Cribbage Strategy: Keep, Peg and Count Like a Pro
How to win more games of cribbage: which cards to keep and throw, safe leads and danger counts in pegging, counting a hand in order, and playing to the board.
Sunroom Games · Updated
Cribbage rewards three skills: choosing which cards to keep, playing your cards well during pegging, and counting your hand correctly. Luck decides the cards you're dealt, but these three decide what you make of them, and over a game of eight hands or so they add up to a lot of points.
If you'd like the rules first, see how to play Cribbage.
Where the points come from
It helps to know what each part of a hand is worth. In test games between our computer players, a well-chosen hand of four scored about 8 points on average with the starter, the crib about 4 or 5, and pegging about 4 points for each player per hand. So the cards you keep matter most, but pegging and the crib together are worth nearly as much again.
1. Keep cards that work together
Out of six cards you keep four, so there are fifteen ways to choose. Look for cards that score together:
- Fives are the most valuable cards in the game. A five makes fifteen with any ten-card, and there are sixteen of those in the deck.
- Pairs score 2, and a pair inside a run makes a double run, which is worth a lot.
- Runs of three or four cards in a row, like 6, 7, 8, keep scoring whatever the starter is.
- Fifteens already in your hand, like 7 and 8, or 6 and 9.
Count the points the four cards already make, then think about which starters would add more. Cards that sit close together, like 6, 7, 8, 9, have more chances to be helped by the starter than cards spread far apart.
2. Think about whose crib it is
The two cards you throw away go into the dealer's crib.
- When it's your crib, throw cards that might score together: a five, a pair, or two cards that add up to fifteen. They'll count for you.
- When it's your opponent's crib, throw cards that are unlikely to help. A King with a card far away from it, like K and 2, is a classic safe throw. Never give away a five if you can help it, and avoid throwing a pair or two cards next to each other.
In our test games, about one crib in twelve scored nothing at all, but a careless five can easily turn a dull crib into a big one for the wrong player.
3. Lead a low card
The first card of each count is important. Lead a card under five (an Ace, 2, 3 or 4) whenever you can: no single card can then bring the count to fifteen. Leading a five is the worst choice, because so many cards are worth ten.
4. Avoid the danger counts
During pegging, watch the count you leave behind.
- 5 and 21 are the riskiest: a ten-card makes 15 or 31.
- Anything from 6 to 14 lets one card make fifteen, and anything from 22 to 30 lets one card make 31.
- Playing a card your opponent can pair gives them 2. But if you hold another card of the same rank, a pair from them lets you answer with three of a kind for 6.
You can't always avoid giving a chance away, but you can choose the smallest one.
5. Use runs, but carefully
A run can be built in any order during pegging, so a 4 then a 6 invites a 5, which makes a run of three for whoever plays it. If you hold the 5 and the 7, that can work in your favour; if you don't, you're setting up your opponent. Before you play a card next to one already on the table, think about who is more likely to hold the card that completes the run.
6. Count in the same order every time
When you count a hand, a fixed order means you never miss anything. Players usually count like this:
- Fifteens: every combination of cards that adds up to 15. Check pairs of cards first, then threes, then fours.
- Pairs: every pair of matching cards scores 2.
- Runs: three or more cards in a row; a pair inside a run doubles it.
- Flush: four cards of one suit in your hand (five with the starter).
- His nob: the Jack of the same suit as the starter scores 1.
Our game counts every hand out loud, the way players do at the table, so you can check your own counting against it. A hand that scores nothing is jokingly called a "nineteen", because 19 is the one score a cribbage hand can never make.
7. Play to the board
Near the end of the game, look at both scores before each decision. If you're well ahead, play safe: take the steady points and avoid risky pegging. If you're behind, you may need to keep a hand with a higher chance of a big score, or peg more boldly, to catch up. Remember that the non-dealer counts first, so near 121 that order can decide the game.
Big hands and skunks
The best possible hand is 29: three fives and the Jack in your hand, with the fourth five as the starter, matching the Jack's suit. It's so rare that many lifelong players never see one; our computer players didn't get one in 2,000 test games, though they did score 28. About one hand in five scored 12 or more, and about one in a hundred scored 20 or more.
A skunk is a win by more than 30 points: the loser finishes with 90 or fewer. Some players also count a double skunk when the loser hasn't passed 60. In our test games, about one game in seven ended in a skunk.
Learn with the hints
Our hint button is a good teacher. Before you throw, it suggests two cards and tells you how many points the four you keep are guaranteed to score, and their average once the starter is cut. During pegging it explains each suggestion, such as "it makes fifteen for 2 points" or that a card avoids giving Ben an easy thirty-one.