How do runs score in cribbage?

A run is three or more cards in consecutive ranks, worth one point per card: 4-5-6 scores 3. Suits and order don’t matter; in play, only the last cards count.

A run is three or more cards whose ranks follow one another, like 4-5-6 or 9-10-J. It scores one point for every card in the run. Suits never matter, and neither does the order the cards were dealt or played in. Runs score the same way in the crib as in your hand.

Runs when hands are counted

Your four cards and the starter are counted together as five. Look for the longest run among them:

• Run of three: 3 points, for example 4-5-6.
• Run of four: 4 points, for example 3-4-5-6.
• Run of five: 5 points, for example 6-7-8-9-10.

The starter can complete a run. Hold 4-5-6-K and the starter is a 7, and 4-5-6-7 is a run of four. Cards that sit outside the run are simply ignored for runs, although they can still score fifteens or pairs.

Example: hold 4-5-6-K and cut a J. The run of three scores 3, and there are three fifteens (4-5-6, 5-K and 5-J) worth 6 more, so the hand is worth 9. Fifteens, pairs and runs are all counted separately.

If one rank appears twice you have more than one run: 3-4-4-5 is worth 8. See how double runs score for every pattern.

Runs during play (pegging)

Play is different: only the most recent cards count, and it doesn’t matter who played them, because both players’ cards go on the same count.

• The last three or more cards played score a run if their ranks are consecutive, in any order. Playing 5, 3, 4 scores 3 for whoever plays the 4.
• A run can grow. Add a 6 and the last four cards are a run of four for 4; add a 2 after that and it is a run of five for 5.
• Only the newest cards matter. After 9, 4, 5, 6 the last three cards, 4-5-6, still score a run of three even though the 9 came first.
• Doubled runs don’t exist in play. After 3, 4, 4, 5 the repeated 4 breaks the run and nothing scores.

The details of what breaks a run are in can you peg a run out of order.

Which cards can make a run

• The ace is always low: A-2-3 is a run, and Q-K-A is not. See ace high or low.
• Runs follow rank order, not point value, so 10-J-Q and J-Q-K are runs even though all three cards count 10 for fifteens.
• Ranks must be consecutive: 4-5-7 has a gap and doesn’t score.

The American Cribbage Congress scoring chart (PDF) lists one point per card in a run and the totals for double, triple and quadruple runs when hands are counted. Once you can count runs, fifteens are the other big source of points in the hand.