Cribbage Tips & Strategies

Just purchased Championship Cribbage All-Stars and now you want to learn how to become an expert Cribbage player! Learn strategies from two expert Cribbage players: highest rated tournament player, Cribbage Champion Delynn Colver; and Dan Barlow, winner of the 1980 National Open Cribbage Tournament. Maybe you'll make it to the national championship Cribbage tournament, or maybe not, but with these free hints and tips we can help you on your way!

Do you have your own copy of Championship Cribbage All-Stars? Try a free trial of this popular game title, available for Windows, Windows Mobile/Pocket PC and Palm OS devices. Our interactive tutorial and five different skill levels make game play enjoyable and challenging for beginners and experts alike. Read the following tips, then try out what you learn when you play your copy of Championship Cribbage All-Stars!

Our Favorite Tips for Championship Cribbage All-Stars:

Use the Difficulty menu to quickly set the "intelligence" of your opponents with five levels of difficulty.
Adjust game speed and other options in the Settings menu.
Click on the trickcard to quickly show the last trick played.
Try all Game variations, or make your own!
Play the Cribbage 101 tutorial to improve your game.
Get hints and undo bad plays, or disable practice options to resist the temptation!
Change the look of your game with free skins and art selections.
Partner or opponents frustrating? Throw a pie at them!
Track your improvement with detailed history and statistics.

General Play Tips

Tips From Dan Barlow

Dan Barlow, skilled Cribbage master and author of Play Cribbage to Win, shares some of his game knowledge. Learn what to discard into your crib and how to beat your opponent! Winner of the 1980 National Open Cribbage Tournament, and author of several books about mastering Cribbage, Barlow provides sure-fire tips to improve your Cribbage game!

Don't start a play with a 5 or a 10-value card, because if you do, you give your opponent the opportunity to score 2 points by playing to 15.
Try to lead your opponent during play. For example, if you start with a 7, your opponent could play an 8 for 15 and score 2 points. By leading, you can play a 9 to score 3 points for a Run.
In a play, leading from a Pair is a good strategy. For example, if you have a Pair, you can lead by playing one of the cards of that Pair. If your opponent plays a matching card, you can play your other Pair for Three of a Kind and score 6 points.
Place valuable cards in your crib such as a Pair or two cards of a Run.
When it's your opponent's crib, discard carefully. Avoid giving your opponent any cards that can add up to 15 easily, such as a 5 or 10-value cards.
Try to discard varying cards in different suits to your opponent's crib. This strategy can deprive your opponent of Runs and of the opportunity of adding up to 15. For example, if your opponent's crib has a 9 and 7, don't throw out an 8 into their crib. This would give them a score of 5 points: 3 points for a run and 2 points for 15.
Towards the end of the game, keep low cards in your hand so you'll have more opportunities to score Go points.

Tips from DeLynn Colvert

The following tips are from Cribbage Champion DeLynn Colvert, the world's highest rated tournament player. He is a four-time National Champion, editor of the monthly magazine Cribbage World, and the ACC's only Life Master. While serving as the ACC's president he also directs two annual tournaments in Missoula, Montana. These tips are excerpted from his book Play Winning Cribbage, available at http://www.cribbage.org/tips/books.asp.

Defensive Pegging
Logic

1. Defensive Pegging

More games are won and lost while pegging those last few points than by all the astute play of the previous hands. Most average games are decided by six points or less. Pegging becomes critical, to say the least, in these games. There are some keys to defensive pegging that are just as critical as offensive pegging.

Jake needs three pegs to win the game, and it's your lead (Jake's crib). You are dealt A-4-4-6-7-K and need four points to win the game. Keep the 4-4-7-K. The Magic Eleven is covered with the 4-7 combination. You have kept a small pair to lead from, giving Jake only two chances to pair your lead card. The K gives you a safe "out" card. If Jake plays a "ten" card on your 4 lead, for 14, you play the safe K for 24. Jake's odds of scoring 31 with a 7 are cut 25% because you are holding one of the 7s. Of course, if Jake pairs the 4 lead, the game is over as you score pairs royal for six points and win the game.

This was an easy example. Many time you will not be dealt such ideal cards. The rule to remember in defensive pegging is to always try to lead a card smaller than a 5, preferably from a pair. Dump your lone J at a safe opportunity and always play the percentage play. Count the cards that can beat you and play accordingly. Don't play hunches!

The one exception to the percentage play: you have a lone 4 (or any lone small card) and were dealt a four card combination of 6-9 or 7-8 (6-6-6-9, 6-6-9-9, 6-9-9-9, 7-7-7-8, 7-7-8-8, 7-8-8-8) leaving three cards to beat the 4 lead, and four cards to beat the 6, 7, 8 or 9 lead. Despite the one-card disadvantage of leading from the 6, 7, 8 or 9 this is the percentage play, as any good player (especially Jake) will keep all small cards dealt to him, knowing this will be your logical play -- and the bias of holding small cards will out-weigh the one-card disadvantage.

If Jake is dealt an A-2-3-4-7-K, the 7-K will be discarded. For this reason when counting your losers in a desperation defense, if a 6 or higher card is a loser by only one card...lead it! If the 6 or higher card will be beaten two more times...Don't do it! Lead the small card. The law of averages will bite you sooner or later playing hunches.

Another defensive tip: Jake needs four or more pegs to win the game. Don't get caught with one small card with the count above 21. You may be trapped into a run. Either dump a lone small card in the crib, or better yet, play it early in the peg sequence (usually the second card played) to avoid a trap. And if Jake needs five or more points from the peg to win the game, don't get trapped with a 4-5-6 as your last pegging card. Get rid of these potential losers. Especially the 5. If Jake needs seven or more points, the 5 held to the last card can indeed be deadly...being trapped into a 4-5-6 combination, or a 5-5-5.

Good defensive pegging comes from practice. Study your opponent: learn his habits. Does he always lead a 4 to a 9? Does he always hold a pair for last? Study his habits and it may be a game-saver in a tight spot. But once again, don't play hunches.

2. Logic

Logic: A five-letter word for thinking!

After playing several hundred games of cribbage, standard plays become apparent. You will be able to develop "X-ray" vision, a la Superman, if you work at it! This is especially true when playing accomplished players like old Jake, the "snake"[your imaginary expert opponent]. Beginning players make too many mistakes to allow full play of logic but, of course, it works to some degree on all players.

A winning cribbage player must be able to read his opponent's hand rapidly. This ability is acquired through study, practice and critical observation of your opponent's habits and style of play. Surprisingly, the better the player, the easier it is to apply logic to read his game, his cards.

Beginners play hunches, make unorthodox plays and will surprise you with a poor play. These hunches and unorthodox plays, though confusing to the good player, will lead to defeat for the beginner. And despite being able to read the good player's hand by applying logic, the good player will be tougher to defeat. The good player's game is based upon playing the odds, applying his analysis of your game and his hard, cold logic -- a very tough combination to beat. Without applying logic of your own, the consistent logical play from the good player will beat you. But, by applying good, sound logic you will, at worst, play to a stalemate and, at best, come out victorious.

Let's have an example of how to apply logic. Your analysis of Jake's board position indicates he will be playing defensively. As the non-dealer he leads a Q. Immediately, you may deduce he does not have the small five combinations (1-4 or 2-3) or any 2s, 3s or 4s, nor does he have a K (unless he has two or more Q). Why? A defensive play would be to lead a 2-3-4 (a 57% less chance of your opponent scoring on a small card lead -- three losers vs. seven losers if a lone Q is led). Jake may have a lone A,5s or he may have led a "sleeper" Q to his basic 6-7-8 combinations. But his lead, by logic, almost certainly ruled out any 2-3-4 cards remaining in his hand.

You play a 5 on the Q lead for a 15-2. Jake plays a J for 25. You now deduce that J has all "ten" cards remaining, probably another Q and a 10, with a lone A or K a possibility. Why? If he had two J, he would not dump one here, but would dump a lone J or "ten" card (the most likely lone "ten" card to be dumped is the J). If Jake does have two Js, then he also has two Q (with the Q being the first play...the safer defensive play). And since Jake did not pair your 5, his chances of having a 5 have dimmed (unless he is playing desperation defense and pairs royal would surely beat him). After seeing Jake's first two cards, logic decrees that the remaining two cards are, in order of probability, Q,10, K, J and A. Since the Q play was followed by a J, the Q was not a "sleeper", but part of a basic "ten" card combination.

You play a 6 for 31. Jake begins a new sequence with another Q. Now logic tells you the odds are that the remaining card is most likely a 10 or a K, the next most likely card would be a J, then the A, and then any "sleeper" cards (6-7-8-9) or a third Q. You would then play a card that Jake Would not logically have in his hand -- a 2, 3 or 4. You hold a 3 and a 4. You play the 3 for 13 (remember, logic decrees Jake may have an A -- if you played the 4 for 14, Jake may play an A for 15-2).

Jake does have an A for 14. You complete play with your 4 for 18 and a go.

Now you've read all the tips and tricks to help you become an expert Cribbage player, so pick up your copy of Championship Cribbage All-Stars and test your skills! Play at five different skill levels and keep track of your game using the detailed statistics option. Once you've mastered Championship Cribbage All-Stars, the games have just begun! Championship Cribbage is available for Windows, Windows Mobile/Pocket PC and Palm OS platforms today!

View tips for other Championship All-Stars titles here: