🂡 Cribbage Guide

Overview

Cribbage is a classic two-player card game combining luck and skill. Each hand involves discarding to a "crib," a pegging phase where you play cards alternately trying to score points, and a hand-scoring phase counting fifteens, pairs, runs, and flushes. First player to 121 points wins.

How to Play

1. You're dealt 6 cards. Click 2 cards to discard to the crib (a bonus hand scored later).
2. A starter card is cut from the deck.
3. In the pegging phase, take turns playing cards. The running count goes up to 31.
4. Score points during pegging for hitting exactly 15, 31, or making pairs.
5. After pegging, each hand is scored for fifteens (any combo totaling 15), pairs, runs, and more.
6. First to 121 points wins!

Rules

• Cards are worth face value (A=1, 2-10=face, J/Q/K=10).
• During pegging, count up to 31. If you can't play without exceeding 31, pass. Last to play scores 1 (or 2 for hitting exactly 31).
• Fifteens: any combination of cards totaling 15 scores 2 points (during hand scoring).
• Pairs: two cards of the same rank score 2 points.
• Runs: three or more consecutive ranks score 1 per card.
• Nobs: a Jack in hand matching the starter's suit scores 1 point.

Strategy Tips

• Discard strategically: When you're the dealer, the crib is yours — send it good cards. When not, send bad ones.
• Keep fifteens: Pairs of cards summing to 15 (5+10, 7+8, 6+9) are valuable.
• Keep connected cards: Cards close in rank can form runs during scoring.
• Peg to 15 and 31: During play, aim to hit exactly 15 or 31 for bonus points.
• Lead low: Starting with a low card makes it harder for your opponent to score 15.

Difficulty Levels

• Easy: AI discards suboptimally and pegs without planning.
• Medium: AI makes reasonable discard and pegging decisions.
• Hard: AI optimizes for maximum hand value and pegs strategically to hit 15s and 31s.