Cribbage Scoring, Explained

Cribbage scoring is the part beginners get wrong most often, not because the rules are unclear but because a single five-card group can score the same points more than once through overlapping combinations. This page walks through real hands, card by card, so the counting method sticks rather than the abstract rule.

The counting order that avoids missed points

Count in the same order every single time, and you stop missing combinations: fifteens first, then pairs, then runs, then flush, then his nobs. Trying to spot everything at once in whatever order catches your eye is the single biggest source of undercounted hands.

Worked example 1: a strong hand

Hand: 5♠ 5♥ 6♦ 7♣, starter: 8♠. The five scoring cards are 5, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Fifteens. Check every combination of two or more cards for a sum of exactly 15. The only one that works is 7+8 = 15 — neither 5 combines with anything else to reach 15, and no three-card or larger group hits it either. Fifteens: 2 points (one combination).

Pairs. The two 5s form one pair: 2 points.

Runs. 5-6-7-8 is a four-card run. Because there are two 5s, that run can be formed twice — once using each 5 — so it counts as two separate 4-card runs: 8 points.

Flush. Suits are mixed (spade, heart, diamond, club, spade) — no flush.

His nobs. No Jack in hand — 0.

Hand total: 2 + 2 + 8 = 12 points — and a clean example of why a duplicated rank inside a run is worth checking for every single time, since it's easy to count the run once and stop.

Worked example 2: fifteens hiding in plain sight

Hand: K♠ Q♥ J♦ 5♣, starter: 5♠. The five scoring cards are K, Q, J, 5, 5 — and every face card is worth 10 for counting.

Fifteens. Each of the three face cards (K, Q, J) sums to 15 with either 5, and there are two 5s — that's 3 face cards × 2 fives = 6 separate two-card combinations, each worth 2 points: 12 points.

Pairs. The two 5s: 2 points.

Runs. J-Q-K forms one 3-card run; the 5s don't extend it (no connecting rank): 3 points.

Flush. Mixed suits — 0. His nobs. The Jack in hand is J♦, and the starter is 5♠ — different suits, so 0.

Hand total: 12 + 2 + 3 = 17 points. This is a hand players often undercount on the first pass, because three loose-looking face cards and a low pair don't look like a 17-point hand until you notice every face card pairs with both 5s.

Worked example 3: the maximum possible hand

The best hand cribbage can produce is 5♠ 5♣ 5♦ J♥, with a starter of 5♥ — three 5s and a matching Jack in hand, with the fourth 5 as the starter.

Fifteens. Two separate sources: any three of the four 5s sum to 15 (5+5+5), and there are 4 ways to choose 3 of 4 fives, worth 2 points each = 8 points. Separately, the Jack (worth 10) plus any single 5 also sums to 15, and there are 4 fives to pair it with, worth 2 points each = 8 more points. Fifteens: 16 points.

Pairs. Four of a kind: every pairing among the four 5s counts, which is 6 pairs at 2 points each: 12 points.

Runs. No run is possible — four 5s and a Jack share no consecutive sequence.

His nobs. The Jack matches the starter's suit (both hearts): 1 point.

Hand total: 16 + 12 + 1 = 29 points — the maximum score a single cribbage hand can produce, and the reason experienced players recognize this exact combination on sight.

Worked example 4: scoring the crib, not just a hand

The crib is scored exactly like a hand, using the four discarded cards plus the same shared starter — but it's worth walking through once because the flush rule differs. Crib: 3♣ 4♦ 6♥ 9♠, starter: 7♣. The five cards are 3, 4, 6, 7, 9.

Fifteens. Checking every two-, three- and four-card combination of 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, only one sums to exactly 15: 6+9. No three-card or larger group happens to land on 15 either. Fifteens: 2 points (one combination).

Pairs. No two cards share a rank — 0 points.

Runs. No three consecutive ranks exist among 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 — 0 points.

Flush. The four crib cards are club, diamond, heart and spade — four different suits, so no flush is possible at all. Worth noting even so: the crib's flush rule is stricter than a regular hand's — even if all four crib cards had matched in suit, the crib additionally requires the starter to match too, or it scores nothing. 0 points.

His nobs. No Jack in the crib — 0 points.

Crib total: 2 points — a reminder that not every hand is dramatic, and the crib in particular tends to run lower than a well-chosen hand, since its four cards were assembled from what two different players were each willing to give away.

Why some totals are mathematically impossible

A commonly asked question at the table: "is 19 the highest score you can't get?" It's not quite that simple, but it's close. Because of how fifteens, pairs, runs and flushes combine, certain specific point totals — 19, 25, 26, and 27 — cannot occur from any legal five-card cribbage hand, no matter how the cards are arranged. This isn't a rule at all, just an arithmetic fact about which combinations of fifteens, pairs, runs and flush bonuses can co-occur, which is why experienced players sometimes jokingly call a 0-point hand "a 19" — cribbage shorthand for "a genuinely bad hand," since 19 itself is literally impossible to score.

The fastest reliable counting method

1. Sort the five cards by rank in your head before counting anything — it makes runs and pairs visually obvious immediately.
2. Scan systematically for every 15-combination: check pairs first, then triples, then whether any card completes a 15 with a different partner than the one you already found.
3. Count pairs — trivial once the hand is sorted.
4. Find the longest run, then check whether a duplicated rank lets it be counted more than once.
5. Check flush and nobs last — both are yes/no questions, so they're the fastest to verify and the easiest to forget while focused on fifteens and runs.

For the exact edge cases people argue about mid-count — like whether a crib flush needs the starter to match — see the full cribbage rules and the dispute page.