Cribbage JD is a classic card game for two players. The goal in the game is to get 121 points to win.
The play proceeds through a succession of "hands", each of which consists of a "deal", "the play" and "the show". At any time during any of these stages, if a player reaches the target score (usually 121), play ends immediately, with that player being the winner of the game. This can even happen during the deal since the dealer scores if a Jack is cut as the starter.
The players cut for the first deal, and the person who cuts the lowest card deals. The dealer shuffles and deals five or six cards to each player, depending on the number of players. For two players, each is dealt six cards; for three or four players, each is dealt five cards. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in the center of the table to start the crib. Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, then discards the other one or two face-down to form the "crib" (also called the box), which will be used later by the dealer. At this point, each player's hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards. The player on the dealer's left cuts the deck, and the dealer reveals the top card, called the "starter" or the "cut". If this card is a Jack, the dealer scores two points for "his heels".
Starting with the player on the dealer's left, each player in turn lays one card face up on the table in front of him or her. The count—that is, the cumulative value of the cards that have been laid—without the count going above 31 The cards are not laid in the center of the table as, at the end of the "play," each player needs to pick up the cards they have laid.
Players score points during the play. For causing the count to reach exactly fifteen, a player scores two points, and play continues. Completing a pair (two of a kind) scores two points; three or four of a kind are counted as multiple pairs: completing three of a kind is the same as three different pairs, or 6 points, and four of a kind is six different kinds of pairs, or 12 points. A run of three or more cards (consecutively played, but not certainly in order) scores the number of cards in the run.
If a player cannot play without causing the count to exceed 31, he calls "Go". Continuing with the player on his left, the other player(s) continue the play until no one can play without the count exceeding 31. A player, unless required to play a card, has no card in his or her hand that can be played without the count exceeding 31 (one cannot voluntarily pass). Once 31 is reached or no one is able to play, the player who played the last card scores one point if the count is still under 31 and two if it is exactly 31. The count is then reset to zero, and those players with cards remaining in their hands repeat the process, starting with the player to the left of the player who played the last card. When all players have played all of their cards, the game proceeds to the "show".
Once the play is complete, each player in turn, starting with the player on the left of the dealer, displays his hand on the table and scores points based on its content in conjunction with the starter card. Points are scored for combinations of cards totaling fifteen, runs, pairs (multiple pairs are scored pair by pair, but may be referred to as three or four of a kind), a flush, and having a Jack of the same suit as the starter card ("one for his nob [or nobs or nibs]", sometimes called the "right" Jack). A four-card flush scores four and cannot include the cut or starter; a five-card flush scores five.
The dealer scores his hand last and then turns the cards in the crib face up. The dealer then scores these cards as an additional hand in addition to the starter card. Unlike the dealer's own hand, the crib cannot score a four-card flush, but it can score a five-card flush with the starter.
All scores from 0 to 29 are possible, with the exception of 19, 25, 26, and 27. Players may refer colloquially to a hand scoring zero points as a "nineteen hand".
Use the left mouse button to play.
