Cribbage Strategy

Practical, beginner-to-intermediate tips — not exhaustive theory. If you're still learning the point values themselves, see scoring first.

Discarding to your own crib

When you're the dealer, the crib is yours — so it's worth feeding it cards that work well together. Favor pairs, cards that add to 15, and cards close in rank (they might form a run once the other player's discards land next to them). 5s are especially strong to keep for your own crib: paired with any 10-value card they make an easy 15, and there's a 10-value card in the deck more often than any other single value.

Discarding to an opponent's crib

When you're not the dealer, the opposite logic applies: you want to hand over cards that are as useless together as possible. Avoid discarding pairs, cards that sum to 15, or cards adjacent in rank. High cards (kings, queens) that don't combine easily with much are often safer discards than they look, precisely because they're less likely to connect with whatever else lands in the crib.

Middle cards — 5s especially — are the ones to be most protective of. A lone 5 is a strong keep for your own hand and a risky one to ever discard, since it combines with any 10-value card for an easy 15 no matter whose crib it ends up in.

Weighing your own hand vs. the crib

Every discard is really two decisions at once: what you're keeping for your own hand, and what you're handing to the crib. Early on, lean toward keeping your hand's own scoring potential (pairs, cards close in rank, cards that add to 15) over trying to starve an opponent's crib — a hand that scores well is a sure thing, while denying the crib is a smaller, more speculative edge.

Pegging tactics

• Don't lead a 5. It's the single easiest card to hand your opponent a 15 with, since so many cards in the deck are worth 10.
• Leading low is usually safer than leading high, since low cards leave the running count further from both 15 and 31 for your opponent to exploit.
• Watch the running count near 15 and 31. Before you play, check whether your card hands your opponent an easy score by hitting one of those totals — sometimes the "obviously right" card to play is a trap.
• Be careful pairing. Playing a card that matches your opponent's just played card scores you 2 points for the pair — but it also opens the door for them to play a third matching card and take 6 points for the pair royal, right back at you. Worth it early, riskier late.
• Keep an eye on 31. Landing exactly on 31 scores 2 points instead of the usual 1 for last card — worth angling for if you can see a path to it.
• Save a small card for the endgame. Holding back a low card (an ace or a 2) gives you more flexibility to avoid going over 31 late in the round, when the running count is high and options are thin.

General beginner tips

• Count your hand and the crib carefully before pegging starts — knowing your own ceiling helps you decide how aggressively to play during pegging.
• Don't fixate only on your own hand's score — the play phase (pegging) accounts for a real share of points over a full game, and sloppy pegging gives away exactly what careful discarding was trying to protect.
• As the dealer, remember you count last at the show — sometimes it's correct to peg a little more conservatively, since you already have the crib's extra points coming.