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Goal

Be the first player to score 121 points. Points count the moment they’re scored, so the game ends as soon as a player reaches 121, even in the middle of the play or the show.

Cards

Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers.

Ranking

For pairs and runs, cards rank from the King, highest, down to the Ace, lowest. The Ace is low only, so Q, K, A isn’t a run. For adding up, an Ace counts 1, a 2 to 10 counts its number, and a Jack, Queen, or King counts 10.

Starting hand

Deal 6 cards to each player. The deal passes to the other player every hand.

Play

1. Put 2 cards in the crib. Each player puts 2 cards face down in the crib, an extra hand that scores for the dealer at the end of the hand.
2. Turn up the starter. Turn up the top card of the rest of the deck. It’s not played, but it counts as a fifth card with each hand and with the crib in the show. If it’s a Jack, the dealer scores 2 points.
3. The play. Starting with the non-dealer, take turns playing one card face up in front of you and saying the count, the total of every card played so far. The count can’t go past 31. Some plays score as you make them (see Scoring).
4. Say go when you can’t play. If every card you hold would take the count past 31, say go. You must play a card if one fits. Your opponent then plays on alone for as long as their cards fit. When neither player can play, whoever played the last card scores 1 point, or 2 if the count is exactly 31 (never both).
5. Start a new count. The count goes back to 0 and the player who didn’t play the last card leads. A player with no cards left is skipped. Play until both players have played all 4 of their cards.
6. The show. Pick up your 4 cards and count them with the starter. The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer counts their hand, and then the dealer counts the crib.

Scoring

During the play, the player of each card scores for what that card makes:

• Making the count exactly 15 scores 2 points, and making it exactly 31 scores 2.
• A card of the same rank as the card before it is a pair for 2. A third card of that rank in a row scores 6, and a fourth scores 12.
• A card that makes the last 3 or more cards played a set of consecutive ranks, in any order, is a run for 1 point a card, so 5, 3, 4 is a run of 3. A card of any other rank between them breaks the run.

Pairs and runs use only the cards played since the count last started at 0.

In the show, each hand of 4 and the crib count with the starter as a fifth card:

• A run counts once for every different way to make it, so 6, 7, 7, 8 is two runs of 3. A run of 4 or 5 counts only its full length, not the shorter runs inside it.
• A flush in a hand is all 4 hand cards of one suit for 4 points, or 5 if the starter matches too. The crib scores a flush only when all 4 crib cards and the starter are one suit, for 5.
• A Jack in your hand or the crib of the same suit as the starter scores 1 point (his nobs).

Examples

Hands counted in the show, with the starter after the gap:

• 16 points Four fifteens for 8, a pair for 2, and two runs of 3 for 6, one with each 5.
• 14 points Two fifteens for 4, a run of 4 for 4, a flush for 5 with the starter, and his nobs for 1.
• 12 as a hand, 8 as the crib Two fifteens for 4 and a run of 4 for 4 either way. In a hand, the 4 hearts are a flush for 4. The crib needs the starter to match too, so it scores no flush.

Playing with your own deck

You need a cribbage board and 2 pegs for each player to keep score. Peg every score as soon as it’s made, moving your back peg ahead of your front peg by the number of points.