Cribbage Scoring Explained: Counting a Hand to 121

Cribbage has a reputation for being hard to learn, and almost all of it comes from the scoring. The play itself is simple. The counting — "fifteen two, fifteen four, and a pair is six" — sounds like an incantation until someone shows you that it is just five kinds of combination, counted in a fixed order.

This guide covers the standard two-player game to 121 as the American Cribbage Congress (ACC) plays it: the scoring during the play of the cards, counting a hand and the crib, the two jack rules everyone mixes up, and skunks. There are worked examples throughout, including the famous 29.

How a deal is scored, in order

Each deal scores in three stages, always in the same sequence:

1. The cut. After both players discard two cards each to the crib, the non-dealer (the pone) cuts and the dealer turns the top card — the starter. If it is a jack, the dealer pegs 2 immediately ("two for his heels").
2. The play (pegging). Players alternate laying cards face up, keeping a running total that may not pass 31, and peg points for combinations as they happen.
3. The show. The pone counts their hand first, then the dealer counts their hand, then the dealer counts the crib. Each count uses the four cards plus the starter.

The order of the show matters more than it looks. The first player to reach 121 wins on the spot, even in the middle of a count — so near the end of a game, the pone counting first is a real advantage.

Card values

Aces are low and count 1. Number cards count their face value. Jacks, queens and kings count 10. For runs, though, cards keep their rank order: A-2-3 is a run, and so is J-Q-K, but K-A-2 is not.

Scoring the play

Pone leads a card and announces the running total; the dealer plays and announces the new total, and so on. You score for:

Only the most recent cards count for pairs and runs, and they must be consecutive plays: a 5 then a 9 then a 5 is not a pair. Runs during the play can be completed out of order — 3, 5, 4 is a run of three, and adding a 6 makes it a run of four.

The "go"

When you cannot play without passing 31, you say "go". Your opponent then plays every card they can without passing 31. If they reach exactly 31 they peg 2; otherwise the last card scores 1 for the go. You never get both for the same card. The count then resets to zero and the play continues until all eight cards are down.

Worked example: a pegging sequence

• Pone plays a 7. "Seven."
• Dealer plays an 8. "Fifteen for two." Dealer pegs 2.
• Pone plays a 6. "Twenty-one, and a run of three." The 7, 8 and 6 make a run; pone pegs 3.
• Dealer plays a 9. "Thirty, run of four." The 6-7-8-9 run; dealer pegs 4.
• Pone has a king and a queen left; either would pass 31. "Go."
• Dealer plays an ace. "Thirty-one for two." Dealer pegs 2 — and no extra point for the go, because 31 already claims it.

That is 8 points for the dealer and 3 for the pone before anyone has counted a hand.

Counting a hand

Every hand count uses the same five combinations. Say them in this order and you will stop missing points.

Fifteens

Count every distinct set of cards that adds to 15, using the starter too. Cards can be reused across different fifteens, which is where the points pile up. A hand of 5-5-10 has two fifteens (each 5 with the 10), not one.

Pairs

Each pair of matching ranks scores 2, and three or four of a kind simply count every pair inside them: three of a kind contains three pairs (6 points), four of a kind contains six pairs (12).

Runs, and double runs

A run scores one per card, and every distinct run counts. That is how duplicates multiply:

• Double run (e.g. 4-5-5-6): two runs of three plus a pair = 3 + 3 + 2 = 8
• Double run of four (e.g. 4-5-5-6-7): two runs of four plus a pair = 4 + 4 + 2 = 10
• Triple run (e.g. 7-7-7-8-9): three runs of three plus three of a kind = 9 + 6 = 15
• Double double run (e.g. 7-7-8-8-9): four runs of three plus two pairs = 12 + 4 = 16

Those totals are the runs and pairs only — any fifteens in the same cards are counted on top.

Flushes

A flush in the hand needs all four hand cards of one suit (4 points), or all four plus the starter (5). The crib only scores a flush when all five cards — the four crib cards and the starter — share a suit. A four-card flush in the crib is worth nothing.

Nobs versus his heels

These are the two jack rules, and they are opposites:

• Nobs (1 point): you hold the jack of the same suit as the starter, in your hand or the crib.
• His heels (2 points, dealer only): the starter itself is a jack. Pegged when it is turned, not at the show.

Worked examples

A 17-point hand

Hand: 4♥ 5♠ 6♣ J♦. Starter: 5♦.

• Fifteens: 4-5♠-6, 4-5♦-6, 5♠-J, 5♦-J — four fifteens, 8
• Pairs: 5♠-5♦, 2
• Runs: 4-5♠-6 and 4-5♦-6, a double run of three, 6
• Flush: none
• Nobs: the J♦ matches the starter's suit, 1

"Fifteen eight, a pair is ten, double run is sixteen, and one for his nobs is seventeen."

The same cards as a hand and as a crib

Four hearts: 2♥ 3♥ 4♥ 9♥. Starter: K♣.

• Fifteens: 2-4-9 and 2-3-K, 4
• Run: 2-3-4, 3
• Flush: as a hand, four hearts score 4. As a crib, the starter is not a heart, so 0.

Total: 11 as a hand, 7 as a crib.

A 24

Hand: 7♥ 7♠ 8♣ 8♦. Starter: 6♥.

• Fifteens: each 7 with each 8, four fifteens, 8
• Pairs: two pairs, 4
• Runs: 6-7-8 four different ways, 12

Total: 24.

His heels and a run of four

The dealer turns the J♦ as the starter and pegs 2 at once. Later, their hand is 10♥ Q♠ K♣ 5♦:

• Fifteens: the 5 with each ten-card — 10, J, Q, K — four fifteens, 8
• Run: 10-J-Q-K, 4
• Nobs: no — the jack is the starter, not a card in the hand

Hand total: 12, on top of the 2 already pegged for his heels.

The 29

The highest possible hand: 5♣ 5♦ 5♥ J♠ with the 5♠ as starter.

• Fifteens: the jack with each of the four 5s (four fifteens) plus every group of three 5s (four more), eight fifteens, 16
• Pairs: four 5s contain six pairs, 12
• Nobs: the J♠ matches the 5♠ starter, 1

Total: 29. Some scores are impossible to make — 19, 25, 26 and 27 — which is why "nineteen" is the traditional joke for a hand worth nothing.

Winning, the skunk and the stink hole

The game is 121: the first peg into the game hole wins immediately, whatever stage of the deal you are in. Many casual games are played to 61 on a shorter board.

• Skunk: the ACC defines it as winning by 31 or more — the loser has not passed hole 90. In ACC tournaments a skunk scores an extra game point; at home it usually counts as two games.
• Stink hole: the ACC rulebook calls hole 90 the "stink hole", one short of avoiding a skunk; many players use the name for hole 120, one short of winning.
• Double skunk: the ACC defines a double skunk (loser on 60 or less), but its tournaments score it the same as a skunk; counting it as extra is a house rule, so agree on it before you rely on it.

Muggins

If a player under-counts their hand or forgets a score, muggins lets the opponent call it and take the missed points. The ACC treats it as the only optional rule; tournaments must announce it in advance, and it is common in friendly play to leave it off.

Keeping score without a board

A traditional board has two pegs per player — the rear peg leapfrogs the front one, so the gap always shows the last score and mistakes are easy to spot. If you are playing without a board, a written tally works, but it loses that check, and the skunk line becomes something you calculate rather than see.

Fivebar has a Cribbage sheet laid out as a real pegboard to 121, with the skunk lines marked and a peg that moves, and a target you can change to 61 from the game's menu. It is part of the one-time unlock rather than the free tier — the support page spells out which sheets are which. It keeps score; it does not count the hand for you, so the fifteens are still yours to call.

If you like the "score as you play" feel of cribbage, the domino game All Fives works the same way — see how to score dominoes.

The short version

• Order: his heels on the cut, then pegging, then pone's hand, dealer's hand, the crib.
• Pegging: 15 or 31 for 2, pairs 2/6/12, runs 1 per card, last card or go for 1.
• Hand: fifteens 2 each, pairs 2 each, runs 1 per card, flush 4 (hand) or 5, nobs 1.
• Crib flush: all five cards or nothing.
• Game: 121. Skunk if the loser is at 90 or below.