Learn how to play Cribbage with these easy Cribbage rules. How to Play Cribbage. Cribbage is a challenging game that can be played with 2-6 people (not 5). Although it may seem intimidating at first, the basic game is very easy to learn and play. Play the classic card game Cribbage online for free. No download required. Play against the computer, or challenge another human player!

• What Is Three Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage Card Game
• How Much Is Three Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage
• How Much Is 3 Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage
• What Is 3 Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage
• What Is Three Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage Boards

Cribbage Strategy Introduction

To play cribbage well, you need to learn two things: how to discard and how to peg or play the hand. How to discard is divided into two sections: how to discard into your own crib and how to discard into your opponent's crib. Though there is a considerable luck in cribbage, the main portions of the game - hand recognition and counting, discarding to the crib and pegging - are heavily influenced by the strategies employed by the individual player.

Now about Luck: keep in mind, that the best cards to be dealt are fives, because they form fifteens with 10s, Js, Qs, and Ks. Combinations adding to five are good, too, especially when repeated and matched with a 10. For example, 2 3 3 K, is worth six, but a 10, J, or Q starter card will add four points to its value and a 2, 3, or K starter will be worth six more points.

Cribbage Strategy for Discarding for Your Crib

What Is Three Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage Card Game

It is generally easier to discard when you have the crib; you don't have to worry about putting good cards into the crib. In discarding you have two aims:
1. To get as much as possible out of your hand
2. To build a good crib

Try to put something good into your crib - fives are good, pairs, any two cards totaling 15 (7 and 8, 9 and 6, or 5 and 10, J, Q, K) or cards that touch (to form a run).

According to player's statistics, you should put cards to your own crib which have high scoring potential. In order of preference, and as available, discards to own crib should look like this: 5-5, 2-3, 5-J, 5-6, 5-K, 5-10, 5-Q, 4-5, 7-8, etc. Some of these discards are strong enough to sacrifice points in the hand.

But never break up your hand in hopes of getting a good crib. Your hand is where you need to score most of your points. High-scoring cribs are unusual and require luck or an opponent's mistake.

In deciding what to throw away, The Starter Card must be considered but don't count on it too much. Try to hold cards that will be helped by several different starter cards.

Cribbage Strategy for Discarding for Your Opponents Crib

There is no such thing as a safe crib, but here are several ways you can reduce the chances for giving your opponent a big crib.

1. Avoid discarding cards that add up to five, a 3 and 2, or a 4 and 1.
2. Avoid giving the Q, J or 3, 4; they often produce runs. J has also a 25% chance of counting one point as Nobs.
3. Avoid two cards with just one between such as Q-10, 10-8 combination as it only takes one card from the dealer to complete the sequence.
4. Avoid 7s and 8s; they are big hand builders.
5. Don't discard two cards of the same suit.

So the good cribbage discard onto opponent's crib is: 10-K, 9-K, 6-K, 6-Q, 9-Q, 8-K, 7-10, 6-10, A-Q, 7-Q, 7-K, 8-Q, A-K and so on

Sometimes it pays to give your opponent something good. If four of your cards combine to make a good hand then, give your opponent what is left over.

Double runs should almost always be kept; chances of a quadruple or triple run are high enough to warrant keeping a double run even if you must help your opponent's crib a bit. An exception would be a hand like 5 5 10 10 9 8, when the best play is to throw the 9 8.

If you need to discard face cards, throwing a king into the opponent's crib is better than throwing a queen or jack, since it's hardest to form a run with a king

When there's a conflict between helping the opponent's crib and keeping your own hand intact, consider the score of the game. If you're ahead and it's okay if you both score big, you might take a chance on giving the opponent a big crib; but if you're behind, you want to play defensively and slow down the game, which means you should give up your own best hand to avoid helping the opponent.

Cribbage Strategy for Pegging

Try to lead your opponent during play. For example, if you start with a 7, your opponent could play an 8 for 15 and score 2 points. By leading, you can play a 9 to score 3 points for a Run.

If possible, try to cover yourself in case the opponent pairs you or makes fifteen. For example, if you hold 2 3 6 9, lead the 3 rather than the 2, because if it's paired you can make fifteen.

In a play, leading from a Pair is a good strategy. For example, if you have a Pair, you can lead by playing one of the cards of that Pair. If your opponent plays a matching card, you can play your other Pair for Three of a Kind and score 6 points.

Low pairs such as aces can be very good to hold when you need to peg a lot of points. If the opponent says go, you can play them consecutively and score the pair (plus a point for the go).

Eleven points cards. These are cards which total eleven points and are instrumental in scoring 31-for-2 or more. Two card elevens favor the dealer (5-6, 4-7, 3-8, 2-9, A-x). Three card elevens favor the non-dealer (A-A-9, 2-2-7, 3-3-5, 4-4-3, 5-5-A). Four card elevens favor the dealer (A-A-4-5, A-2-3-5, 2-2-3-4) and often result in huge pegging scores when a portion of the eleven point combination is a triple (A-A-A-8, 2-2-2-5, 3-3-3-2)

If you're the dealer and you hold two cards that would form a run with a five: 3-4, 4-6, or 6-7 - you have a good chance to score a run by saving these cards if, as is fairly likely, opponent holds a five. Opponent won't lead the five, and may well hold it to the end, after 31 has been reached. Chances are then good that the last three cards played will give you a run, plus a point for last card.

Endgame pegging involves strategy unlike that employed in other areas of the board. You have to prevent dealer from pegging at game end. It may be a good idea to keep low cards in your hand so you'll have more opportunities to score Go points.

How Much Is Three Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage

Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points.

Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for score-keeping, the eponymouscrib, box, or kitty (in parts of Canada)—a separate hand counting for the dealer—two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen. It has been characterized as 'Britain's national card game' and the only one legally playable on licensed premises (pubs and clubs) without requiring local authority permission.^[1]

The game has relatively few rules yet yields endless subtleties during play. Tactical play varies, depending on which cards one's opponent has played, how many cards in the remaining deck will help the hand one holds, and what one's position on the board is. A game may be decided by only a few points—or even a single point—and the edge often goes to an experienced player who utilizes strategy, including calculating odds and making decisions based on the relative positions of players on the board.

Both cribbage and its close relative Costly Colours are descended from the old English card game of noddy. Cribbage added the distinctive feature of a crib and changed the scoring system for points, whereas Costly Colours added more combinations but retained the original noddy scoring scheme.

History[edit]

According to John Aubrey, cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th century, as a derivation of the game 'noddy'. While noddy has become a historical, rarely-played game,^[2] cribbage has continued unchanged as a popular game in the English-speaking world.^[3] The objective of the game is to be the first player to score a target number of points, typically 61 or 121. Points are scored for showing certain jacks, playing the last card, for card combinations adding up to 15 or 31, and for pairs, triples, quadruples (cards of the same rank), runs (sequences of consecutive numbers irrespective of suit) and flushes (sets of cards of the same suit).^[4]

Cribbage was played by American submariners,^[5] serving as a common pastime. The wardroom of the oldest active submarine in the United States Pacific Fleet carries on board the personal cribbage board of World War II submarine commander and Medal of Honor recipient, Rear Admiral Dick O'Kane, and upon the boat's decommissioning, the board is transferred to the next oldest boat.^[6]

Rules[edit]

Play proceeds through a succession of 'hands', each hand consisting of a 'deal', 'the play' and 'the show'. At any time during any of these stages, if a player reaches the target score (usually 121), play ends immediately with that player being the winner of the game. This can even happen during the deal, since the dealer scores if a jack is cut as the starter.

Deal[edit]

The players cut for first deal, and the person who cuts the lowest card deals. The dealer shuffles and deals five or six cards to each player, depending on the number of players. For two players, each is dealt six cards; for three or four players, each is dealt five cards. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in the centre of the table to start the crib. Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, then discards the other one or two face-down to form the 'crib' (also called the box), which will be used later by the dealer.^[7]

At this point, each player's hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards. The player on the dealer's left cuts the remaining deck, and the dealer reveals the top card, called the 'starter' or the 'cut'.^[8] If this card is a jack, the dealer scores two points for 'his heels' or 'his nibs'.

Play[edit]

Starting with the player on the dealer's left, the players each in turn lay one card face up on the table in front of them, stating the count—that is, the cumulative value of the cards that have been laid (for example, the first player lays a five and says 'five', the next lays a six and says 'eleven', and so on)—without the count going above 31. Face cards (kings, queens, and jacks) count as 10. The cards are not laid in the centre of the table as, at the end of the 'play', each player needs to pick up the cards they have laid.

Players score points during the play as follows:

• 15 – For causing the count to reach exactly 15 a player scores two points, then play continues.
• Pair – Completing a pair (two of a kind) scores two points.
  • Three of a kind is the same as three different pairs, or 6 points.
  • Four of a kind is 6 different pairs, or 12 points.
• A run of three or more cards (consecutively played, but not necessarily in order) scores the number of cards in the run.

If a player cannot play without causing the count to exceed 31, they call 'Go'. Continuing with the player on their left, the other player(s) continue(s) the play until no one can play without the count exceeding 31. A player is obliged to play a card unless there is no card in their hand that can be played without the count exceeding 31 (one cannot voluntarily pass). Once 31 is reached or no one is able to play, the player who played the last card scores one point if the count is still under 31 and two if it is exactly 31. The count is then reset to zero and those players with cards remaining in their hands repeat the process starting with the player to the left of the player who played the last card. When all players have played all of their cards the game proceeds to the 'show'.

Players choose the order in which to lay their cards in order to maximize their scores; experienced players refer to this as either good or poor 'pegging' or 'pegsmanship'. If one player reaches the target (usually 61 or 121), the game ends immediately and that player wins. When the scores are level during a game, the players' pegs will be side by side, and it is thought that this gave rise to the phrase 'level pegging'.^[9]

Show[edit]

Once the play is complete, each player in turn, starting with the player on the left of the dealer, displays their own hand on the table and scores points based on its content in conjunction with the starter card. Points are scored for:

• Combinations of any number of cards totalling fifteen
• Runs
• Pairs (Multiple pairs are scored pair by pair but may be referred to as three or four of a kind.)
• Flush (A four-card flush scores four and cannot include the starter card; a five-card flush scores five.)
• Having a jack of the same suit as the starter card ('one for his nob [or nobs or nibs]', sometimes called the 'right' jack)

The dealer scores their hand last and then turns the cards in the crib face up. These cards are then scored by the dealer as an additional hand, also in conjunction with the starter card. Unlike the dealer's own hand, the crib cannot score a four-card flush, but it can score a five-card flush with the starter.

All scores from 0 to 29 are possible, with the exception of 19, 25, 26 and 27.^[10] Players may refer colloquially to a hand scoring zero points as a “nineteen hand”.^[11]

Muggins[edit]

Muggins (also known as cut-throat) is a commonly used but optional rule, which must be announced before game play begins. If a player fails to claim their full score on any turn, the opponent may call out 'Muggins' and peg any points overlooked by the player.^[12]

Match[edit]

A match (much like tennis) consists of more than one game, often an odd number. The match points are scored on the cribbage board using the holes reserved for match points. On a spiral board, these are often at the bottom of the board in a line with 5 or 7 holes. On a conventional board, they are often in the middle of the board or at the top or bottom.

In a two-player game of cribbage, a player scores one match point for winning a game. Their opponent will start as dealer in the next game. If a player lurches (British) or skunks (US) their opponent (reaches 121 points before their opponent scores 91 points), that player wins two match points for that game. If a player double skunks their opponent (reaches 121 points before their opponent reaches 61), they score three or four match points for the game, depending on local convention.^[13] If a player triple skunks their opponent (reaches 121 points before their opponent reaches 31 points), they automatically win the match. Double and triple skunks are not included in the official rules of cribbage play and are optional. There are several different formats for scoring match points.

Cribbage board[edit]

Visually, cribbage is known for its scoring board—a series of holes ('streets') on which the score is tallied with pegs (also known as 'spilikins').^[14] Scores can be kept on a piece of paper, but a cribbage board is almost always used, since scoring occurs throughout the game, not just at the conclusion of hands as in most other card games.

Points are registered as having been scored by 'pegging' along the crib board. Two pegs are used in a leapfrog fashion, so that if a player loses track during the count one peg still marks the previous score. Some boards have a 'game counter' with many additional holes for use with a third peg to count the games won by each side.

There are several designs of crib board:

• The classic design is a flat wooden board approximately 250–300 mm (10–12 in) by 70–80 mm (3–4 in) and 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in) deep. There are two sets of 60 holes (30 'out' and 30 'back') divided into 5 point sections. A pegging-out hole in the middle at each end allows the board to be used in either direction. One player or team scores on one set of 60 holes and the other player or team scores on the second set. Different arrangements are made for three player games.
• A relatively old design is that of an equilateral triangle with two rows of forty holes on each side. These boards did not generally include extra pegging-out holes or holes to count games.
• A newer design has three or four rows of 120 holes in a 'paperclip' shape (with a pegging-out hole at the end) and is often brightly coloured. It is best suited to games played to 121, though it can also be used for 61-point games.
• A tournament long board is used in sanctioned tournaments in the American Cribbage Congress and consists of four rows of 60 pegs (two rows for each player), no number markings or five point segments, and only a mark indicating the skunk line. Movement around the board starts on the outside and ends on the inside. Players start and end in the same hole.
• Another common variation is based on features of the highest-scoring cribbage hand. The board takes the form of the number 29 (the highest possible score), with the pegging rows following the contour of the numbers '2' and '9'. The design can sometimes include a background image of three fives and a jack, with the fourth five offset—the 'perfect hand' giving that score. The count being 8 combinations of 15 for 16 points, 6 pairs of 2 for 12 points and a matching 'nobs' jack (matching the cut card) for 1 totalling 29.

Each of the four 30-point divisions of the cribbage board (1–30, 31–60, 61–90, and 91–120) is colloquially called a 'street'. Being at 15 points would be on first street, being at 59 points would be on second street, etc.

Noddy and costly colours[edit]

The ancestor of cribbage is noddy, a game for two or four players, each receiving just three cards and playing and scoring in a similar manner to modern cribbage. However, instead of scoring 2 points for reaching 15 or 31 (called hitter), players scored the number of constituent cards making up the point. In addition, there was originally a third point at 25. Players also scored for pairs, prials, runs and flushes as in cribbage. There was no crib and game was 31.

Costly colours may have developed separately from noddy, as it retains several original features that are no longer part of cribbage. Again, only three cards are dealt, there is no crib and it uses the same scoring scheme for points at 15, 25 and 31 or hitter. What is new is that deuces play a similar role to jacks and that players may score for colours—i.e., having three or four cards of the same suit or colour. Four cards of the same suit are costly colours, hence the name.

See also[edit]

How Much Is 3 Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage

• Cribbage Solitaire and Cribbage Square Solitaire, two solitaire card games based on Cribbage
• Hounds and Jackals, an Ancient Egyptian game, which uses a similar board
• Kings Cribbage, a game with cribbage hands being constructed crossword-style
• American Cribbage Congress, sanctioning body for cribbage clubs and tournaments in the US

References[edit]

1. ^Parlett, David. The Penguin Book of Card Games. London: Penguin (2008), p. 423. ISBN978-0-141-03787-5
2. ^Cash, Cassidy (12 January 2019). 'Experience Shakespeare: How to Play Noddy, a 16th Century Card Game'. youtube. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
3. ^Aubrey, John (1898). Andrew Clark (ed.). Brief Lives chiefly of Contemporaries set down John Aubrey between the Years 1669 and 1696, Volume II. Clarendon Press. p. 245.
4. ^'American Cribbage Congress Website'. www.cribbage.org. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
5. ^Klemenc, Stacey Enesey. 'Cribbage: It's not just a game, it's an obsession'. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
6. ^'The O'Kane Cribbage Board Is Passed Down'. US Department of Defense. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
7. ^Parlett, David (October 1987). The Penguin Book of Card Games. Treasure Press. ISBN1-85051-221-3.
8. ^'The Mechanics of Playing Cribbage'. The American Cribbage Congress. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
9. ^Oxford Dictionaries, OxfordWords blog http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/11/popular-idioms-explained/ extracted 31 Oct 2014
10. ^Steven S. Lumetta (2007-05-15). 'Amusing Cribbage Facts'. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
11. ^Cribbage Corner (2008-05-05). 'The nineteen hand at cribbage'. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
12. ^'Rule 10. Muggins'.
13. ^Cribbage Corner. 'Cribbage rules – winning the game'. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
14. ^'Spilikin'. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. Retrieved 2008-03-08. One of a number of small pieces or pegs of wood, ivory, bone, or other material, for playing a game, or for counting the score in a game, as in cribbage.

What Is 3 Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage

Further reading[edit]

What Is Three Of A Kind Worth In Cribbage Boards

• Scarne, John (1965). Scarne on Card Games. Dover Publications. pp. 395–404. ISBN0-486-43603-9.
• Wergin, Joe (1980). Win at Cribbage. Oldcastle Books. ISBN0-948353-97-X.

External links[edit]