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.

Related Topics:
Card game - Hand

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
John Aubrey - John Suckling

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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, see below.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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- or four-player games,
• 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, 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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Cribbage: Variations ►