The dealer shuffles the deck and then offers his opponent the chance to cut the cards. If both players draw the same rank, each player needs to draw again. The player who drew the lowest card must deal first. To determine who will deal the first, shuffle the deck, and have each of the players select a card. Since each player will need to score by himself, make sure the board is within easy reach.Įach player places his pegs in the starting area on the board. Start by placing the board between both players. Since scores are recorded using pegs, scoring is often referred to as “pegging.” Setting Up a Game of Cribbage The rear peg represents the previous score from last round while the forward peg is the player’s current score. Most players use two pegs on a specially designed board to help them keep track of their current score. House of Cribbage Continuous Cribbage Board, available at Amazon (affiliate link)īecause scoring occurs both during gameplay and at the end of each hand, it is easy to become confused.

Most players use a specialized cribbage board which has two to four tracks of numbered holes. The equipment for Cribbage is a standard deck of 52 playing cards and a way to keep score. Check out the Other Variations section at the end of this article for more in-depth information for playing with three or four players. The rules in the main section of this article are for a two-player card game. While most of the rules, including gameplay, the objective, and scoring, are the same, there are differences when it comes to the number of cards dealt to each player. Most people play Cribbage as a head-to-head game, but any number from two to four players can play.

Players score points based on the cards they hold in their hands as well as the choices they make while playing each turn. The goal of Cribbage is to be the first player to score 121 points.

Playing cribbage video