Rules of cribbage

Over the 400 years or so that the game of cribbage has been around, variations and rules have evolved, with house rules, preferences and even misunderstandings being passed on from one player to another. However, the core of the rules remains constant, and should be familiar to most cribbage players. The rules here apply to the standard two-, three- or four-player games, with details of variations being listed below.

The deal

The players cut for first deal, with the player with the lowest card (ace counting low) dealing first. The dealer shuffles a standard 52-card deck, offers the deck to the player on his left to cut, and then deals cards singly to each player, starting with the player on his left. 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.

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" which will be used later by the dealer. [||2||"fifteen two"
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The end

After the dealer has scored his crib, all cards are collected and the deal passes to the player on the dealer's left. The next round starts with the deal.

Although the rules of cribbage do not actually require it, the traditional method of keeping score in a game of cribbage is to use a cribbage board. This is a flat board, usually made of wood, with a series of holes to show each player's score. Each player has two pins which mark her current and previous score. If she makes a score of 5, she moves the back pin 5 holes ahead of the front pin to mark her new total.

Variations

*Five-card cribbage, sometimes called the "old game": each of two players is dealt five cards, two of which are discarded into the crib. The crib thus consists of four cards but each hand only three. The non-dealer is given a three-point start and play is to 61.
*Three players: five cards are dealt to each player and one card directly to the crib; each player then discards one card to the crib. Three players can score individually, with the winner the first to reach 121, or in a "two against one" team format, where the two-player team must score 121 to win before the lone player reaches 61.
*Four players: five cards are dealt to each player who place one in the crib. Scoring can be four individuals or two pairs.
*Five players: five cards are dealt to each player except the dealer, who has only four cards. The four non-dealers place one card in the crib.
*Muggins: a scoring variant for any number of players in which a player who fails to count all the points in the play or the show may lose those unclaimed points to an opponent who calls "muggins" or "cut throat".

External links

* [http://cribbagecorner.com/cribbage-rules Cribbage rules from Cribbage Corner]
* [http://www.cribbage.org/rules/ Official tournament rules] of the American Cribbage Congress

References