About Cribbage: Play Cribbage Online Free vs the Computer
As each card is laid, the player who laid it scores 2 for bringing the count to exactly 15 or 31, 2 for a pair with the card before, 6 for three of a kind, 12 for four of a kind, and 1 a card for a run of 3 or more among the latest cards in any order.
By the ToolFluency team · Updated October 2026
Cribbage is the classic two-player card game scored on a pegging board, and here you play it one on one against the computer. Each hand you get six cards, send two to the crib, then take turns laying cards toward a count of 31, scoring for fifteens, pairs, runs and the go. After the play, both hands and the crib are counted with the starter card. Every point is counted for you, shown on the cards and moved on the board, and the first to 121 wins. The full printable cribbage rules are here too, and the cribbage hand counter counts any hand you type in.
How to play cribbage
- Pick the computer level (Easy or Normal). Each new game starts with a cut for the deal: the lower card deals first. Press Deal.
- You get six cards. Tap two of them (or drag them to the crib) and press Send to crib. The crib belongs to the dealer, so the button says whose crib it is.
- The starter is turned up on the deck. If it is a Jack, the dealer pegs 2 for his heels.
- The play: the non-dealer leads. Tap a card to lay it; the count shows large in the middle and never goes past 31. Cards that would pass 31 are shown darker.
- Each play scores at once: 15 or 31 for 2, a pair 2, three of a kind 6, four 12, and runs of 3 or more in any order. If a player cannot play, Go is said for them and the other plays on; the last to play pegs 1.
- The show: press Next to count the non-dealer's hand, then the dealer's hand, then the crib, each with the starter. Every fifteen, pair, run, flush and nobs is listed; tap a line to light its cards.
- Pegs leapfrog along the board after every score. First to 121 wins, even in the middle of a hand. Win while the computer is under 91 for a skunk, under 61 for a double skunk.
Examples
Strategy tips
- Keep fives and cards that make fifteen with them (tens and court cards) when the crib is yours; throw them away from the computer's crib.
- Do not throw a pair or two cards next to each other in rank to the computer's crib.
- Lead a 4 or lower: the computer cannot make fifteen on it. Leading a 5 invites a ten-card for 2.
- Avoid leaving the count at 5 or 21: one ten-card makes 15 or 31.
- Keep a low card back near the end of a count, so you can make 31 or take the go.
- Near the end of the game, remember that the non-dealer counts first and can peg out before the dealer counts.
Example: pegging a count
You lead a 4 (count 4). The computer plays a 6 (10). You play a 5 (15): fifteen for 2 and a run of 4-6-5 for 3, so 5 points. The computer plays a 7 (22): a run of 4-5-6-7 for 4. You cannot play your King without passing 31, so you say Go, and the computer plays a 9 for 31 and 2 more.
Frequently asked questions
How do you score points while pegging?
As each card is laid, the player who laid it scores 2 for bringing the count to exactly 15 or 31, 2 for a pair with the card before, 6 for three of a kind, 12 for four of a kind, and 1 a card for a run of 3 or more among the latest cards in any order. The game scores each play for you and says what it was.
What happens when you say Go?
If you cannot lay a card without taking the count past 31, you say Go. The other player keeps laying cards while they can, then scores 1 for the go, or 2 if they reach exactly 31. The count starts again at 0 and the player who did not lay the last card leads. Here Go is said for you automatically.
Who gets the crib?
The dealer. Both players send two cards to the crib, and the dealer counts it last, with the starter, after both hands. The deal changes every hand, so the crib changes hands too. Throw good cards to your own crib and poor ones to the computer's.
What are his heels and his nobs?
His heels: if the starter is a Jack, the dealer pegs 2 at once. His nobs: a Jack in your hand or crib of the same suit as the starter scores 1 in the show. Both can happen in the same hand.
In what order are the hands counted?
The player who did not deal counts first, then the dealer counts their hand, then the dealer counts the crib. The game ends the moment someone reaches 121, so near the end the non-dealer can win before the dealer counts.
What is a skunk in cribbage?
If you win while the computer is still under 91, it has been skunked; under 61 is a double skunk. The result screen says so and your record keeps count of the skunks you hand out.
What is the best cribbage hand?
29: three 5s and the Jack of one suit in your hand, with the fourth 5, of the Jack's suit, as the starter. That is eight fifteens (16), four of a kind (12) and his nobs (1).
Does the computer see my cards?
No. It decides from what a player at the table can see: its own cards, the starter, the cards played and the count. It never looks at your hand, your crib cards or the order of the deck.
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