Cribbage Club Free

The best way to learn Cribbage is to practice with a patient teacher. Play Cribbage anywhere on your Android phone or tablet with this free game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cribbage is a card game, traditionally played with two players. Other variations of the game include 3 or 4 players. These rules describe the 2-player game.

 

Objective

 

The winner is the first player to score 121 points. Points are tracked during gameplay by moving pegs on a Cribbage board to keep a running total.

 

Equipment

A standard deck of 52 cards and a Cribbage peg board. Each player has two pegs on the board; the forward peg shows a player’s latest score, while the rear peg shows the previous score.

 

Choosing the First Dealer

Players alternate as the dealer during gameplay. To start a game, each player chooses a card from a face down shuffled deck. The player with the lowest ranked card becomes the first dealer. If the cards are the same rank, both players choose again. Aces are the lowest ranked card.

 

The Deal

At the start of a round, six cards are dealt to each player. Each player selects two cards from their hand to place into a third hand, known as the Crib. This is an extra hand that belongs to the dealer. At the end of a round, the dealer will score points from the Crib in addition to the points scored from their hand.

 

The Start Card

Once two cards from each player have been placed in the Crib, the deck is cut to choose a start card for the round. At the end of a round, players will score their hand based on the four cards in their hand, plus the start card as the fifth card to complete their hand.

 

Heels and the Start Card

If the start card is a Jack, the dealer immediately scores 2 points; this is called Heels and the points are recorded by moving the dealer’s peg up 2 points.

 

Game Play

After the start card has been flipped, players begin alternately laying down cards, starting with the dealer's opponent. The rank of each card is added together after each card is played. Any card can be played as long as the cumulative total does not exceed 31 points. If a player can't play a card without exceeding 31, that player declares 'Go', and the other player continues laying cards until they can't play either.

 

As each card is played, the player announces the running total. Jacks, Queens, and Kings each add 10 to the total; Aces add 1. All other cards add their rank.

 

Once both players have run out of playable cards, a new sequence is started, resetting the count to 0. Play continues until both players have exhausted all the cards in their hand.

 

Scoring Points During Play (Pegging)

• +1 pt: The last player to lay down a card scores 1 point for a Go, or 2 points if the total reaches 31 exactly.
• +2 pts: If the player lays down a card and brings the count to exactly 15.
• +2 pts: By pairing the card that your opponent has just played. e.g. player one lays down a 7, and then player two lays down a 7 to score 2 points.
• +6 pts: Pair Royals, which is three of a kind layed down consecutively. e.g. player one lays down a 4, player two then lays down a 4 (scoring 2 points for themselves for the pair), and then player one lays down another 4, scoring 6 points for player one.
• +12 pts: Double Pair Royals, which is four of a kind layed down consecutively.
• +1 pt per card: A run of 3 or more. e.g. player one lays down a 5, player two plays a 6, and player one lays down a 7, scoring 3 points for player one. A run doesn't have to be in sequence. e.g. it could be a 7, then 5, then 6. Aces are low, so Q, K, Ace is not a run.

 

Hand Scoring

After all players have played all their cards, players retrieve their cards and score their hands. The hand to score consists of the four cards plus the starter card. The dealer also scores points for the Crib hand, which consists of the four Crib cards plus the starter card. The non-dealer scores their hand first, followed by the dealer’s hand and then the dealer’s crib hand.

 

When tallying the Hand or the Crib, points are scored as follows:

• +1 pt:(Nobs) Jack in hand or Crib of same suit as the starter card.
• +2 pts: (Pair) Two of a kind
• +6 pts:(Pair Royal) Three of a kind.
• +12 pts:(Double Pair Royal) Four of a kind.
• +2 pts:(Fifteen) 15-count sum of any combination of cards;
• +1 pt per card:(Run) 3 or more cards in sequence. Aces are low.
• +4 pts:(Flush) Four-card flush, not including the starter card; if the start card is the same suit, it is worth an extra point (5-card flush). A flush is only worth points in the Crib if the start card is the same suit as the Crib cards.

 

End Game

The game is over as soon as either player reaches 121 points, either from pegging, or counting points from the hand. If the non-dealer reaches this total when scoring their hand, the dealer does not get to score their hand. For this reason, it is important to score the hands in order as you near the finish line!