Cribbage
His Nobs vs His Heels
Two jacks. Two scores. People mash the names. His nobs is 1 point in the show for a jack in your hand that matches the starter's suit. His heels is 2 points the dealer pegs before play if the starter itself is a jack. One versus two. Hand versus cut. The call at the table is "one for his nob" or "two for his heels."
Kitchen-table American cribbage: 52 cards, race to 121, two people, six each, throw two. The scoring FAQ and the glossary already define nobs. This page is the ranking: which jack, which phase, 1 or 2. Point packets live on the scoring chart. The play to 31 lives on pegging. First-night order lives on how to play cribbage. Count this jack in cribbage practice.
One for his nob, two for his heels
Same rank. Different job. The starter is the face-up cut after you throw to the crib. It is a shared fifth card later, when you count. It is not a card you play toward 31.
| Call | Also called | When | Who | Peg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One for his nob | nobs, his nobs | Show: a jack in your four, or in the crib, matches the starter's suit | Whoever holds that jack | 1 |
| Two for his heels | heels, nibs, his heels | Cut: the starter itself is a jack | Dealer only | 2 |
Some uncles swap the 1 and the 2. That is not a common variant. It is a family telephone game. On this site, and at most kitchen tables: nobs is 1, heels is 2.
His nobs: the jack in your hand
After pegging, pone counts their four plus the starter. Then dealer. Then the crib. In that show, look at every jack you still hold.
- The jack must be in your four, or in the crib when the crib is counted.
- Its suit must match the starter. Rank of the starter does not matter. A 4 of hearts makes the jack of hearts nobs. A jack of hearts as the starter is heels, not nobs.
- It is 1 point, counted with the rest of the hand. Say it out loud: "and one for his nob."
The jack still counts as 10 for fifteens. It still pairs another jack. It still sits in a run. Nobs is extra. A heart flush that includes the heart jack, with a heart starter, is 5 for the flush and 1 for nobs. The flush does not eat the jack.
Nobs in the crib
Same math. If the four crib cards include the jack of the starter's suit, dealer pegs 1 when the crib is counted. Pone does not get that point. The crib belongs to the dealer.
The 29 is nobs
The highest legal hand is 29: three 5s and the jack of nobs, starter a 5 of that same suit. Eight fifteens (16), six pairs of 5s (12), and 1 for his nob. Without nobs the cap is 28. You will not deal this at the kitchen table. You will deal ordinary jacks that people forget to count.
His heels: the starter is a jack
Non-dealer cuts. Dealer turns the starter. If that card is a jack — clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades — dealer pegs 2 right then. Before pone leads. Before anyone says a running total. That is two for his heels.
- Dealer only. Pone cut the pack. Dealer still takes the 2. That is one reason the deal is an edge.
- Any jack. Suit does not matter for heels. It is the rank on the cut.
- Peg immediately. Heels is not a show line. It is already on the board when pegging starts. Near 121, those 2 can end the game before a card is played.
The starter jack is not played toward 31. It still joins every show count as the fifth card. Dealer does not also get nobs for that same jack. It is sitting on the pack, not in anyone's four.
Nibs versus nobs
Search results mix the words because they sound like the same joke. They are not.
- Nobs = his nobs = one for his nob = 1 in the show.
- Nibs = his heels = two for his heels = 2 at the cut, dealer only.
Some American tables say "nibs" when they mean nobs. The glossary on this site keeps heels and nobs as two entries. If someone at the table says nibs, ask which jack they mean: the one in the hand, or the one they just turned.
Walk through both jacks
Two-player. Both have thrown. These are the four each seat kept.
Nobs, no heels
Pone: 5 of hearts, 6 of clubs, 8 of clubs, jack of diamonds.
Dealer: 4 of spades, 7 of hearts, 9 of hearts, king of spades.
Starter: 10 of diamonds. Not a jack, so no heels. Pegging happens. Then the show.
Pone counts first. The jack of diamonds matches the starter's diamonds. That is 1 for his nob, on top of whatever fifteens, pairs, and runs the 5-6-8-J plus 10 make. Dealer's four has no jack. The crib might. If the crib holds the jack of diamonds — it cannot, pone already has it — dealer would take nobs there instead.
Heels, no nobs
Same four cards. Starter this time: jack of clubs. Dealer pegs 2 for his heels before pone leads. The club jack is on the pack. Pone's diamond jack is the wrong suit, so it is not nobs. Nobody holds the club jack. Dealer has 2 on the board, then you play to 31, then you count hands without a nobs line from that cut.
You cannot stack them on one suit. Four jacks in the deck. One of each suit. If that suit's jack is the starter, it is not also in a hand.
What people miss
- Calling nobs on any jack in hand. Suit has to match the starter.
- Pegging nobs during the play. The starter is not a card you play.
- Letting pone take heels because pone cut. Heels is dealer.
- Skipping nobs inside a flush. Add the 1.
- Counting heels again in the show. It already went on the board at the cut.
- Swapping the 1 and the 2 because an uncle always did. Nobs is 1. Heels is 2.
Optional muggins: if the dealer forgets heels, pone can claim the 2. Kitchen tables often just tap the board and remind. Agree before you deal. The glossary keeps the names. This page keeps the ranking.
Night-one ranking, not a solver: when the cut is a jack, peg 2 before you lead. When you count, check every jack against the starter suit. Then go back to the scoring chart for fifteens and runs, or to pegging if the miss was in the play.