A deal in six steps

This is the two-player, six-card game described in the American Cribbage Congress tournament rules. It is an outline for people learning the game, not a reprint of the detailed rules that follow it.

1. Cut for the first dealer

   The ACC game uses a standard pack of 52 playing cards; jokers are discarded, and the four suits are considered equal.⁠¹ The game is usually played by two, with a popular variant played by four and, occasionally, by three.⁠²

   In a casual game the player cutting the low card usually deals first, and the deal then alternates. In an ACC qualifying round the director may instead announce an alternate-deal procedure, with no cut for the first dealer.

2. Deal six cards each

   In the two-player game the dealer, after a mandatory cut by the pone (the non-dealer), deals one card alternately to each player, beginning with the pone, until each has six cards.⁠¹

   In the ACC ranking, king is high and ace is low. Kings, queens, jacks and tens each count ten; other cards count their pip value, and the ace counts one.⁠¹

3. Each player discards two to the crib

   Each player discards two cards to form the crib, which belongs to the dealer.⁠¹

   The crib is scored later, and it scores for the dealer, so the non-dealer tries not to throw helpful combinations into it.

4. Cut the starter, and watch for his heels

   The pone then cuts the remainder of the pack to select a starter card, which is used in counting the value of each player’s hand and the crib.⁠¹ A jack turned as the starter card counts two points for the dealer. The ACC also calls this “his heels,” and sometimes “nibs.”⁠¹ If the starter is a jack, the dealer immediately scores two points, called “two for his heels.”⁠²

5. Play the cards, up to 31

   The players alternately play one card at a time, starting with the pone, and announce the cumulative value as each card is played.⁠¹ When a player cannot play a card without the cumulative total exceeding 31, that player calls “go,” and the opponent continues to play all cards possible without exceeding 31.⁠¹

   Pairs, runs and fifteens can be scored in this sequence as well. That is the subject of the pegging page.

6. Count the pone’s hand, then the dealer’s, then the crib

   When all the cards have been played, the pone counts and pegs the pone’s hand first. The dealer then does the same for the dealer’s hand, and then for the crib.⁠¹

   The starter counts as a fifth card in each of those three counts. The hand scorer is for this stage, not for the play up to 31.

The pone is the opponent of the player who deals.⁠¹

1. American Cribbage Congress, Official Tournament Rules, 2025 edition, rules 1.1–1.7
2. David Parlett, “cribbage,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, article retrieved 15 November 2026