Cribbage can’t actually be called a very popular card game. At least, not as popular as poker, bridge and some versions of solitaire. But it has a long and interesting history that may ignite your curiosity and make you consider trying it despite the comparatively complicated rules.
So, it was invented back in the 17th century, and not just by anyone, but a British poet, John Suckling. At first, it didn’t enjoy much popularity, but then eventually gained steam, especially after being mentioned in a story by another famous British writer, Charles Dickens who described the process of playing Cribbage in detail in one of his novels.
Cribbage Game Play Online Free
Gradually, Cribbage had spread around Britain and then around the whole Europe. It was also quite a thing in the American West, and especially in the tiny town of Nelson, Montana, that his has a sign saying ‘The Cribbage Capital of the World’ at the town entrance. The game had particular success with the navy and was one of the common leisures among the U.S. submariners. Actually, the oldest American submarine still active has a wardroom hosts a personal Cribbage board of the glorified World War II admiral that is the hallmark of the watercraft.
Now it’s one of those card games that’s not very well-known among the youth and is considered to be the fancy of our grandpas and grandmas. But you can fix that playing it online and learning all the intricacies of building up a winning Cribbage strategy which might turn out to be trickier than it seems at first sight! So let’s begin!
Cribbage Rules
This is a Cribbage version meant for two players. To win, you need to earn 121 points faster than your opponent. The whole gameplay can be split into three parts that will be described below in detail.
How the cards are dealt (The Deal)
First of all, you have to define who the dealer is. The other person becomes the pone. The algorithm mentioned further applies only to the first round. Then the players switch the dealer and pone roles. So, at the very start of the game, each player draws a card randomly from the deck. The one that gets a card that has less value becomes the dealer. If the cards the players just drew are the same, they keep drawing until the dealer can be decided.
Once it’s done, the dealer starts dealing cards – 6 to himself and to the opponent. After that you can discard two cards from those you were dealt and put it into the crib face down. The crib is used for earning additional points at the end of the round and belongs to the dealer. Don’t underestimate this part of the gameplay because the cards you pick will then decide the number of points that can be added to your score later.
Then the deck is cut and the upper card is revealed. This card is called the starter. The dealer instantly gets 2 points if that card is a Jack. The started isn’t used anywhere else in the game. That’s where the Deal part ends. At this point, there are four cards on each of the player’s hands and also four in the crib.
How to play and score points (The Play)
The main part starts with the pone putting down any card on the table and saying what it is (only the value, not the suit). The dealer does the same, only the number he announces is the sum of the values of both cards. That goes on in turns until no other card can be put on the table by the player whose turn is now without exceeding 31. That player says “Go”, and the opponent can keep putting his cards down until he hits the same situation. They say the same, and, depending on whether the number is under 31 or exactly 31, the player who laid down the last card gets either 1 or 2 points.
The count is then returned to zero and the players keep playing with the cards they still have, with the first move made by the player whose card wasn’t the last on the table. All the cards give you just as many points as their value, except for Jacks, Queens and Kings (which are 10) and aces (which are 1).
Your main goal during this part is to use the very cards from your hand that will allow you to score a maximum number of points. Points are earned in several way (there are various combinations just like in poker that you have to try and gather if you have a chance):
– The cumulative value of all the cards before plus your own
– 2 points for the card that has the same rank as the one just laid down (Pair)
– 6 points for the card that has the same rank as the last two (Pair Royal)
– 12 points for the card that has the same rank as the last three (Double Pair Royal)
(Note that the pair rules only apply to ranks, not values. I.e., although all face cards are 10 in value, you can’t combine a Jack and a Queen to make a pair).
– 1 point for each card that make up a sequence, regardless of their numerical order (Run). For instance, if you have 3-2-4-5, you can get four points because that’s basically a sequence, only some cards need to switch places. However, if it’s 3-2-2-4, it’s not a sequence anymore because you have another 4 that disrupts it.
– 2 points for the card that brings the total value to 15 (Fifteen)
You can also score more points by fulfilling two conditions at the same time. For instance, if there are already a 9 and a 3 on the table and you add another 3, you will get both 2 points for making a pair and 2 points for scoring a total of 15.
Generally, points are immediately written down on the scoreboard to keep track of them since it’s very easy to forget how many points have been earned by each player so far, even if you have a really good memory. In this game, everything is counted automatically, so you can be sure these are the exact results and nobody is going to cheat. One of the many advantages online versions of card games have over those played offline!
The main part of the game keeps going until all the cards are laid down by both players. The game ends instantly if someone already has 121 points. If not, then comes the Show part.
Counting the cards if nobody has reached 121 points (The Show)
At this stage, you get back the cards you put on the table and calculate them to add their values to your score. That’s also when the crib comes into play. First, you need to calculate pone’s hand, then dealer’s hand, then the crib.
Mostly, the scoring is the same as for the main part of the play. This is where you also need to count the starter that is added not only to the hands, but also to the crib. There are also a few combinations that are different from those you can use during the play:
-1 point if you have a jack and its suit coincides with the starting card
– 4 points for having cards of the same suit on your hand (Flush)
– 5 points for having cards of the same suit either on your hand or in the crib (also Flush, but with the starter added to the basic four cards)
The counting only goes until someone earns 121 points. If the pone reaches 121 points in the process of counting their hand, the dealer doesn’t have to count theirs anymore because the game is already over. So there can’t be no tie in Cribbage since one of the players is sure to reach 121 points first. And while it may seem that it’s easier to reach this target for the dealer because he scores both his hand and the crib, the pone still counts his cards fi
rst. So if they both have approached 121 in the previous rounds, the pone has good chances of victory despite the fact that the dealer has more cards to count.
What are Skunks and Double Skunks?
Aside from a regular victory, there are also two special types of victories to strive for:
Skunk – when your opponent has less than 91 points and you outscore them by over 30 points. Counts as two games.
Double Skunk – when your opponent has less 61 points and you outscore them by over 60 points. Counts as three games.
Skunks are needed for matches – a series of Cribbage games played between two players that then form the general score. For instance, if you won 3 games out of 5, you gain 3 points. But if you ended one of the games with a skunk, it counts as two games, and you now have 4 points instead of 3 you would have had if not for the skunk.
But since this version of Cribbage doesn’t provide for multiple games, skunks here are purely for your personal statistics. And also there is an image of skunk that will appear on the screen in that case (or two at a time). For the rest of the games, each of them is tracked individually.
Other versions and rules
• The physical version of the game has a wooden board with pegs that are all of different colors and used to count points. Whenever a move is made, the player must claim the full score and put a peg of a respective color into a respective hole on the board. The colors are used to mark 1, 2 and other numbers of points.
• In some Cribbage versions, there is a rule that complicates the gameplay – the pegs are put not into every hole, but you kind of jump over one hole and the points that should have gone there remain uncounted. However, it’s not applied in this version of the game.
• In classic Cribbage, there is also the ‘muggins’ rule that allows you to claim your opponent’s points if they failed to claim them during the game. That means, if the other player failed to announce their full score after their move, you can say ‘Muggins’ and count the number of points missed out for yourself. Since the online version of Cribbage counts the points automatically, you can rest in peace – the game will do the scoring for you, and you don’t have to keep track of the score.
Enjoy Cribbage online!
Hopefully, you’ll enjoy our version of Cribbage game suited especially for playing it online! You can try your hand against the AI or another player. The game also keeps track of all your results to help you get a better idea of your progress. Like every other game, Cribbage takes time to build up skill since it’s not purely about luck. You have to think which particular card is better to lay down this very moment considering the previous cards already put on the table, the total score and whether you’re the dealer or the pone in this game (because that defines who makes the first move and who is going to tap into the crib during the Show).
It all may seem a little bit baffling at first, but the more you play the better you’ll understand all the nuances of Cribbage and will be able to come up with your own winning tactics. Start your way as a Cribbage player right now with our simple and colorful interface, automatic score counting and access to this old respected card game anytime, from any place, without needing that wooden board and even a deck of cards! Good luck!