What is a 19 hand in cribbage?
A 19 hand is a hand worth zero. No four cards plus a starter can score exactly 19 — or 25, 26 or 27 — so players say “19” as a joke for a hand with no points.
Cribbage hand scores run from 0 to 29, but a few totals in that range are impossible: 19, 25, 26 and 27. Because nobody can actually score 19, “I’ve got a 19 hand” became the traditional way to say your hand scored nothing.
A zero hand has no fifteens, no pairs, no runs of three or more, no flush and no nobs — for example 2♣ 4♦ 6♠ K♥ with an 8♣ starter. Zero hands are rarer than they look, because fifteens hide in combinations of three or four cards (a hand with an ace, a 4 and a queen already has one).
At the other extreme, the best possible hand is 29 points.
Play Cribbage free →Invite a friend or practice with the computer. No sign-up.
More Cribbage rules questions
- How do runs score in cribbage?
- Can you peg a run out of order in cribbage?
- What is his nobs in cribbage?
- What is his heels (his nibs) in cribbage?
- Does a flush count in the crib?
- Can the starter card help make a four-card flush?
- How does “go” work in cribbage?
- Do you score a go and 31 together in cribbage?
- Who counts first in cribbage?
- What is the highest possible cribbage hand?
- How do double runs score in cribbage?
- Is ace high or low in cribbage?
- How do you count fifteens in cribbage?
- How do pairs score during pegging?
- Can you win cribbage during pegging?
- What is a skunk in cribbage?
- What is muggins in cribbage?
- What should you discard to the crib?
- How many cards do you deal in 2-player cribbage?