The cards and cribbage board

Cribbage is played with an ordinary 52-card deck with the jokers removed. The cribbage boards used to keep score are traditionally made of wood, with 30, 60 or 120 holes per player.

The deal

The rules require that the game starts with a cut. The player cutting the lower card is the dealer. He should shuffle the pack and offer it to his opponent (the non-dealer is known as pone) for a further cut. Although the official rules of cribbage dictate that the dealer must offer the cut or take a two-point penalty, in friendly games this is usually not insisted upon and you are free to cut or not as you wish (see more about ). The dealer then deals six cards to each player.

The deal alternates with each hand. Over several games, the first deal may alternate between the players, or it may go to the loser of the previous game. One common convention in a 3-game match is to alternate the first deal of the first 2 games, then cut for the last. This is not part of the official rules, however.

The game then proceeds to the discard

Continue to Cribbage rules - the discard.