How to play Cribbage
- Play the computer or a friend on the same device. Each player gets six cards. Click two of yours and send them to the crib, which belongs to the dealer and is counted at the end of the hand. A starter card is turned up; a jack scores 2 for the dealer.
- Pegging: take turns playing a card and calling the running count, never past 31. Score for making 15 or 31, pairs and runs. If you can’t play, say go; the last card before a reset scores 1.
- The show: each hand, with the starter, scores its fifteens, pairs, runs, flush and nobs, then the dealer’s crib. The points move each player’s pegs along the board and the first to 121 wins.
Tips for winning at Cribbage
- Keep fives and tens together. Any 5 with a 10, jack, queen or king makes 15. Fives are the best cards in the deck.
- Mind whose crib it is. On your deal, throw cards that go well together into your crib. On the computer’s deal, throw cards far apart in rank that don’t add to 15.
- Lead with a low card. A 4 or lower can’t be answered with a 15. Avoid leading a 5.
- Watch the count of 21. Leaving the count at 21 lets the other player make 31 with any ten-card.
- Keep runs flexible. A hand like 6 7 8 9 scores well with many starters; three-card runs with a gap need the exact card.
About the game
Cribbage is a card game for two players, first played in England in the 1600s and traditionally scored with pegs on a board. Each hand has two parts: pegging, where players play cards in turn and score as they go, and the show, where hands and the crib are counted. This version plays six-card cribbage to 121 against the computer or a friend on one device, counts every hand for you and moves the pegs on the board.