Cribbage for 3, 4, 5 and 6 players

How many people can play cribbage?

Two to six, and the number decides how many cards you are dealt. The table below is the whole answer; the sections after it explain each row.

Every count above two shares one thing: each player is dealt five cards and throws one to the crib, so the crib is always four cards. That is the single rule to remember. What changes is whether a card has to be dealt straight to the crib to make the arithmetic work, and who pegs for whom.

Three-handed cribbage

Deal five cards to each of the three players and one card face down to the crib, then each player discards one card to it. The crib reaches four cards, the deal rotates clockwise, and play runs to 121 as usual.

1. 1

   Cut for the deal

   All three players cut; the lowest card deals first. The deal then passes to the left after every hand, so each player owns the crib once every three hands.

2. 2

   Deal five each and one to the crib

   The dealer gives five cards to each player one at a time, then deals a single card face down to start the crib. That card is what makes the crib reach four after the discards.

3. 3

   Discard one card each

   Every player, dealer included, throws one card face down to the crib. You keep four cards, exactly as in the two-player game.

4. 4

   Cut the starter

   The player to the dealer’s right cuts and the dealer turns the top card of the lower half. A jack still pays the dealer 2 for his heels.

5. 5

   Play to 31, starting left of the dealer

   The player to the dealer’s left leads. Play runs clockwise with the usual pegging: fifteens, pairs, runs, the go and the last card. A player who cannot play without passing 31 says "go" and is skipped until the count resets.

6. 6

   Count in order, dealer last

   Show hands starting with the player to the dealer’s left, then clockwise, then the dealer’s hand, then the dealer’s crib. The order matters because the first player to reach 121 wins the moment they get there.

A three-track board is the usual equipment, since a standard two-track board has nowhere to put the third peg. Paper works fine if you have not got one.

The dealer’s advantage is smaller here than in the two-player game. You own the crib once in three hands rather than once in two, and two opponents are throwing to it rather than one, so a discard that would be reckless against a single opponent is often worse in a three-hander.

Four-handed cribbage (partnerships)

Four players sit as two partnerships, partners opposite each other. Deal five cards each and every player discards one to the crib. No card is dealt straight to the crib because four discards already make four.

This is the format the American Cribbage Congress sanctions alongside the two-player game, so it is the one with settled rules. Partners sit across from each other and play alternates around the table, which means you never follow your own partner.

One player from each partnership keeps the pegs and the partnership scores as a unit. Points either partner earns move the same pair of pegs, and only one of you should touch the board, because scores get lost when two people peg the same track.

Counting runs clockwise from the dealer’s left, and the dealer counts the crib last. Partners do not pool their hands: each hand is counted separately and both totals go on the partnership’s track. You may not tell your partner what you hold or what to discard, which is the rule most casual tables forget.

Who pegs in four-player cribbage?

One nominated player per partnership. Both partners’ points go on the same track, but only one person moves the pegs, which avoids the common argument about whether a score was already pegged.

Can partners discuss what to throw to the crib?

No. Partners may not signal, name cards or advise each other on the discard. The crib belongs to the dealing partnership, so a partner throwing to their own side’s crib is helping it blind.

Five and six players

Neither count is governed by a published rule set, so agree the format first. Five players usually deal five cards each and sit one player out of each hand; six players usually split into three partnerships of two.

With five players, the common arrangement is that the dealer deals five cards to each of the other four and to themselves, everyone discards one, and the player to the dealer’s right sits the hand out. The seat that sits out rotates with the deal, so over five hands everyone misses one. A five-track board is rare, so most tables score on paper.

With six players, three partnerships of two is the usual answer, scored on a three-track board with one track per partnership. Six hands of five cards uses 30 of the 52 cards, which leaves enough deck for a starter and a normal cut.

A second deck is the other route at five and six players, shuffled in to make the deal comfortable. It changes the odds in ways nobody has published tables for, so treat it as a house game rather than cribbage as scored anywhere else. If you want the game the numbers on this site describe, four players in partnerships is the largest count that is still standard.

Can you play cribbage with 6 players?

Yes, most often as three partnerships of two, with five cards dealt to each player and one discard each into a four-card crib. It is a traditional arrangement rather than a sanctioned one, so agree the scoring order before the first deal.

Can you play cribbage with 5 players?

Yes. Deal five cards to each player, everyone discards one, and one seat sits the hand out, rotating with the deal. There is no governing rule for five-handed play, so it varies between tables more than any other count.

How many people can play cribbage?

Two to six. Two and four (in partnerships) are the counts with settled tournament rules; three, five and six are traditional variations that change the deal but not the scoring.

Do you still play to 121 with more than two players?

Yes. The target is 121 at every player count. What changes is how often you own the crib, which is once every two hands at two players and once every three, four, five or six hands as players are added.