Strategy
Cribbage Strategy & Tips
A practical strategy guide for cribbage: discard for your own crib, discard against your opponent's, respect the danger of the 5, and count carefully before you confirm.
Play Cribbage OnlineThe core idea
Discard with the crib in mind
Almost every strong cribbage habit comes back to one question: whose crib is it? The two cards you send there every hand are worth as much as the four you keep — play them accordingly.
- 01
Discard for your own crib
On your deal, keep cards that combine well — pairs, cards that sum to 15, and close-in-rank cards. Whatever you send to your own crib still scores for you at the end of the hand, so feed it generously.
- 02
Discard against your opponent's crib
When your opponent deals, break up the same combinations instead. A pair or a 15-combination handed to their crib is a free gift — split your hand for safety rather than strength.
- 03
Respect the 5
Every ten-value card — 10, Jack, Queen, King — pairs with a 5 for an instant fifteen, and there are sixteen of them in the deck. A 5 is one of the worst cards to discard into an opponent's crib.
- 04
Always take the reveal-adjacent play
During the play, scoring 2 for a pair is good, but walking into a pair royale is not — if you pair your opponent's card, make sure a third matching card is not likely to be in their hand.
- 05
Avoid the danger counts
Leaving the running count at 5 or 21 during the play lets any ten-value card make 15 or 31 against you. Where you have a choice of legal cards, steer away from those totals.
- 06
Hold a low card for the end
Keeping a small card such as a 4 back for later in the play often lets you land the last card of a run for a safe, guaranteed "Go" point.
- 07
Count carefully before you confirm
Fifteens and runs are easy to misjudge quickly. Scan your four kept cards and the discard both before you send a card to the crib — the game will score exactly, but the decision is still yours.
By situation
How the approach shifts
The habits above apply every hand. What changes is which one matters most — see the full rules for how the crib and the play fit together.
When you deal
The crib is yours. Keep hands that work double duty — a pair, a run, or a 5-and-10 combination scores in your hand and pays out again in the crib.
When you don't deal
The crib is your opponent's. Prioritise your own hand's safety over its ceiling, and discard cards that do the least for whoever picks them up.
When you're behind late
With the score close to 121, pegging points during the play matter as much as the show — a well-timed pair or run can peg out a game before counting even starts.
Ready to put it into practice? Read the full how-to-play guide or jump straight in.
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