Scoring is the part of cribbage that takes practice. Everything below is the whole of it — there is nothing else to learn. Work through the examples once and you will count faster than most people at the table.
Print this, or keep it open on your phone until it sticks.
| Combination | Points | When it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Fifteen — any cards totalling 15 | 2 | Show and play |
| Thirty-one — count reaches exactly 31 | 2 | Play only |
| Pair — two cards of the same rank | 2 | Show and play |
| Pair royal — three of a rank | 6 | Show and play |
| Double pair royal — four of a rank | 12 | Show and play |
| Run of three | 3 | Show and play |
| Run of four | 4 | Show and play |
| Run of five | 5 | Show only |
| Four-card flush (hand only) | 4 | Show only |
| Five-card flush (hand or crib) | 5 | Show only |
| His nobs — Jack matching the starter's suit | 1 | Show only |
| His heels — Jack turned as the starter | 2 | Dealer, at the cut |
| Go — opponent cannot play | 1 | Play only |
| Last card of the deal | 1 | Play only |
Experienced players always count the same way, because a fixed order is what stops you from missing points. The order is:
Say it aloud as you go — "fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, and a pair is eight, and a run of three is eleven" — so anyone at the table can follow. Under the muggins rule, points you fail to claim can be taken by your opponent, so an orderly count is worth real money.
Every distinct combination of cards scores separately. The same card can and does count toward many different combinations. There is no "using up" a card.
Any group of cards adding up to exactly 15 scores 2 points. Face cards count 10, Aces count 1. Groups may be any size from two cards to five.
Some common fifteen combinations:
The trap is that the same card appears in several groups. With 5 5 J Q plus starter K, each 5 pairs with each of the three ten-cards: that is six separate fifteens, worth 12 — plus 2 for the pair of 5s, for 14 in a hand that looks like nothing.
Two cards of the same rank score 2. Suit is irrelevant, and a 10 does not pair with a Jack — they have the same counting value but different ranks.
Three and four of a kind are not special rules, just arithmetic. Three cards contain three different pairs (2 × 3 = 6); four cards contain six different pairs (2 × 6 = 12). The traditional names are pair royal for three and double pair royal for four.
Three or more cards in consecutive rank order score 1 point per card. They do not need to be in order in your hand, and suit does not matter. Ace is always low, so A 2 3 is a run and Q K A is not.
Only the longest run counts — a run of four is 4 points, not a run of four plus the two runs of three inside it.
Where players get lost is when a rank is duplicated. Then you have multiple distinct runs, and they all count. These patterns have traditional names and fixed values, and memorising the four of them will speed up your counting enormously:
| Pattern | Example | Runs | Pairs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double run of three | 4 5 5 6 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Double run of four | 3 4 5 5 6 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Triple run | 4 5 5 5 6 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| Double double run | 4 4 5 5 6 | 12 | 4 | 16 |
The logic is always the same. In a double run of three, the doubled card can be either of two cards, so there are two separate 4–5–6 runs (3 + 3 = 6) plus the pair (2). In a double double run, two ranks are doubled, so there are 2 × 2 = four distinct runs (12) plus two pairs (4).
These totals cover runs and pairs only. Fifteens are counted separately and on top. A 4 5 5 6 hand is a double run for 8 and two fifteens (4+5+6 twice) for 4 — 12 points before the starter is even considered.
If all four cards in your hand are the same suit, you score 4. If the starter is also that suit, you score 5. There is no such thing as a three-card flush.
The crib is different. A crib flush only counts if all five cards — the four crib cards and the starter — share a suit, for 5 points. Four same-suited cards in the crib score nothing. This asymmetry is deliberate: it stops the dealer from collecting cheap flush points on cards the opponent was forced to throw.
These two are constantly confused, so here they are side by side.
Both can occur in the same deal: the starter is a Jack (dealer pegs 2 for heels) and a player holds the Jack of that same suit… which is impossible, since the starter is that Jack. In practice they are mutually exclusive for the same suit.
The play (or "pegging") uses the same combinations with three differences worth committing to memory:
A run during the play is broken by any repeated rank. And you score for a run only on the card that completes it — the points go to whoever plays it, not to whoever started the sequence. That fact is the basis of most pegging tactics; see the pegging strategy guide.
When nobody can play without exceeding 31, the last player to lay a card takes 1 for the go — or 2 for hitting 31 exactly, never both. At the very end of the deal, the last card played anywhere scores 1 for last card.
Hand 7 7 8 8, starter 6.
Total: 24 points.
Hand 4 4 5 6, starter 5.
Total: 24 points.
Hand A 2 3 J♠, starter Q♠.
Total: 8 points.
Note that both the Jack and the Queen make a fifteen with the 2 and 3. Forgetting that the starter joins your hand for the count is the classic short count.
Hand 3♥ 6♥ 9♥ J♥, starter 2♥.
Total: 10 points.
The maximum possible hand in cribbage is 29: three 5s and a Jack in hand, with the fourth 5 — matching the Jack's suit — turned as the starter. That is 16 in fifteens, 12 for four of a kind, and 1 for nobs.
The best hand without the nobs point is 28: all four 5s in hand with any ten-card as the starter.
At the other end, a hand worth nothing at all is jokingly called a "nineteen hand" — because 19 is one of the scores that is mathematically impossible to make. So are 25, 26, and 27. We work through why in the 29 hand and scoring oddities.
For reference, an average four-card hand plus starter is worth a little under 8 points, and an average crib around 4–5. If you are consistently counting hands in the low single digits, the problem is usually the discard rather than the luck — see the discard strategy guide.
Practise your counting. Cribbage Den counts every hand automatically, so you can check yourself against it.
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