1 2 CRIBBAGE 3 from 4 According to Hoyle 5 6Cribbage is believed to have been invented by Sir John Suckling (1609-1642). 7Probably it is an elaboration of an older game, Noddy. The original game 8was played with hands of five cards; the modern game gives each player 9six. That is virtually the only change from Suckling's directions. 10 11Players: 12 13 Two. There are variants for three and four players, described 14 later. 15 16Cards: 17 18 The pack of 52. The cards in each suit rank: K (high), Q, J, 10, 199, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. The counting values are: K, Q, J, 10, each 10 20(wherefore these are called tenth cards); ace, 1; each other card, its 21index value. 22 23Cribbage Board: 24 25 Indispensable to scoring (unless you have a computer!, ed.) is 26the device known as the cribbage board. This is a rectangular panel, long 27and narrow, in which are four rows of 30 holes each. (See illustration.) 28At one end, or in the center, are two or four additional holes, called 29game holes. The board is placed between the two players, and each keeps 30his own score on the two rows of holes nearest himself. Each is supplied 31with two pegs. Before the first hand, the pegs are placed in the game 32holes. On making his first score, the player advances one peg an 33appropriate number of holes (one per point) away from the game end of the 34board. The second score is recorded by placing the second peg an 35appropriate distance ahead of the first. For each subsequent score, the 36rear peg is jumped ahead of the other, the distance between the two pegs 37always showing the amount of this last score. 38 39 The traditional mode of scoring is down (away from the game end) 40the outer row, and up the inner row. "Once around" is a game of 61 points. 41"Twice around" is a game of 121 points. 42 43Preliminaries: 44 45 Cards are drawn; the lower deals first. If cards of equal rank 46are drawn, both players draw again. Dealer has the right to shuffle last. 47Nondealer cuts, and must leave at least four cards in each packet. 48 49Dealing: 50 51 Each player receives six cards, dealt one at a time face down, 52beginning with the nondealer. The turn to deal alternates. The dealer 53has an advantage. 54 55Laying Away: 56 57 After seeing his hand, each player lays away two cards face down. 58The four cards laid away, placed in one pile, form the crib. The crib 59counts for the dealer. Nondealer therefore tries to lay away balking 60cards -- cards that are least likely to create a score in the crib. 61 62The Starter: 63 64 After both hands have laid away, nondealer lifts off a packet from 65the top of the stock (the rest of the pack). Again, each packet must 66contain at least four cards. Dealer turns up the top card of the lower 67packer, which is then placed on top of the stock when the packets are 68reunited. The card thus turned up is called 1 the starter. If it is a 69jack, dealer immediately pegs 2, called 2 for his heels. 70 71The Play: 72 73 Nondealer begins the play by laying a card from his hand face up 74on the table, announcing its counting value. Dealer then shows a card, 75announcing the total count of the two cards. Play continues in the same 76way, by alternate exposure of cards, each player announcing the new total 77count. The total may be carried only to 31, no further. If a player adds 78a card that brings the total exactly to 31, he pegs 2. If a player is 79unable to play another card without exceeding 31, he must say "Go," and 80his opponent pegs 1, but before doing so, opponent must lay down any 81additional cards he can without exceeding 31. If such additional cards 82bring the total to exactly 31, he pegs 2 instead of 1. 83 84 Whenever a go occurs, the opponent of the player who played the 85last card must lead for a new count starting at zero. Playing the last 86card of all counts as a go. (Since nondealer makes the opening lead, 87dealer is bound to peg at least 1 in play.) 88 89 Besides pegging for 31 and go, the player may also peg for certain 90combinations made in play, as follows: 91 92 Fifteen: 93 Making the count total 15 pegs 2. 94 Pair: 95 Playing a card of same rank as that previously played pegs 96 2. Playing a third card of the same rank makes pair royal 97 and pegs 6. Playing the fourth card of the same rank 98 makes double pair royal and pegs 12. 99 100 The tenth cards pair strictly by rank, a king with a king, 101 a queen with a queen, and so on. (King and jack do not 102 make a pair, although each has the counting value 10.) 103 Run: 104 Playing a card which, with the two or more played 105 immediately previously, makes a sequence of three or more 106 cards, pegs 1 for each card in the run. Runs depend on 107 rank alone; the suits do not matter. Nor does the score 108 for run depend upon playing the cards in strict sequence, 109 so long as the three or more last cards played can be 110 arranged in a run. Example: 7, 6, 8 played in that order 111 score 3 for run; 5, 2, 4, 3 played in that order score 4 112 for run. 113 114 Any of the foregoing combinations count, whether the cards 115 are played alternately or one player plays several times 116 in succession in consequence of a go. But a combination 117 does not score if it is interrupted by a go. 118 119 Showing: 120 After the play, the hands are shown (counted). Nondealer 121 shows first, then dealer's hand, then crib. The starter 122 is deemed to belong to each hand, so that each hand includes 123 five cards. Combinations of scoring value are as follows: 124 125 Fifteen: 126 Each combinations of two or more cards that total 127 fifteen scores 2. 128 Pair: 129 Each pair of cards of the same rank scores 2. 130 131 Run: 132 Each combination of three or more cards in sequence 133 scores 1 for each card in the run. 134 Flush: 135 Four cards of the same suit in hand score 4; four 136 cards in hand or crib of same suit as the starter 137 score 5. (No count for four-flush in crib.) 138 His Nobs: 139 Jack of same suit as the starter, in hand or crib, 140 scores 1. 141 142 It is important to note that every separate grouping of cards that 143makes a fifteen, pair, or run counts separately. Three of a kind, pair 144royal, counts 6 because three sets of pairs can be made; similarly, four 145of a kind, double pair royal, contain six pairs and count 12. 146 147 The highest possible hand is J, 5, 5, 5 with the starter the 5 of 148the same suit as the jack. There are four fifteens by combining the jack 149with a five, four more by combinations of three fives (a total of 16 for 150fifteens); the double pair royal adds 12 for a total of 28; and his nobs 151adds 1 for a maximum score of 29. (the score of 2 for his heels does not 152count in the total of the hand, since it is pegged before the play.) 153 154 A double run is a run with one card duplicated, as 4-3-3-2. 155Exclusive of fifteens, a double run of three cards counts 8; of four cards, 15610. A triple run is a run of three with one card triplicated, as K-K-K-Q-J. 157Exclusive of fifteens, it counts 15. A quadruple run is a run of three 158with two different cards duplicated, as the example 8-8-7-6-6 previously 159given. Exclusive of fifteens, it counts 16. 160 161 No hand can be constructed that counts 19, 25, 26 or 27. A 162time-honored way of showing a hand with not a single counting combination 163is to say "I have nineteen." 164 165 The customary order in showing is to count fifteens first, then 166runs, then pairs, but there is no compulsion of law. Example: A hand 167(with starter) of 9-6-5-4-4 will usually be counted "Fifteen 2, fifteen 1684, fifteen 6 and double run makes 14," or simply "Fifteen 6 and 8 is 14." 169 170Muggins: 171 172 The hands and crib are counted aloud, and if a player claims a 173greater total than is due him, his opponent may require correction. In 174some localities, if a player claims less than is due, his opponent may 175say "Muggins" and himself score the points overlooked. 176 177Scoring: 178 179 The usual game is 121, but it may be set at 61 by agreement. 180Since the player wins who first returns to the game hole by going "twice 181around," the scores must be pegged strictly in order: his heels, pegging 182in play, non-dealer's hand, dealer's hand, crib. Thus, if nondealer goes 183out on showing his hand, he wins, even though dealer might have gone out 184with a greater total if allowed to count his hand and crib. 185 186 When the game of 121 is played for a stake, a player wins a single 187game if the loser makes 61 points or more. If the loser fails to reach 18861, he is lurched, and the other wins a double game. 189 190Irregularities: 191 192 Misdeal. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if a card 193is found faced in the pack, if a card is exposed in dealing, or if the 194pack be found imperfect. 195 196 Wrong Number of Cards. If one hand (not crib) is found to have 197the wrong number of cards after laying away for the crib, the other hand 198and crib being correct, the opponent may either demand a new deal or may 199peg 2 and rectify the hand. If the crib is incorrect, both hands being 200correct, nondealer pegs 2 and the crib is corrected. 201 202Error in Pegging: 203 204 If a player places a peg short of the amount to which he is 205entitled, he may not correct his error after he has played the next card 206or after the cut for the next deal. If he pegs more than his announced 207score, the error must be corrected on demand at any time before the cut 208for the next deal and his opponent pegs 2. 209 210Strategy: 211 212 The best balking cards are kings and aces, because they have the 213least chance of producing sequences. Tenth cards are generally good, 214provided that the two cards laid away are not too near (likely to make a 215sequence). When nothing better offers, give two wide cards -- at least 216three apart in rank. 217 218 Proverbially the safest lead is a 4. The next card cannot make 219a 15. Lower cards are also safe from this point of view, but are better 220treasured for go and 31. The most dangerous leads are 7 and 8, but may 221be made to trap the opponent when they are backed with other close cards. 222Generally speaking, play on (toward a sequence) when you have close cards 223and off when you do not. However, the state of the score is a 224consideration. If far behind, play on when there is any chance of building 225a score for yourself; if well ahead, balk your opponent by playing off 226unless you will surely peg as much as he by playing on. 227