Cribbage is a two-player classic scored on a pegboard to 121. You make points two ways: during the play, by hitting counts like fifteen and thirty-one, and afterward by scoring your hand for fifteens, pairs, and runs. The dealer keeps an extra hand, the crib. First player to peg out at 121 wins. Free in your browser, no sign-up.
Goal: peg points during the play and in the show, and reach 121 before your opponent.
| Combination | Points |
|---|---|
| Cards totalling fifteen | 2 each |
| Pair | 2 |
| Run of three or more | 1 per card |
| Flush (four in hand) | 4 |
| His nob (Jack of the starter's suit) | 1 |
The non-dealer shows first, then the dealer, then the dealer scores the crib. Near 121 that order matters — the non-dealer can peg out before the dealer ever counts.
Three AI difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) from the menu. The full pegging engine handles fifteens, thirty-ones, pairs, runs, and go, and the game ends the instant either player pegs 121 — even mid-hand. His heels and his nob both score, and the non-dealer counts first. Install it as an app from your browser menu to play offline.
Cribbage is credited to the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early seventeenth century, who adapted an older game called Noddy. The distinctive pegboard has kept score the same way for four hundred years, and the game remains a fixture of English and American pubs and homes.
For the complete rules, including the whole scoring table, how to count eight fifteens and which two cards to throw, read the full Cribbage guide.
It is how players count a fifteen out loud: any set of cards adding to fifteen scores 2 points, so you say "fifteen two." Because tens and face cards all count as 10, a single 5 paired with any of them makes fifteen. It is the most common way to score.
The crib is a bonus hand that belongs to the dealer. Both players throw two cards into it after the deal. It is scored like a normal hand at the end, but only the dealer gets those points, so the deal alternates and the crib swings between players each hand.
His heels is 2 points the dealer pegs when the cut starter card is a Jack. His nob is 1 point you score in your hand for holding the Jack of the same suit as the starter. Both reward Jacks, and both are easy points that decide close games.
You race up a pegboard to 121 points, scoring during the play and when you show your hand. The game ends the moment either player reaches 121, even in the middle of a hand. Because the non-dealer counts first, they can sometimes peg out just before the dealer.