Cribbage boards are commonly oblong or shaped like the number 29. The next time points are pegged, the rear peg is advanced to the new spot (to peg 9 if 4 more points are scored).

One of the pegs is advanced to the appropriate spot (to peg 5 if 5 points are scored). Points are counted or “pegged” on the special cribbage scoreboard as soon as they are scored.

The first player to reach 121 points wins the game. When it reaches exactly 31 or as high as it can go without exceeding 31, the count resets to 0 and players continue laying cards and announcing the total. You’ll notice this makes a 10 count the most common card value in the deck at 16 cards (10, J, Q, & K times 4 suits).ĭuring the game play (“pegging”) players alternate laying down cards and announcing the total value of the cards (first player lays 4♦ and says “four”, second lays K♠ and says “fourteen”). The face cards (J, Q, K) are also counted as 10. The cards are counted at their face value from A-10, with the A counting 1, the 2 counting 2 and so on up to the 10 counting as 10. Although you might not be playing really well at this point, you’ll understand most of it. They’ll be much easier to understand now that you have some context. If playing against a computer, you can look up the answer to specific questions that arise during the game.įinally, repeat the steps. Going through the process will make a lot of things much clearer. Next, play a few games of cribbage against someone who knows it well (and who’ll explain things and not take it too seriously) or a computer opponent. You’ll still be confused on many things, but it’s a good start. I suggest you first read through this page a few times to get a basic understanding of the play. It’s a popular game, which tells us it doesn’t take any unusual abilities to learn and play it.

The good news is that it’s still very manageable to learn, even if you’ve never been exposed to it before. If you’re planning on starting it, reading a tutorial can be overwhelming. Cribbage is not a simple card game and will sound a bit confusing at first.

Directions for playing cribbage