For causing the count to reach exactly fifteen a player scores two points and play continues. The cards are not laid in the centre of the table as, at the end of the “play,” each player needs to pick up the cards they have laid. Starting with the player on the dealer’s left, each player in turn lays one card face up on the table in front of him or her, stating the count-that is, the cumulative value of the cards that have been laid (for example, the first player lays a five and says “five”, the next lays a six and says “eleven”, and so on)-without the count going above 31. If this card is a Jack, the dealer scores two points for “his heels.” The play The player on the dealer’s left cuts the deck and the dealer reveals the top card, called the “starter” or the “cut”. At this point, each player’s hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards. Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, then discards the other one or two face-down to form the “crib” (also called the box), which will be used later by the dealer. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in the centre of the table to start the crib. For two players, each is dealt six cards for three or four players, each is dealt five cards. The dealer shuffles and deals five or six cards to each player, depending on the number of players. The players cut for first deal, and the person who cuts the lowest card deals. This can even happen during the deal, since the dealer can score if a Jack is cut as the starter.

Play proceeds through a succession of “hands”, each hand consisting of a “deal”, “the play” and “the show.” At any time during any of these stages, if a player reaches the target score (usually 121), play ends immediately with that player being the winner of the game. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for score-keeping, 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. 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 scoring during play