Official Cribbage Rules (Page 2 of 8) in pdf

Official Cribbage Rules Page 2

Alberta 55 plus – Cribbage Rules

c) Every attempt will be made to use ‘regulation cribbage boards’ during play.

For instance, boards shaped in a ‘29’ may not be used. At the Provincial

Games level, only pegs provided by the Host Community can be used.

4. Deal

a) The first deal is determined by cutting the cards. The player cutting the cards

must complete the cut. The player cutting the lowest card deals and has the

first crib. (Cards rank K [high] Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A [low]) If the

cards cut are equal, there is another cut for first deal. The deal then

alternates from hand to hand until the game is over.

b) The dealer shuffles, and deals 6 cards face down to each player one at a time.

The un-dealt part of the pack is placed face down on the table. At the end of

each hand, the played cards are gathered together and the whole pack is

shuffled by the new dealer before the next hand.

5. Discard

a) Each player chooses two cards to discard face down to form the crib. These

four cards are set aside until the end of the hand. The crib will count for the

dealer – non-dealer will try to throw cards that are unlikely to make valuable

combinations, but must balance this against keeping a good hand for himself.

The dealer, on the other hand, may sometimes find it pays to place good cards

in the crib, especially if they cannot be used to best advantage in hand.

6. Start Card

a) Non-dealer cuts the stack of un-dealt cards, lifting the upper part without

showing its bottom card. The dealer takes out the top card of the lower part,

turns it face up and, after non-dealer replaces the upper part, places it face

up on top of the pack. This turned up card is called the start card – it will

count for combinations as part of both players’ hands as well as of the dealer’s

crib.

b) If the start card is a jack, the dealer immediately pegs 2 holes – this is called

Two for his heels.

c) The jack as a start card cannot be counted for pegging if player’s peg is past

the 115

hole.

Revised February 2017

Page 2 of 8

Official Cribbage Rules Page 2