Cribbage Glossary

Definitions for 35 cribbage terms, from the crib and the pone to the stinkhole and the 29 hand, with the points each one scores. Where house rules or tournament rules differ, the entry says so. The full cribbage rules show every term in play.

Count (Running Count)

The running total of card values during pegging. Players call it as they lay each card, and it may never pass 31. When it reaches 31, or when neither player can lay a card, it goes back to zero.

Crib

An extra hand of four cards that belongs to the dealer. Each player lays two cards away to it face down before play begins. The dealer counts it last, after both hands, using the starter as a fifth card.

Cut

Splitting the pack. Before the first deal each player cuts and the lower card deals. After the discard, the pone cuts the pack and the dealer turns up the top card of the lower packet as the starter. Our game draws the starter at random instead.

Dead Hole

Hole 120, one short of the game hole. The American Cribbage Congress rulebook uses this name for it; most players call it the stinkhole.

Double Pair Royal

Four cards of the same rank. It scores 12 points because it holds six separate pairs, so four 7s count 12.

Double Run

A run with one rank doubled, so it counts twice. 3-4-4-5 is a double run of three, worth 8 points before fifteens: two runs of 3-4-5 for 6, plus the pair of 4s for 2.

Double-Double Run

A run of three with two of its ranks doubled, such as 7-7-8-8-9. It holds four runs of three for 12 and two pairs for 4, which is 16 before fifteens. With 8 more for fifteens, 7-7-8-8-9 scores 24.

Double Skunk

Winning while your opponent is on 60 points or less. Casual players often count it as three or four games. American Cribbage Congress tournaments give it no credit beyond an ordinary skunk.

Fifteen

Any combination of cards adding up to exactly 15, worth 2 points. In the show, every separate combination scores. During pegging, bringing the count to exactly 15 also scores 2.

Flush

Four hand cards of one suit score 4 points, or 5 if the starter matches too. In the crib only a five-card flush counts: all four crib cards and the starter must share a suit.

Game Hole

The 121st hole at the end of the board, where the winning peg finishes. Each player has 120 scoring holes before it.

Go

What a player says when they cannot lay a card without passing 31. The opponent keeps playing while they can, then pegs 1 for the go, or 2 for reaching 31 exactly, and the other player leads the next count.

His Heels

Two points to the dealer when the starter turned up is a Jack, pegged at once, and able to win the game. Also called "two for his heels" and, by the American Cribbage Congress, nibs.

His Nob

One point for holding the Jack of the starter card's suit, in a hand or the crib. Also called nobs, or "one for his nob."

Last Card

One point for laying the final card of the hand in pegging. If that card makes the count exactly 31, it scores 2 for the 31 instead, never 3.

Magic Eleven

Two cards that add up to 11, such as 7 and 4, kept for pegging. If your opponent answers them with two ten-cards, your second card finishes the count at exactly 31 for 2: King, 7, Queen, 4.

Muggins

An optional rule that lets a player claim any points their opponent fails to count. The American Cribbage Congress uses it only when a tournament announces it in advance. Not played in our game, which scores every count automatically.

Nibs

Usually another name for his heels, the 2 points the dealer pegs when the starter is a Jack. Some North American players say his nibs for the Jack in hand instead, so the word can mean either.

Nineteen

A joking name for a hand that scores nothing. No hand can actually score 19, and 25, 26, and 27 are also impossible.

Nobs

One point for holding the Jack of the starter card's suit. Also called his nob. Nobs counts in both the hands and the crib.

Pair

Two cards of the same rank, worth 2 points. During pegging, laying a card of the same rank as the card just played scores 2.

Pair Royal

Three cards of the same rank. It scores 6 points because it holds three separate pairs. During pegging, the player who lays the third card of a rank in a row scores 6.

Peg

As a noun, one of the markers moved along the cribbage board; each player has two. As a verb, to score points, as in "peg 2 for a fifteen."

Pegging

The play, when players take turns laying cards and score for fifteens, 31s, pairs, runs, go, and last card. It comes before the hands are counted in the show.

Pone

The non-dealer. The pone cuts the starter, leads the first card in pegging, and counts first in the show. In our game you are the pone on the first deal, because the computer always deals first.

Raggedy Ann

A nickname for the hand A-A-6-7-8, worth 13 points: four fifteens for 8, the pair of Aces for 2, and the run for 3. Raggedy Andy is the name for 2-2-6-7-8, worth 11, though some tables reverse the two.

Run

Three or more cards in consecutive rank, in any suit, worth 1 point per card; 4-5-6 scores 3. The Ace is always low. During pegging the cards can come in any order, so 5, then 3, then 4 is a run of three.

Show

The counting after pegging. Each player counts four cards plus the starter: the pone first, then the dealer, then the dealer counts the crib. The game ends the moment anyone reaches 121.

Skunk

Winning while your opponent is on 90 points or less, three quarters of the way to 121. In casual play it usually counts as two games. At American Cribbage Congress events a skunk earns 3 game points rather than the 2 for a plain win.

Starter

The card turned face up after the discard. Both hands and the crib use it as a fifth card when they are counted. If it is a Jack, the dealer pegs 2 for his heels.

Stinkhole

In most usage, hole 120, one point from winning. A player there wins with any score at all, even a go. Some house rules forbid pegging out from it on a go, or on his heels; our game allows both. The American Cribbage Congress rulebook gives the name to hole 90 instead.

Street

A 30-hole stretch of the board. The 120 scoring holes split into four streets: first street is holes 1 to 30, second 31 to 60, third 61 to 90, and fourth 91 to 120.

Thirty-One

A running count of exactly 31 during pegging, worth 2 points. The count then goes back to zero, and the other player leads the next count.

Triple Run

A run of three with one rank tripled. The pattern is worth 15 on its own: three runs of three for 9, plus three pairs for 6. Fifteens count on top, so 4-5-5-5-6 scores 23, because 4-5-6 makes fifteen three times and the three 5s make a fourth.

Twenty-Nine Hand

The highest hand in cribbage: J-5-5-5 with the fourth 5 turned as the starter in the Jack's suit. It scores 16 for fifteens, 12 for pairs, and 1 for his nob.