Cribbage is a classic card game that’s been around for centuries and played by people of all ages. It’s been spread by sailors at sea, popularized by novels and passed down through generations all over the world! It’s simple to learn and perfect to play while chatting, making it perfect for all sorts of venues from the family kitchen table to a bar top with new friends.
Cribbage is played with a standard deck of cards and a board to keep track of scoring. Players are dealt a hand of cards and choose which to discard face down into the ‘crib’ (an additional hand for the dealer during the scoring phase.) The remaining deck is cut, the top card revealed, and the first phase of the game begins!
During the ‘pegging’ phase, players take turns playing a card from their hand and announcing the total value of cards played so far. Points are primarily scored from hitting a total of 15 or 31, but there are other ways as well! If a player can only play a card that would push the total to 32 or higher (or is out of cards in hand) they pass. Once everyone has passed or the total reaches 31, the person who played the last card gets a point, the count resets, and the next player starts a new count with a card from their hand.
Play continues until everyone has played all 4 cards in their hand.
After the ‘pegging’ phase is completed, play moves to the ‘scoring’ phase. All players try to make sets with their hand of 4 cards and the revealed cut card from the beginning of the round. Points are scored for making various sets including cards that add to 15, pairs (or higher), runs and more. The dealer reveals the cards in the crib and scores that as an additional hand to add to their score. If nobody has reached the point threshold for winning (121 for a full game, 61 for a half game), the next player becomes the dealer and the next round begins.
Boards come in all shapes and sizes and foldable travel boards make it easy to play on the go! In my neck of the woods (Wisconsin) it’s not uncommon for a family cabin, bar or coffee shop to have at least one cribbage board that lives there permanently ready to be played at any time.
Have you played Cribbage before? If so, what’s the most memorable place you’ve played the game? If not, what game do you love and where is the most memorable place you have played it? We would love to know! Tell us in the comments!
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