Games - Cribbage

	Games - Cribbage

Cribbage or Crib is a card game that involves forming combinations of cards over a series of hands to accumulate points. Points are mainly scored by runs, regardless of suit; by pairs, triples and quadruples; by flushes; and by cards that add up to 15.

Cribbage is the only card game that can legally be played for a wager in British pubs.

According to John Aubrey, cribbage was invented by Sir John Suckling, a British poet, in the early 17th century. It was derived from an older card game called Noddy. It has survived, with no major changes, as one of the most popular games in the English-speaking world.

It is generally played by two people, although it can be played by three or four, or by a pair of two-person teams.

The game has several unusual features: one is the crib (or box), from which the game takes its name. This is a separate, four-card hand made up of discards from each player, which counts for the dealer. Another is that each hand has two distinct scoring stages: the play and the show.

Visually, cribbage is known for its scoring board - a series of holes (streets) on which score is tallied with pegs. Scores can be kept on a piece of paper, but a cribbage board is almost always used, since scoring occurs throughout the game, not just at the conclusion of hands as in most other card games.

There are two main designs of cribbage board:

The older has four rows of thirty holes and a pegging-out hole in the middle at each end (allowing the board to be used both ways round). It is not suitable for three player games. In variations it can however be used for team crib with four players and five cards each. Partners are normally opposite each other.
The newer has three or four rows of 120 holes with a pegging-out hole at the end and is often brightly coloured. It is best suited to games played to 121, though it can also be used for 61-point games.

In both cases there are two pegs for each player (except team crib where it is two pegs per team\partnership), so that if a player loses track in the count one peg still marks the previous score. The holes are divided into groups of 5.

Variations

Six-card cribbage is the most common game, and is the version played exclusively in organized tournaments. Here each player is dealt six cards, leaving them with four once two are placed in the crib. Play is to 121 — two streets of 60 (up and down) and the pegging-out hole.
For three players, five cards are dealt each and one to the crib. Each player places one card in the crib. Then play is as six card.
Five-card cribbage (for two players) is the oldest version, and is sometimes known as "old game". Each player is dealt five cards, so the crib consists of four cards but each hand only three. Whoever is non-dealer first is given a three-point start and play is to 61. The pegging is also slightly different from six card.
For four players, five cards are dealt each and each player places one in the crib. Play is as six card. In partner crib, players opposite each other form a partnership (as in bridge) and the scores are combined.
Seven-card cribbage is rare. Seven cards are dealt each and one to the crib, so the hands have five cards. The points can be very complicated to calculate. Play is to 151 (two and a half times round a traditional board).
Low-ball is a variant of six-card, in which the first person to score 121 points loses.
Muggins (see below)

Playing the game

The dealer rotates with each hand, and this is important because of the advantage the crib gives to the dealer (especially in five-card). If at any point in a hand a player pegs out (reaches the winning score), then the game ends and he wins. A notable feature of cribbage is that as soon as a player pegs out, the game is over; this can happen during the play of cards or while the hands are being scored. Some cribbage boards are marked with an 'S' in place of 90 because a player is said to be 'skunked' if, when the game ends, the player has fewer than 91 points. A player who finishes with fewer than 61 points is said to be 'double skunked' or 'lurched.'

The deal and the formation of the crib

The dealer shuffles the pack and deals the required number of cards. The non-dealer has the right to cut the deck before the deal, though this can be ignored to save time. The players then discard cards face-down to form the crib, which will be by the dealer.

In one (unfriendly, but nevertheless common) variation, the non-dealer does not have the right to cut the deck before the deal. In this variation, the dealer may choose to offer the cut; a naive or inattentive opponent will cut the deck and hand it back, whereupon the dealer immediately pegs one point; a knowledgeable opponent, though, will simply accept the deck, whereupon he becomes dealer for that hand.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Cribbage ]

Games - Cribbage

Variations

Playing the game

The deal and the formation of the crib

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