Deal → Discard → Pegging → Show → Crib
Cribbage rules: deal, discard, peg and show
A concise standard two-player Cribbage rules reference with phase order, dealer duties and exact win timing.
Rules version and update: standard-two-player-2026.07 · 2026-08-13
Deal and the crib
Deal six cards to each player, alternating from the non-dealer. Each player discards exactly two cards, face down, into the dealer’s four-card crib. The remaining four cards form each hand. Turn one undealt card face up as the starter; it belongs to every hand and the crib for show scoring. If the starter is a Jack, the dealer scores two for heels immediately.
Pegging
The non-dealer leads one card. Players alternate and announce the running count, treating J, Q and K as ten. A card that would take the count over 31 is illegal. Score 15, 31, consecutive equal ranks and the longest valid suffix run as they occur. If one player says Go, the other continues while legal. When neither can play, award Go or last card once and reset the count.
Show and winning
After all eight hand cards have been played, count the non-dealer’s four-card hand with the starter, then the dealer’s hand, then the dealer’s crib. Enumerate every fifteen, pair and longest run multiplicity, plus flush and nobs. Stop the instant either score reaches 61 in Sprint or 121 in Classic; do not finish later combinations.