Cribbage · Game rules

Cribbage Square

Goal

Arrange the 10 Poker hands for a total score of 61 points or more.

How to play

Place the 16 cards on the tableau to get a score of 61 points or more.

Once on a stack, a card cannot be moved.

If you are playing a variant with reserve or waste stacks, cards may be moved onto the top of one or two five-card reserve/waste stacks. The top card of a reserve stack may be moved to the grid at any time, but if a card is moved to a waste stack, it cannot be moved.

Once all of the cards have been moved into the grid, another card from the deck is flipped up to be used as the starter. The starter is mostly treated as a fifth card for each hand. The starter cannot be moved to reserve or waste stacks.

Points are awarded for the 4 Cribbage hands from left to right and for the 4 hands from top to bottom.

Cribbage Scoring

Cribbage hands are scored as follows - each hand is worth the total value of all of the following:

  • 15 - 2 points are added to each hand for every combination of cards that adds up to 15.
  • Pair - 2 points are added for each set of two cards of the same rank.
  • Pair Royal - For sets of the same rank of more than two cards, they are scored by the number of individual pairs they contain.
  • Run - Each combination of three or more cards of consecutive ranks scores 1 point per card. Only the largest possible run is considered.
  • Flush - Four cards of the same suit are worth 4 points. The starter is not considered when scoring flushes, but if it does match the suit of a flush, that is an extra point.
  • His Nobs - A jack of the same suit as the starter adds 1 point to the hand.
  • His Heels - If the starter is a Jack, 2 points are added to the entire game.
New to solitaire? A few useful terms
Tableau
The main playing area, usually arranged in columns or piles.
Foundation
A destination where cards are collected in the order required by the game.
Stock / talon
Cards waiting to be dealt. A game may allow one pass or several.
Waste
A pile receiving cards turned over from the stock.
Reserve / cell
A holding area. Its capacity and movement rules depend on the game.
Redeal
Another pass through the stock or a redistribution of cards, as specified in that game’s rules.

Game-rule reference adapted from PySolFC documentation, licensed under GPL v3 or later. References describe the game’s mechanics.