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Counting a hand
After the play, the non-dealer’s hand is counted first, then the dealer’s, then the crib. The starter is a fifth card in each count. The scorer below follows the ACC chart. Change the cards; the table under it stays put, so you can always check the figures yourself.
Count this hand
Choose four cards and a starter. The total follows the ACC chart for fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes and his nobs. Tick the box if you are counting the crib, so a four-card flush is not scored. There is no timer and no match score. The same figures are in the table below, and you can always count them by hand.
29 points
- Fifteens16
- Pairs12
- Runs0
- Flush0
- His nobs1
The cards above are already set to the 29-point hand described in the 1911 Britannica: three fives and a knave, with a five of the knave’s suit turned up. Change any card to try another combination. His heels — two points to the dealer when the starter itself is a jack — is scored when the starter is turned, not in this hand count.
In the hand or crib, any combination of cards that sums to 15 scores two points. During the play, reaching a 15-count exactly also scores two.1 In the play and in the hand or crib, a pair scores 2, three of a kind scores 6, and four of a kind scores 12.1 A straight, or run, of three or more cards scores one point per card, both during the play and in the hand or crib.1
A four-card flush counts four points only in the hand, not in the crib. A five-card flush, including the starter, counts five in the hand or the crib.1 The ACC definition is the same point in other words: four cards of the same suit held in the hand count four points; five cards of the same suit, including the starter, count five in the hand or crib.1 In the showing, a four-card flush scores four, or five if the starter is the same suit, but only a five-card flush matching the starter counts in the crib.2
A jack of the same suit as the starter card, in either the hand or the crib, counts one point. The ACC calls this “nobs.”1 The jack of the starter’s suit — formerly called “knave noddy,” a link with the earlier game — is worth one point to the holder for “his nob,” and is not scored until the showing.2
The 1911 Britannica gives the highest possible score in hand as 29: three fives and a knave, with a five of the same suit as the knave turned up.3
The scoring chart, in the hand or crib and during the play
The table scrolls sideways on a small screen.
| What is scored | During the play | In the hand or crib |
|---|---|---|
| Jack turned by the dealer as the starter (“his heels” / nibs) | 2 | — |
| Jack of the starter’s suit (“nobs”) | — | 1 |
| Pair (two of a kind) | 2 | 2 |
| Three of a kind | 6 | 6 |
| Four of a kind | 12 | 12 |
| Straight of three or more, per card | 1 | 1 |
| Any combination summing to 15 | — | 2 |
| Four-card flush (hand only) | — | 4 |
| Five-card flush (hand or crib) | — | 5 |
| Reaching 15 exactly in the play | 2 | — |
| Reaching 31 exactly in the play | 2 | — |
| Final card, without reaching 31 | 1 | — |
From the American Cribbage Congress official tournament rules, 2025, rule 1.7. Only one of the last two play scores can be earned with a single card.