Cribbage
How to Play Partnership Cribbage
House name is Partnership Cribbage. Four people. Partners sit across. Deal 5 each. Each player discards 1 to the dealer's crib. The crib is 4 — four discards, no extra from the pack. Peg on a shared track. First partnership to 121 wins.
This is not 2-hand cribbage (6 each, 2 to the crib, non-dealer leads). This is not 3-hand cribbage (everyone for themselves, 5 each, dealer adds 1 from the pack). Not euchre. Pick it from tonight with 4 players.
What you need
- Four people. Partners sit across. 4 is this game.
- A standard 52-card deck. No jokers.
- A cribbage board — two colors, partners share one track (two pegs of one color). Paper is a poor substitute.
Need a picture of the streets and the two pegs: the cribbage board explained. Game is 121.
Deal five, one to the crib
Cut for first deal, low card deals. Shuffle. Deal five cards to each player, clockwise. The leftover pack sits in the middle.
- Each player discards one card face down to the dealer's crib.
- The crib now has four cards (4 × 1). Do not add a card from the pack. That extra is 3-hand only.
- The player left of the dealer cuts the remaining pack. The dealer turns the starter.
His heels still scores 2 if the starter is a jack — for the dealer's side, not a private dealer column. Nobs is still 1 in a hand that holds the jack of the starter suit.
Peg clockwise on a shared track
The player to the left of the dealer plays the first card. Play goes clockwise. Go, 31, pairs, and runs count the same as two-hand. Each person still holds four cards after the discard, so the play is four hands of four.
Partners peg on the shared track. Your 15 helps the partnership. Two pegs of one color, same as two-hand — you just share them with the person across the table.
After the cards are played, count in this order:
- Player left of the dealer counts their hand.
- Then around the table.
- The dealer counts their hand, then the crib last.
First partnership to 121 wins. A skunk is still 121 plus a full street, if your table plays it. Scoring chart: cribbage scoring. Same pairs, fifteens, runs, flush, and nobs as two-player cribbage.
Walk through one first-night hand
You sit South. Partner is North. East dealt — the crib is East's. You throw a 4 face-down into it.
Pegging: West plays a 5. You play a 10. "Fifteen for two." Those two points go on the track you share with North, not a private South column.
Count left of dealer, then around, East's hand, then East's crib last. First partnership to 121.
What this is not
- Not 2-hand: 5 cards not 6, 1 to the crib not 2, partners, left of dealer leads. The two-player how-to and two-player trainer are off-ramps — they are not a 4-hand table.
- Not 3-hand: not everyone for themselves, and nobody feeds the crib from the pack. 3-hand cribbage for three people.
- Not euchre.
What changes from two-hand and three-hand
| 2 players | 3 players | 4 players (partners) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cards dealt | 6 each | 5 each | 5 each |
| Discards to crib | 2 each | 1 each, dealer adds 1 from the pack | 1 each, no extra from the pack |
| Crib size | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Who plays first | Non-dealer | Left of dealer | Left of dealer |
| Partners | No | No — everyone for themselves | Yes — sit across |
| Game | 121 | 121 | 121 |