🎰 Cribbage

How to play

Cribbage here is a hand-scoring race to 121 against the CPU. Each deal gives you six cards, of which you throw two into the crib; the CPU discards two as well. A starter card is then turned and both four-card hands are scored with it. The next hand deals automatically a couple of seconds later. There is no pegging phase, so the whole game is the discard decision and the count that follows.

• Click a card in your hand — selects it for the crib, and clicking again deselects it. You can hold at most two.
• Send to Crib button — commits your two cards, flips the starter and scores both hands. It does nothing until exactly two are selected.
• New button — resets both scores to zero and starts a fresh game.

Scoring

Your four cards and the starter are counted together. Every combination adding to exactly fifteen pays 2, with Aces as 1 and picture cards as 10. Every pair of matching ranks pays 2, so three of a kind gives 6. Runs of three or more consecutive ranks pay a point per card, and this build also credits the shorter runs inside a longer one, which makes long runs unusually valuable. Four cards of one suit is a flush worth 4, or 5 if the starter matches. A Jack as the starter gives you 2 for His Heels. The crib itself is not scored.

Tips

• Fives are the most valuable cards, since every ten-count card pairs with one to make fifteen.
• Keep cards that work together — a pair, or two cards a rank apart, can grow once the starter appears.
• The crib is never counted here, so throw away whatever contributes least to your own four cards.
• Four cards of one suit is worth 4 on its own, often more than a scattered hand of fifteens.

Frequently asked questions