The best combination that can be held in hand or crib is three Fives and a Jack, with the Five of the same suit as the Jack for a starter. We have already seen that the four Fives by themselves are worth 20, to which we must add the four extra fifteens made by combining the Jack with each Five separately, and one more point for his nobs, 29 altogether. If the Jack was the starter, the combination would be worth 30 to the dealer, but his heels would have to be counted before a card was played.
Flushes. In addition to the foregoing combinations, if all four cards in the hand are of the same suit the player can peg four points for the flush; if the starter is also the same suit, five points. A flush does not count in the crib unless the starter is the same suit, and then it counts five points. Flushes are never made in play.
Laying Out for the Crib. With this knowledge of the objects of game, and the various counting combinations, it will be seen that each player should keep the cards which count the most for him, or which are most likely to form good combinations with different starters.
Suppose the non-dealer holds these cards:—
If he puts the two Eights in his adversary’s crib, he not only gives him two very good cards, which go to form a great many valuable combinations, but he leaves himself absolutely nothing but 2 points for a single fifteen, formed by the 9 and 6. It would be a little better, but still very bad play, for him to discard the 8 and 6, leaving himself a sequence of four cards and a fifteen, 6 points altogether. He might do a little better by discarding the 10 and 8, leaving himself a run of four, and two fifteens, 8 points altogether. If he discards either the 10 and 9, or the 10 and 6, he will leave himself a double run of three, a pair, and two fifteens, 12 altogether. Of these two discards, that of the 10 and 6 is better than the 10 and 9, because the 10 and 9 might help to form a sequence in the adversary’s crib, whereas the 10 and 6 are so far apart that they are very unlikely to be of any use.
Cards which are likely to form parts of sequences are called close cards, and those which are too widely separated to do so are called wide cards.
METHOD OF PLAYING. The crib laid out and the starter cut, the pone begins by playing any card he pleases. The card he selects he lays face upward on the table on his own side of the cribbage board, and at the same time announces its pip value; two, five, or ten, whatever it may be. It is then the dealer’s turn to play a card from his hand, which is also laid face upward on the table, but on the dealer’s side of the cribbage board. Instead of announcing the pip value of this second card, the dealer calls out the total value of the two cards taken together. The pone then lays another card on the table face upward and on the top of the first, which is not turned face down, and at the same time announces the total pip value of the three cards so far played; the dealer plays again, and so on.
If at any time the total pip value of the cards played is exactly 15 or 31, the one who plays the card that brings it to that number pegs two points for it at once. If any counting combination, such as a pair, pair royal, or sequence, is formed by the cards played, its value is pegged by the person that plays the card which completes the combination; but neither player is allowed to play a card which will make the total pip value of the cards played pass 31. The method of forming and pegging these various combinations in play will be better understood if they are described separately. A card once played cannot be taken up again, unless it passes 31.