Cribbage
Cribbage Scoring
Cribbage scores in small packets that add up to 121. You peg during the play (fifteens, pairs, runs, 31, and last card), then you count each four-card hand with the starter, then the dealer counts the crib. A fifteen is always 2. A pair is always 2. A run is 1 per card. A jack of the starter's suit (nobs) is 1. The dealer also pegs 2 for his heels if the starter is a jack.
You will want a cribbage board so those packets stay visible. Paper works. A board is better. Once the chart below feels familiar, count real hands in cribbage practice. The QuickStart is the short order of play.
Two places you score
- Pegging (the play of the cards, running total up to 31).
- The show (each player's four cards plus the starter, then the dealer's crib plus the same starter).
Same building blocks in both places: 15s, pairs, and runs. Flushes and nobs happen only in the show. His heels happens only when the starter is turned.
Non-dealer counts their hand first. Then dealer counts their hand. Then dealer counts the crib. That order matters, because the first player to reach 121 wins, even if the dealer still has a fat crib waiting.
Hand and crib scoring chart
Count every combination. One card can be used in more than one fifteen.
| Combination | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fifteen | 2 | Any cards that sum to 15. Face cards count 10. Ace counts 1. |
| Pair | 2 | Two cards of the same rank. |
| Three of a kind (pair royal) | 6 | Three pairs inside the three cards. |
| Four of a kind (double pair royal) | 12 | Six pairs inside the four cards. |
| Run of 3 or more | 1 per card | Ace is low. Q-K-A is not a run. |
| Double run (a run with one pair) | 8 for a run of 3, 10 for a run of 4 | Two copies of the run, plus the pair. |
| Four-card flush in the hand | 4 | All four cards in your hand, not the crib, same suit. Starter is a different suit. |
| Five-card flush | 5 | Four in hand plus starter, all one suit. In the crib, you may score a flush only if all five are the same suit. |
| Nobs | 1 | A jack in the hand or crib of the same suit as the starter. |
The crib uses the same fifteen, pair, run, and nobs math. Flush is the exception: the crib needs all five cards in one suit.
Pegging scoring chart
Play cards one at a time onto a running total that cannot pass 31. Face cards are 10. Ace is 1.
| Play | Points | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fifteen | 2 | Your card makes the running total exactly 15. |
| Thirty-one | 2 | Your card makes the running total exactly 31. |
| Pair | 2 | Your card matches the rank of the card just played. |
| Three of a kind | 6 | Third card in a row of that rank. |
| Four of a kind | 12 | Fourth card in a row of that rank. |
| Run | 1 per card in the run | The cards most recently played can be rearranged into a consecutive sequence. Order played does not have to be in sequence. |
| Go | 1 | Opponent cannot play without passing 31, and you just played the last legal card of this series. |
| Last card | 1 | You play the last card of the whole pegging round and the total is not 31. |
If you hit 31, you score 2 for 31. You do not also score 1 for last card on that same play.
After a 31, or after neither player can add a card, the count resets to 0 and any remaining cards are played in a new series.
Fifteens, pairs, and runs
Count every mix that totals 15, not just two-card pairs.
- 10 and 5: one fifteen, 2 points.
- King, queen, and 5: king-5 and queen-5, 4 points. King and queen do not make 15.
- 7 and two 8s: 7+8 twice, 4 points.
A 10-count card (10, jack, queen, king) is not a pair with another 10-count of a different rank. Pairs need matching ranks. During pegging, the pair has to be consecutive in the play: 7 then 7 is 2, a third 7 right after is 6. 7, 8, 7 is not a pair.
In the show, runs ignore suit and order in your hand. 4-5-6 is 3. 4-4-5-6 is a double run of 3 (8), plus fifteens if any. Ace is low: A-2-3 scores, Q-K-A does not. During pegging, mixed order still counts: 3, then 5, then 4 scores 3 for the player of the 4.
Flushes and nobs
Flush in your own hand: four cards the same suit is 4. If the starter is also that suit, 5.
Flush in the crib: all five or nothing. This is why people throw mixed suits to the opponent's crib and matching suits to their own.
Nobs is 1 point for a jack in the hand or crib that matches the starter's suit.
His heels (nibs) is different. If the starter itself is a jack, the dealer pegs 2 before play starts. That jack is not nobs. Nobs is a jack still in someone's four cards.
A counted hand, slowly
Your four cards: 6 of hearts, 7 of hearts, 8 of clubs, 8 of spades. Starter: 9 of hearts.
- Fifteens: 6+9, and 7+8, and 7+8 again. Three fifteens, 6 points.
- Runs: 6-7-8-9 twice (the two 8s). That is a double run of 4, which is 10 (two runs of 4 is 8, plus the pair).
- Pair of 8s is already inside that 10. Do not add it again.
- No flush (only two hearts in hand besides the starter's heart), no nobs.
Total 16. Out loud: "fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, and a double run for sixteen."
A pegging round, slowly
Non-dealer leads a 4. Count: 4.
Dealer plays a 4. Pair for 2. Count: 8.
Non-dealer plays a 7. Count: 15. Two for fifteen.
Dealer plays a 6. Count: 21. Cards in this series that can make a run? 4, 4, 7, 6. The extra 4 blocks a clean 4-6-7. No run.
Non-dealer plays a 9. Count: 30. Dealer cannot play an ace, and nothing else fits under 31, so dealer says "go." Non-dealer has no legal card either, so non-dealer pegs 1 for go (or last card of the series). Count resets.
Play any leftover cards from 0 the same way.
How the board keeps you honest
Peg immediately when you score. During pegging that means right after the card. During the show that means as you finish each hand. The first peg to 121 ends the game, even if the other person still has cards to count.
Two pegs per player is the usual method: the back peg is your previous score, the front peg is your new one. You jump the back peg forward so a bump does not erase the race.
If you do not own a board yet, draw two number lines to 121, or use the on-screen board in Cribbage practice until a physical board shows up.
Common counting misses
- Missing a three-card fifteen (7+3+5, 6+6+3).
- Treating 10, jack, queen as a pair because they all count 10. Consecutive ranks are a run, not a pair.
- Scoring a 4-card flush in the crib.
- Adding 1 for last card on top of 2 for 31.
- Counting the crib before the non-dealer's hand near 121.