How many cards do you deal in 2-player cribbage?

Six cards each. Both players discard two into the dealer’s crib, keeping four. The crib ends up with four cards, and one starter card is cut for all hands.

Two-player cribbage deals six cards to each player, and it is the version played on Trindo. Here is a whole hand from the deal to the count.

1. Deal and discard

Each player gets six cards. Each then throws two face down into the crib, which belongs to the dealer, leaving four cards to play and count. That makes the crib four cards as well. The dealer alternates every hand, so the crib goes back and forth; on Trindo, Amber deals the first hand and Teal the second. Not sure which two to throw? See what to discard to the crib.

2. The starter

Once both players have discarded, one starter card is turned face up. It counts as a fifth card in both hands and in the crib. If it is a jack, the dealer immediately scores 2 for his heels.

3. Pegging

The non-dealer plays first. Players take turns laying one card at a time, keeping a running count that may never pass 31, and score for fifteens, pairs and runs as they go. The player who lays the last card scores 1 for the go, or 2 if the count lands on exactly 31. See how runs score in cribbage for the play-time rules.

4. Counting

When all eight cards have been played, the non-dealer counts their four cards with the starter first, then the dealer counts their hand, and then the dealer counts the crib. See who counts first.

5. Winning

The first player to reach 121 points wins. The game ends the instant anyone gets there, even partway through pegging or counting, so if the non-dealer counts out first, the dealer’s hand and crib are never counted.

Three or four players

For three players, it’s five cards each, with one card dealt straight to the crib and each player discarding one. Four players (partners) get five each and discard one. Trindo plays the two-player game.

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