Cribbage Calculator — Hand & Crib Score Checker
Score any cribbage hand instantly. Enter 4 cards plus the starter and get every fifteen, pair, run, flush, and nobs point counted for you.
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Full bio →Fifteens and runs are found by checking every valid combination of the 5 scored cards (4 hand cards + the starter), not just simple pattern matches — this is why duplicate ranks inside a run count as multiple overlapping runs, and why a hand can contain several separate fifteens at once. In the crib specifically, a 4-card flush does not count — all 5 cards (crib + starter) must share a suit. His Heels (starter is a Jack) is scored separately by the dealer at the cut and is not part of this hand total.
Reference Values
Last verified:| Category | Range | What It Means | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fifteen | 2 points per combination | Any combination of 2 or more of the 5 scored cards (4 dealt + starter) whose values sum to exactly 15. Face cards (J/Q/K) count as 10, Ace counts as 1. Every valid subset scores independently — a hand can contain several separate fifteens at once. | Good |
| Pair | 2 points | Two cards of the same rank (suit doesn't matter). A hand can have multiple separate pairs. | Okay |
| Pair Royal (three of a kind) | 6 points | Three cards of the same rank score as three separate pairs — combinations of 2 from 3 cards = 3 pairs × 2 points. | Good |
| Double Pair Royal (four of a kind) ★ | 12 points | Four cards of the same rank score as six separate pairs — combinations of 2 from 4 cards = 6 pairs × 2 points. The maximum possible pair score. | ★ Best |
| Run of 3 | 3 points | Three cards with consecutive ranks (any suit mix), e.g. 4-5-6. | Okay |
| Run of 4 | 4 points | Four cards with consecutive ranks, e.g. 4-5-6-7. | Good |
| Run of 5 ★ | 5 points | All 5 scored cards form one consecutive run — the longest run possible. | ★ Best |
| Duplicate-rank run ("double run") | Run length × number of rank repeats | If a rank inside a run is duplicated (e.g. 4-4-5-6), that counts as two separate overlapping runs, not one run counted twice — a double run of 3 is 3+3=6 points, not 3. | Good |
| Flush (hand, 4 cards) | 4 points | All 4 dealt cards share the same suit, and the starter does not match. Only applies outside the crib — see the crib exception below. | Okay |
| Flush (hand + starter, 5 cards) | 5 points | All 4 dealt cards AND the starter share the same suit — the maximum flush score. | Good |
| Flush in the crib (exception) | 0 or 5 points only | The crib is stricter than a regular hand: a 4-card-only flush does NOT count in the crib. All 5 cards (4 crib cards + starter) must match suit, or the crib scores zero flush points. | Poor |
| His Nobs | 1 point | The hand contains the Jack of the same suit as the starter (cut) card. Applies to both regular hands and the crib. | Okay |
| His Heels | 2 points | If the starter (cut) card itself is a Jack, the dealer scores 2 points immediately at the moment of the cut — before any hand is even played. This is a separate scoring event from hand/crib scoring, not something added to a hand's total. | Good |
| Maximum possible hand ★ | 29 points | The famous "29 hand": three 5s + the Jack matching the starter's suit, plus a 4th 5 as the starter. Scores 16 (fifteens) + 12 (double pair royal) + 1 (his nobs) = 29 — the highest score obtainable from any single hand. | ★ Best |
Source: Official cribbage scoring rules: Bicycle Cards "How to Play Cribbage" (bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/cribbage/) and CribbageKing scoring reference. Combinatorics (subset enumeration for fifteens, pair-count formulas for multiples, duplicate-rank run multiplication) independently verified against the official rules by enumerating all card combinations programmatically, including cross-checking the canonical 29-point maximum hand.
Worked Examples
The Perfect 29 Hand
- Hand
- 5♠ 5♣ 5♦ J♥
- Starter
- 5♥
- Crib?
- No
Fifteens: 8 combinations (four ways to pick three of the four 5s = 15, plus four ways to pair a 5 with the J-as-10 = 15) = 16 pts. Pairs: four 5s = 6 pairs (double pair royal) = 12 pts. His Nobs: J♥ matches the starter's ♥ suit = 1 pt. No run (5s and a J aren't consecutive). Total: 16+12+0+0+1 = 29 — the highest score any single cribbage hand can reach.
Double Run With a Pair
- Hand
- 4♠ 4♦ 5♥ 6♣
- Starter
- 7♠
- Crib?
- No
Fifteens: 3 combinations (4+5+6 twice, once per duplicate 4, plus 4+4+7) = 6 pts. Pairs: one pair of 4s = 2 pts. Runs: the duplicated 4 turns the single run of 4-5-6-7 into two overlapping runs of length 4 (occurrences = count of 4s = 2), so 4×2 = 8 pts, not 4. Total: 6+2+8 = 16 — this is exactly why duplicate ranks inside a run must be counted as multiple separate runs.
The Crib Flush Exception
- Hand
- 2♠ 6♠ 9♠ K♠
- Starter
- 4♥
- Crib?
- Yes
Fifteens: 2 combinations (6+9=15, 2+9+4=15) = 4 pts. No pairs, no run, no nobs. Flush: all 4 crib cards are spades, but the starter is a heart — in a regular hand this would still score 4 points, but the crib requires all 5 cards to match suit, so it scores 0. Total: 4. The same cards outside the crib would total 8 points.
Run of 5
- Hand
- 5♠ 6♦ 7♥ 8♣
- Starter
- 4♠
- Crib?
- No
Fifteens: 2 combinations (7+8=15, 5+6+4=15) = 4 pts. Runs: all 5 cards are consecutive (4-5-6-7-8), a single run of 5 = 5 pts. No pairs, no flush, no nobs. Total: 4+5 = 9.
Run of 3 With His Nobs
- Hand
- 9♠ J♦ Q♥ K♣
- Starter
- 5♦
- Crib?
- No
Fifteens: 3 combinations (J+5=15, Q+5=15, K+5=15) = 6 pts. Runs: J-Q-K is a run of 3 = 3 pts. His Nobs: J♦ matches the starter's ♦ suit = 1 pt. No pairs, no flush (mixed suits). Total: 6+3+1 = 10.
How to Use This Calculator
- 1
Enter your 4 hand cards
Pick a rank and suit for each of the 4 cards you're scoring — your dealt hand, or the 4 cards placed in the crib.
- 2
Enter the starter (cut) card
This is the single shared card turned up after the deal — it's scored together with all 4 hand cards.
- 3
Check "this is the crib" if scoring a crib
Applies the stricter crib-only flush rule automatically (a 4-card flush doesn't count in the crib; only a full 5-card flush does).
- 4
Read the full point breakdown
See exactly which fifteens, pairs, runs, flush points, and His Nobs point were found, plus a His Heels alert if the starter is a Jack.
- 5
Adjust cards to check other hands
Change any card instantly to compare hands — useful for practicing which cards to keep versus throw to the crib.
What Each Value Means
- Fifteens (points)
- 2 points for every combination of 2 or more of the 5 scored cards (4 hand + starter) whose values sum to exactly 15, using face cards = 10 and Aces = 1.
- Pairs (points)
- 2 points for every pair of same-rank cards among the 5 scored cards. Three of a kind scores as 3 pairs (6 points); four of a kind scores as 6 pairs (12 points).
- Runs (points)
- 1 point per card in any run of 3 or more consecutive ranks. A duplicated rank inside the run creates a separate overlapping run rather than doubling one run's value.
- Flush (points)
- 4 points if all 4 hand cards share a suit (5 if the starter matches too). In the crib, only a full 5-card match counts, worth 5 points — a 4-card-only flush scores 0 in the crib.
- His Nobs (points)
- 1 point for holding the Jack of the same suit as the starter card, counted during hand or crib scoring — distinct from His Heels, which the dealer scores at the cut.