Rubl.com supports two popular Cribbage variations: Six Card Cribbage and Five Card Cribbage.

Six Card Cribbage is a game for two players. It is now the standard form of Cribbage and widely played in English speaking parts of the world.

Five Card Cribbage, is an older form of the game which has been largely forgotten, though it is still played in parts of Britain. 6-card cribbage is a default variation.

Players may select a gaming option Manual Scoring to score the points during a game and their hands manually. This way the online playing completely emulates a real-life cribbage game. By default, the points will be scored automatically both during play and during show-of-cards, it is marked by pins (pegs) on the board.

Below are the Cribbage rules for beginners

Number of Players

The basic game is for two players.

The Cards

A standard pack of 52 playing cards is used. All suits are considered equal. The rank and value of the cards are as follows: K Q J 10 - 10, A - 1, 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 - the corresponding number of points.

Object of the Game

Be the first player to score 121 points. Points are scored for combinations of cards either occurring during the play or occurring in a player's hand or in the cards discarded before the play, which form the crib or box.

Board, Pegs and Scoring

The cribbage board is used to show the score accumulated by each player during the play of a game (front peg) and the amount of the latest incremental score (difference between front and rear pegs). In online game implementation, the score is also denoted numerically below and above the cribbage board. The score on the bottom of the cribbage board (in black) belongs to you. Your pegs are also in black. The score above the cribbage board (in red) belong to your opponent. Opponent's pegs are red.

Deal

The first deal is determined randomly. The deal then alternates from hand to hand until the game is over. The dealer shuffles, the non-dealer (Pone) cuts the cards, and dealer deals 6 cards face down to each player one at a time. The undealt part of the pack is placed face down on the table.

At the end of each hand, the played cards are gathered together and the whole pack is shuffled by the new dealer before the next deal.

Discard

Each player discards two cards to form the crib, which belongs to the dealer. This 4-card crib is set aside until the end of the hand. Non-dealer (or Pone) will try to throw cards that are unlikely to make valuable combinations, but must balance this against keeping a good hand for himself. Dealer, on the other hand, may sometimes find it pays to place good cards in the crib - especially if they cannot be used to best advantage in hand.

Starter Card

The pone cuts the remainder of the pack to select a starter card, which is used in counting the value of each player's hand and the crib. In online implementation it is one of the undealt cards, that is turned face up.

If the starter card is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs 2 holes - this is called Two for his heels.

Play of the Cards

Starting with the non-dealer, players alternately play (place face up on the table, keeping them separate from the other players' cards) one card at a time.

The cumulative value of the cards played is announced as each card is played.

In this stage of the game the total pip value of the cards played by both players must not exceed 31. If a card is played which brings the total exactly to 31, the player who did it pegs 2 points - called '31 for 2'.

A player who cannot play without exceeding 31 does not play a card but says 'Go', leaving his opponent to continue if possible, pegging for any further combinations made. If neither player can lay a card without going over 31, then the last player to lay a card pegs one for the go or one for last.

The cards that have been played are turned over and a fresh round of play starts with the unplayed cards in exactly the same way. The opponent of the player who played last in the previous round (scoring Thirty one for two or One for last) plays first in the new round.

This second round of play again continues until neither can play without going over 31. The last player again scores "1 for last" or "31 for 2", and if either player has any cards left there is a further round. Play continues for as many rounds as necessary until both players' cards are exhausted.

Towards the end, it may happen that one player has run out of cards but the other still has several cards. In that case the player who still has cards simply carries on playing and scoring for any combinations formed until all his cards have been played.

Scoring During Play

A player who makes any of the following scores during the play pegs them immediately:



15: If you play a card which brings the total to 15 you peg 2 claiming Fifteen two.

31: As mentioned above, if you play a card which brings the total to exactly 31 you peg 2.

Pair: If you play a card of the same rank as the previous card (e.g. a king after a king) you peg 2 for a pair.

Royal Pair: If immediately after a pair a third card of the same rank is played, the player of the third card scores 6 for pair royal.

Double Royal Pair: Four cards of the same rank, played in immediate succession. The player of the fourth card scores 12.

Run: A run or sequence is a set of 3 or more cards of consecutive ranks (irrespective of suit) - such as 9-10-jack or 2-3-4-5. The cards do not have to be played in order, but no other cards must intervene. Score equals to a number of cards in a run.

Last Card: If neither player manages to make the total exactly 31, whoever played the last card pegs 1.

The Show and Scoring

All of the cards that were put down during the play are now retrieved and score for combinations of cards held in hand. First the non-dealer's hand is exposed, and scored. The start card also counts as part of the hand when scoring combinations. All valid scores from the following scoring chart are counted:



15: Any combination of cards adding up to 15 pips scores 2 points. For example king, jack, five, five would count 8 points for fifteens (four fifteens as the king and the jack can each be paired with either five) and 2 points for a pair of fives. This combination would be marked as fifteen: 8.; pair: 2

Pair: A pair of cards of the same rank score 2 points. Three cards of the same rank contain 3 different pairs and thus score a total of 6 points for pair royal. Four of a kind contain 6 pairs and so score 12 points.

Run: Three cards of consecutive rank (irrespective of suit), such as ace-2-3, score 3 points for a run. A hand such as 6-7-7-8 contains two runs of 3 (as well as two fifteens and a pair) and so would score 12 altogether. A run of four cards, such as 9-10-J-Q scores 4 points (this is slightly illogical - you might expect it to score 6 because it contains two runs of 3, but it doesn't. The runs of 3 within it don't count - you just get 4), and a run of five cards scores 5.

Flush: If all four cards of the hand are the same suit, 4 points are scored for flush. If the start card is the same suit as well, the flush is worth 5 points. There is no score for having 3 hand cards and the start all the same suit. Note also that there is no score for flush during the play - it only counts in the show.

One For His Nob: If the hand contains the jack of the same suit as the start card, you peg One for his nob.



After the pone's hand has been shown and the score pegged, dealer's hand is shown, scored and pegged in the same way. Finally the dealer exposes the four cards of the crib and scores them with the start card. The scoring is the same as for the players' hands except that a flush in the crib only scores if all four crib cards and the start card are of the same suit. If that happens the flush scores 5.

Game End

As soon as someone reaches or passes 121, that player wins the game. This can happen at any stage - during the play or the show

5 card Cribbage variation has the following differences from the main (6-card) variation:



5 cards are dealt to each player and the undealt part of the pack is placed face down on the table

The Pone is awarded 3 points at the start of the game

As soon as someone reaches 61 points, that player wins the game

While playing a single hand, the total pip value of the cards played by both players must not exceed 31

While Showing cards stage Flush combination means: If all three cards of the hand are the same suit, 3 points are scored for flush. If the start card is the same suit as well, the flush is worth 4 points. There is no score for having 2 hand cards and the starter all the same suit. Note also that there is no score for flush during the play - it only counts in the show.