Deal → Discard → Pegging → Show → Crib
What to discard in Cribbage: strategy and tables
Learn what to discard in Cribbage with a dealer-versus-pone table, a worked six-card example and Pegline’s transparent Coach limits.
Rules version and update: standard-two-player-2026.07 · 2026-08-13
| Crib owner | Prefer | Protect against |
|---|---|---|
| Your crib | Keep the strongest four-card hand, then value pairs, fifteens and connected discards that may score again in your crib. | Do not sacrifice a much stronger hand merely to feed the crib. |
| Opponent’s crib | Keep hand value while sending cards that work together as little as possible. | Avoid donating a 5, a pair, close ranks, or a 5 with a ten-value card when alternatives are stronger. |
All 15 discards, in both crib directions
The same public six-card hand is evaluated twice: once when the crib is yours and once when it belongs to the opponent. Every possible two-card discard appears exactly once in each table.
Public six-card example: 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, 8♠, K♣, K♦.
- The hand leaves 46 legal unseen starters. Pegline builds a stable pseudo-random order from the public hand and crib ownership, then scores the first 32.
- Keep estimate is the average production scoreShow result over that fixed starter sample. Crib effect is Pegline’s public two-card cribAffinity heuristic, not a complete crib expected value.
- Your-crib total adds the crib effect; opponent-crib total subtracts it. This fixed evaluator does not inspect the opponent’s hand, future deck or a deal seed, and does not claim perfect or universally optimal play.
- Ranking and gaps use unrounded JavaScript numbers: total descending, then the card-ID key. Display values use toFixed(1) with an ASCII decimal point, and -0.0 is normalised to 0.0. Equal displayed values need not be equal internally.
| Rank | Discard | Keep | Keep estimate | Crib effect | Fixed total | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K♣, K♦ | 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, 8♠ | 9.8 | +2.7 | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| 2 | 7♥, 8♠ | 5♣, 6♦, K♣, K♦ | 8.5 | +2.7 | 11.2 | 1.3 |
| 3 | 5♣, K♣ | 6♦, 7♥, 8♠, K♦ | 7.3 | +3.5 | 10.9 | 1.6 |
| 4 | 5♣, K♦ | 6♦, 7♥, 8♠, K♣ | 7.3 | +3.3 | 10.6 | 1.9 |
| 5 | 6♦, 8♠ | 5♣, 7♥, K♣, K♦ | 7.8 | +0.7 | 8.5 | 4.0 |
| 6 | 6♦, 7♥ | 5♣, 8♠, K♣, K♦ | 7.6 | +0.7 | 8.3 | 4.3 |
| 7 | 8♠, K♣ | 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, K♦ | 8.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 4.5 |
| 8 | 8♠, K♦ | 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, K♣ | 8.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 4.5 |
| 9 | 5♣, 6♦ | 7♥, 8♠, K♣, K♦ | 5.7 | +2.0 | 7.7 | 4.9 |
| 10 | 6♦, K♦ | 5♣, 7♥, 8♠, K♣ | 6.4 | +0.3 | 6.7 | 5.8 |
| 11 | 6♦, K♣ | 5♣, 7♥, 8♠, K♦ | 6.4 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 6.1 |
| 12 | 5♣, 7♥ | 6♦, 8♠, K♣, K♦ | 3.6 | +2.0 | 5.6 | 6.9 |
| 13 | 5♣, 8♠ | 6♦, 7♥, K♣, K♦ | 3.7 | +1.3 | 5.0 | 7.6 |
| 14 | 7♥, K♣ | 5♣, 6♦, 8♠, K♦ | 4.9 | 0.0 | 4.9 | 7.6 |
| 15 | 7♥, K♦ | 5♣, 6♦, 8♠, K♣ | 4.9 | 0.0 | 4.9 | 7.6 |
| Rank | Discard | Keep | Keep estimate | Crib effect | Fixed total | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8♠, K♣ | 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, K♦ | 7.8 | 0.0 | 7.8 | 0.0 |
| 2 | 8♠, K♦ | 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, K♣ | 7.8 | 0.0 | 7.8 | 0.0 |
| 3 | K♣, K♦ | 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, 8♠ | 9.7 | -2.7 | 7.0 | 0.7 |
| 4 | 6♦, 7♥ | 5♣, 8♠, K♣, K♦ | 7.6 | -0.7 | 6.9 | 0.8 |
| 5 | 6♦, 8♠ | 5♣, 7♥, K♣, K♦ | 7.6 | -0.7 | 6.9 | 0.8 |
| 6 | 6♦, K♣ | 5♣, 7♥, 8♠, K♦ | 6.2 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 1.5 |
| 7 | 6♦, K♦ | 5♣, 7♥, 8♠, K♣ | 6.2 | -0.3 | 6.0 | 1.8 |
| 8 | 7♥, 8♠ | 5♣, 6♦, K♣, K♦ | 8.3 | -2.7 | 5.5 | 2.2 |
| 9 | 7♥, K♣ | 5♣, 6♦, 8♠, K♦ | 4.8 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 2.9 |
| 10 | 7♥, K♦ | 5♣, 6♦, 8♠, K♣ | 4.8 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 2.9 |
| 11 | 5♣, K♦ | 6♦, 7♥, 8♠, K♣ | 7.3 | -3.3 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
| 12 | 5♣, K♣ | 6♦, 7♥, 8♠, K♦ | 7.3 | -3.5 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 13 | 5♣, 6♦ | 7♥, 8♠, K♣, K♦ | 5.5 | -2.0 | 3.5 | 4.3 |
| 14 | 5♣, 8♠ | 6♦, 7♥, K♣, K♦ | 3.7 | -1.3 | 2.4 | 5.4 |
| 15 | 5♣, 7♥ | 6♦, 8♠, K♣, K♦ | 3.5 | -2.0 | 1.5 | 6.3 |
Make the live decision, then compare
Return to the live Pegline table and commit your real discard or legal pegging card first. Compare then reveals the fixed evaluator snapshot for that decision; using it marks the game Assisted.
Play Cribbage and compareValue the four-card keep
Start with the points already present in the four cards: fifteens, pairs and runs. Then consider how the 46 unseen starters can improve them. Connected ranks and cards around five often have useful upside, but no slogan replaces evaluating the actual six-card hand.
Price the crib direction
When the crib is yours, useful pairs, fifteens and connected discards can add value twice. When it belongs to the opponent, the same cards are a cost. A five is especially dangerous to donate because any ten-value card can complete fifteen; matching ranks and close ranks can also combine with unknown crib cards.
Read Pegline’s Coach
The Coach samples a fixed, deterministic set of legal unseen starters and ranks every two-card discard. It reports expected kept-hand value, estimated crib effect and the gap to the next choice. It receives only the acting hand and crib ownership—not the opponent’s hand, future deck or deal seed—and does not claim perfect strategy.
Worked six-card example
With 5♣, 6♦, 7♥, 8♠, K♣ and K♦, Pegline’s deterministic Coach changes direction with crib ownership: for your crib it discards K♣ and K♦; for the opponent’s crib it keeps the pair out of the crib and discards 8♠ with one King. This is a transparent fixed-sample estimate, not a claim of perfect expected value.