 6 points;
- four of a kind, being a"double royal" or "double prial", forms six pairs for 12 points.
1 point per card
- for each card in a run;
- for each card in a flush. A flush must be at least all cards in hand (not counting the cards placed in the crib) but may also include the starter card. The crib hand may only score a flush if the starter card is included.
- for the Jack in hand with the same suit as the starter card. This is called by various names, including "his nobs" (most common), "his nob", or "right Jack".
Cards may be used in several different combinations in the same deal, thus a jack may score for his nobs, in a flush, a run, as a 15 (in combination with a 5) and as a pair. Common examples of this are combinations of runs and pairs:
- 10, J, Q, Q is a "double run of three" scoring 8 points. There is one 10-J-Q run of three using the first Q, a second 10-J-Q run of three using the second Q, and the Q-Q pair.
- 4, 5, 5, 5, 6 is a triple run of three, but with four fifteens, to score a total of 23 points. The fifteens are 4-5-6, 4-5-6, 4-5-6, and 5-5-5, and six points are scored for the triple-5.
- 4, 4, 5, 6, 6 is another example of the "quadruple run of three" or "double-eight", scoring 24 points. Sixteen points are scored for two pairs and the four runs of three; eight points are scored for the four combinations of fifteen.
- The highest possible score in six-card cribbage is 29, for a holding of 5, 5, 5, J with a starter of a 5 of the same suit as the Jack. This scores:"fifteen sixteen" - for J-5 four times and 5-5-5 four times,
"and twelve" - for four 5s,"and one for his nobs makes twenty-nine."
Crib Tactics
Forming the crib
There are certain cards and card combinations that are likely to be beneficial to a hand. A non-dealer will try to keep these cards. The dealer will try to keep any good scoring combinations together, either in hand or in the crib. It is usually desirous to keep pairs, runs and combinations totaling fifteen in one’s hand or in the crib. Other potentially useful cards include:
- Fives – As four out of every thirteen cards are worth 10, there is a good chance that a 5 in the crib will help form 15s. A five thrown into a crib guarantees a crib worth at least two points since there is no 5-card combination that includes a 5 but scores fewer than 2 points.
- Sevens and eights - Not only totals 15, but has a chance of meeting a 6 or 9 to complete a run.
- Threes, sixes and nines - Likely to combine to 15.
- Consecutive cards (i.e. A-2, 7-8, J-Q) have the chance to meet the starter or other cards in the crib to form a run.
The Play
Some of these tactics will only work in a two-player game (with more players it is harder to devise a strategy). The player who leads the play should consider the following:
- Do not lead a five; chances are the opponent has a ten or face card and can easily make 15 for two points.
- Playing a four or less guarantees that an opponent cannot make 15 on the next card played. The best that player can do is to complete a pair (which there is no defense against unless one holds at least two of a given card).
- Other than the above, if two cards total fifteen, play one; that way if an opponent takes the score to fifteen for two, the first player can complete the pair to get two points.
- If a hand has a 7 and a 9, or an 8 and a 9, play the 7 or 8. Chances are that the opponent will play for the 15, giving the first player a run of 3 with the 9. In general:
- Play a card from a pair; if an opponent completes the pair for two, the first player can complete a pair royal for six (unless the pair royal would result in the running total to exceed 31, in which case this play is not possible).
- If a hand holds two cards which are two apart in sequence and the middle card in the sequence would total 15 (i.e. a 6 and an 8), playing one of those two cards may result in scoring a run if the opponent plays the card to make the 15 and the first player follows up to complete the run.
- Holding small cards increases the possibility of being able to play the last card for a point or 31 for two points; however, leading a card lower than five prevents the next player from immediately scoring a fifteen.
- Leading with a 6 or a 9 is generally considered a bad play, although there are situations when it can be advantageous.
- Avoid making the count 21 if at all possible. There are 16 cards, comprising 30.8% of the deck, with a value of 10, so making the count 21 gives an opponent a good chance to bring the running tally to 31 and score two points.
Where to play crib
- Canasis Free Games:
- Cribbage Online:
- Dracis:
- eCribbage:
- Game Colony:
- Game Desire:
- IPlay Games:
- iWin Games:
- Kings Cribbage Online:
- Nidink ~ The Online Home of a Gaming Community
- PlayOK Online Games (previously known as Kurnik Online)
- Play Java online games:
- Pogo:
- Renaissance Games Online:
- Safe Harbor Games
- Rubl online games:
- Tams11 Online Gaming Lobby:
- The Gamer Shack:
- World Gaming Center:
- Yahoo! Games: