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Cribbage: Getting started

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Cribbage. . .best game ever

 

Cribbage, in my humble opinion, is one of greatest card games out there. . . not to mention incredibly addicting. With the right combination of luck, skill, and card recognition, anyone can win. It is a great game to play with your significant other, a group of friends, or even with strangers in a tournament. It happens to be my favorite game to play while camping! Cribbage is not only entertaining, but a great way to help school aged children better their math skills. Really, it's just all around good!

So you want to learn how to play cribbage. . . 

Here's what you need to start

1. A cribbage board
2. A standard deck of playing cards
3. A good teacher *
4. A good attitude and a little patience

*A good teacher is an important tool in learning the game. They can teach you the ins and outs of the games, and if you have an exceptionally good teacher, they may even let you in on some secrets! I met my teacher at the bar that I work at. Look around, it is actually a fairly popular games, and there are many who are more than willing to help a novice. . .everyone likes being an "expert" sometimes.

A hand that scores 29 points is the perfect hand in cribbage

Beginning Cribbage Set 

3 Track Cribbage Set

Amazon Price: $6.97 (as of 10/11/2008)

You don't need a fancy board to enjoy the game, here is an inexpensive, and functional Cribbage set

What does Wikipedia say? 

Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for scorekeeping, the eponymous crib or box (a separate hand counting for the dealer), two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen.

According to John Aubrey, cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th century, as a derivation of the game "noddy". While noddy has disappeared, crib has survived, virtually unchanged, as one of the most popular games in the English-speaking world. The objective of the game is to be the first player to score a target number of points, typically 61 or 121. Points are scored for card combinations that add up to fifteen, pairs (plus triples and quadruples), runs and flushes.

Cribbage holds a special place among American submariners, serving as an "official" pastime. The wardroom of the oldest submarine in the fleet carries RADM Dick O'Kane's personal cribbage board onboard, and upon decommissioning it is transferred to the next oldest boat.

Basic Rules 

Basic 2 player- 6 card cribbage

The following is the rules for the most commonly played 6 card two player cribbage.

WHAT YOU NEED:
A standard deck of playing cards
A cribbage board
Another person to play with :)

THE OBJECT:
The first player that scores 121 points wins.

BOARD AND PEGS:
The cribbage board is used to keep track of each players score. When taking points the rear peg is always moved in front of front peg so you can see how many points were scored on the previous round.

THE DEAL:
A common way to determine who deals first is to have both players cut the deck of cards, the player with the lowest card on the bottom of their cut deals first. The deal then alternates for the rest of the game.

The dealer than shuffles the deck and deals 6 cards face down to each player one at a time. The dealer then places the undealt cards in a pile face down on the table.

THE CRIB:
Both players now look at their cards and choose two out of their six cards to discard in a pile face down by the dealer. These four cards become the crib and the dealer will get whatever points these cards bring at the end of the round. The dealer always gets the crib.

GAMEPLAY AND SCORING
After both players place their two cards in the crib infront of the dealer it is time for the pone, or the non-dealer, to cut the deck. The dealer than flips the top card of the cut deck so it is face up. This is called the cut. If the cut card happens to be a jack the dealer than takes two points, commonly called "two for his knees."
The pone starts the gameplay by laying one of their cards face up infront of them announcing it's numerical value ( Ace=1, 2=2, 3=3. . .face cards are all 10). The dealer than lays their first card face up on the table in front of them and announces the sum of the value of the card played before and the card they layed. This goes on until someone reaches 31, or as close as it can be without going over 31. If no one has a card to play without going over 31 than the player of the last card gets a point for a "go." This goes on until there are no cards left in either players hands. There are additional ways to score points during this part of the game. And they are as follows:
If a players card takes the number to exactly 15 than that player can take 2 points
2 of a kind = 2 points
3 of a kind= 3 points
4 of a kind= 4 points
3 card run= 3 points
4 card run= 4 points
5 card run= 5 points
Laying last card (a go)= 1 point
Making total 31= 2 points

Now it is time for the players to count their hands. The pone always counts first, then the dealer counts their hand and then their crib. This is where that cut card from the beginning of the game comes in. This card can be used in addition to the players hand to score points. Points can be scored in the following ways and cards can be used in every combination possible:
Adding up to 15 points= 2 points
2 of a kind = 2 points
3 of a kind= 3 points
4 of a kind= 4 points
3 card run= 3 points
4 card run= 4 points
5 card run= 5 points
Jack the same suit as the cut card (knobs)= 1 point
Cards in hand all the same suit (flush)= 4 points
Cards in crib all the same suit as cut card (flush)= 5 points
Points are usually counted out loud for example if a person had 2 queens in their hand, a 3, and a 5 than they would count, "15-2, 15-4, and a pair is 6"

The game goes on in this manner until someone reaches 121 points to win.

Cribbage on Flickr 

Nothing like a miday-Friday game of euchre. by sundaykofax

Nothing like a miday...

Cribbage board by tmd

Cribbage board

Cribbage board by tmd

Cribbage board

Cribbage & cards by tmd

Cribbage & cards

Playing with DOF by tmd

Playing with DOF

Cribbage & cards by tmd

Cribbage & cards

More DOF pegs by tmd

More DOF pegs

Notorious MiG's favorite soda by tmd

Notorious MiG's favo...

Cribbage pegs by tmd

Cribbage pegs

Lamp outdoors by tmd

Lamp outdoors

Know the lingo!

"19"- if a player counts their hand as 19, it means they have no points (there is no such thing as a 19 point hand)

"2, 4, ain't no more" - the player has 4 points in their hand

"2 for his knees"- dealer is taking 2 points for a cut jack

Do you play? 

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Cribbage Boards on Ebay 

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eBay

Learn these 15 point combinations

Recognition, Recognition, Recognition
Memorize these easy to recognize 15 combinations
10 + 5 = 15
6 + 9 = 15
7 + 8 = 15
4 + 5 + 6 = 15

More ways to learn 

There are many websites out there that you can learn the rules of cribbage. And there are many places you can play online. My advice is that for a new player, just learning, is to stay away from online play until you get good at counting and recognizing combinations of cards.
American Cribbage Congress
This would be the exception to the do not play online rule. This site allows you to click on an option while setting up games that allows you to manually count your cards.
Cribbage - Online Guide
Cribbage - History and information
Cribbage Corner | Cribbage has a home.
Cribbage Corner, Cribbage has a home.

Perfect Cribbage Hand 29 points!

Another good tool to learning and mastering the game of Cribbage is some good literature 

How to win at cribbage

My personal favorite, one of the books I still use as a reference. Don't let the fact that there is no image fool you, it really is a great book.

Amazon Price: (as of 10/11/2008)

Cribbage for Experts: And Future Experts

Amazon Price: $8.50 (as of 10/11/2008)

Sound off! 

Love cribbage, want to learn, like this lens, hate this lens, now is your chance to let me know.

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darkhairedgirl

About darkhairedgirl

Hi, I'm the Dark Haired Girl. I'm a 20 something lover of all things cribbageThe Dark Haired Girl

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