Cribbage scoring guide

Count the four cards you kept together with the starter. Aces are low and worth one; number cards use their number; Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth ten for fifteens.

A reliable counting order

Fifteens

Each different group adding to fifteen earns two points. A card can contribute to more than one group.

Pairs

Each equal-rank pair earns two. Three equal ranks contain three pairs (six points); four contain six pairs (twelve points).

Runs

A consecutive sequence of at least three ranks earns one per card. Count each distinct longest run. Do not also score its shorter sequences.

Flush

Four matching suits in the hand earn four. A matching starter makes five. In the crib, only a five-card flush counts.

Nobs

A Jack among your four cards matching the starter's suit earns one point.

Rules reference: American Cribbage Congress, 2025 rulebook, pages 12–15. This tool is independent and is not endorsed by the ACC.

The 29-point hand, one combination at a time

Try 5 of Hearts, 5 of Diamonds, 5 of Spades and Jack of Clubs, with 5 of Clubs as starter. Four three-five combinations and four Jack-five combinations give sixteen. Six pairs give twelve. The matching Jack adds one: 29.

Repeated ranks make repeated runs

Ace of Spades, 2 of Hearts, 3 of Diamonds and 3 of Clubs, with 4 of Spades as starter, has two four-card runs. Each uses a different three. Eight for the runs plus two for the pair makes ten.

What this calculator leaves out

Pegging is scored during play. This tool handles the later hand count. If the starter is a Jack, the dealer's two points for heels are separate and are not added to the displayed hand total.