Cribbage pegging rules: scoring, Go and runs

How a pegging sequence starts, stops and resets

Pegging is the play phase between cutting the starter and counting the two hands and crib. The pone, or non-dealer, leads. Players then alternate one card at a time and announce the running count. Aces count as one; Jacks, Queens and Kings count as ten. You must play when at least one card in your hand keeps the total at or below 31.

The running count belongs to the current sequence, not the whole hand. If the opening cards are 10, 7 and 3, the announced counts are 10, 17 and 20. Those cards remain out of the players’ hands after a reset, but the next sequence starts again at zero.

1. A card that reaches exactly 31 scores two. The count resets without an additional last-card point.
2. If neither player can add a legal card, the last player to lay a card scores one for Go and the count resets.

When all eight pegging cards have been played, the final card scores one if it did not make 31. Go and last card describe the same one-point sequence ending, so they are never added twice.

Calling Go is not a tactical pass: every card still held must be too large. The opponent continues one card at a time while a legal play remains. After the reset, the player who called Go leads if they still hold a card; otherwise the player with cards remaining continues.

How 15, 31 and consecutive pairs score

Fifteen and 31 depend on the running total. If one player leads a 7 and the other plays an 8, the count reaches 15 and the second player scores two. The ranks are not equal, and two cards cannot form a run, so that play scores only the fifteen.

Pairs depend on the newest uninterrupted ranks. A 5 followed by another 5 scores two. If a third 5 follows immediately, the total reaches 15 and the new card also completes three of a kind: two for 15 plus six for the triple, or eight points on that play. A different rank between two matching cards breaks the consecutive-pair test, so an older pair elsewhere in the sequence does not score again.

One legal card can create more than one event, which is why the total check and latest-rank check are separate. Pegline’s scorer records each event rather than stopping after the first match.

Cribbage pegging runs use the newest suffix

A pegging run contains at least three consecutive ranks, but the cards need not arrive in numerical order. Work backwards from the newest card and find the longest trailing group whose ranks are unique and consecutive. For example, 3♣, 5♦, 4♥ scores a three-card run when the 4♥ lands: the play order is 3, 5, 4, while the ranks form 3–4–5.

A duplicate inside a proposed run prevents that group from being a run, so test a shorter suffix. Do not import hand-scoring phrases such as “double run” into pegging. Duplicate-rank multiplicity belongs to counting a hand or crib; during play, the newest card earns the longest valid single suffix run.

Reading the scorer-verified run-to-31 example

In the first verified example, 3♣, 5♦ and 4♥ take the count to 12. The 4♥ scores three because the newest three ranks make 3–4–5. The following 10♠ reaches 22, then 9♣ reaches exactly 31 and scores two. That play resets the count and receives no extra point for last card.

The remaining 2♦, 10♥ and 7♠ form a fresh sequence ending at 19. They are the final cards, so the dealer receives one for last card. The example keeps that one-point ending separate from the earlier 31 rather than treating both resets alike.

What Go means in Cribbage

The second verified example starts 10♣, 7♦, 3♥, 4♠ for a count of 24. Pone holds 8♣ and 9♥, so neither card is legal and Pone calls Go. Dealer can still play 3♦ to reach 27. Dealer’s remaining 5♠ would pass 31, so the sequence ends; Dealer scores one and the count returns to zero. Pone then leads the next sequence with 8♣.

This is why “Go means the opponent gets one” is incomplete. The opponent must continue while any legal card remains and may score 15, a pair, a run or 31 during that continuation. The one-point Go award happens only if the sequence ultimately stops below 31.

A simple check before every pegging play

Use the same short routine for each card you are considering. The first four checks determine its rules score; the fifth is strategy rather than a promise that one move is universally best.

1. Legal count: will the new total stay at or below 31?
2. Exact total: will the card make 15 or 31?
3. Matching tail: will the latest ranks make a pair, three or four of a kind?
4. Run tail: what is the longest valid suffix ending at this card?
5. Reply risk: what easy 15, 31, pair or run could the opponent make next?

Pegline’s Coach uses a fixed, bounded evaluator. It does not inspect hidden opponent cards or claim perfect play. Commit a legal choice first; Compare can then reveal the evaluator snapshot for that decision, and using it marks the game Assisted.

Make each point auditable

Accurate Cribbage pegging comes down to a repeatable check: keep the count legal, score the exact total, then inspect the newest ranks for a matching group or run. Treat Go as a forced continuation rule, and never add a last-card point to 31.

Once the sequence logic is clear, pegging becomes a series of small, verifiable decisions rather than a blur of announced numbers. To compare play-phase points with the combinations counted later, continue to the hand-scoring guide below.