What should you discard to the crib?

As dealer, throw cards that score together, like 5s, pairs or cards summing to 15. As non-dealer, avoid that — give the crib wide-apart, unconnected cards.

The crib belongs to the dealer, so the right discard depends on whose crib it is. Every average below is exact: it was worked out by scoring the pair in a crib with every possible pair of other cards and every possible starter, using the same scoring Trindo applies to your crib.

What a discard pair is worth to the crib

On average a pair adds this many points to the crib. Suits move these numbers by less than 0.1.

Best cards to put in your own crib

5-5: 9.0
5-J: 7.3
5-6: 7.1
5-10: 7.0
4-5: 7.0
2-3: 6.8
7-8: 6.8

Worst cards to hand your opponent, and safest

10-K: 3.4
9-K: 3.5
8-K: 3.6
7-K: 3.6
6-K: 3.6
A-K: 3.7

The gap between the best and worst pairs is more than five points every time a crib is counted, which is why discarding is where most of the skill in cribbage sits.

When it’s your crib (you dealt)

Fives are gold. Nearly every pair with a 5 tops 6.8, because so many cards are worth 10. Two fives average 9.0.
Connected and fifteen-making pairs help: 2-3, 4-5 and 7-8 score as runs or fifteens far more often than pairs with a big gap.
Pairs are good but not great. 3-3 averages 6.2 and 6-6 averages 6.3, well below the best 5 pairs.
A jack has a hidden bonus. A jack in the crib scores his nobs when the starter matches its suit, which is why 5-J beats other 5-ten-card pairs.

When it’s your opponent’s crib

Never feed a 5 unless your hand demands it: every 5 pair is one of the highest-scoring crib gifts.
Split your discards far apart, with a king against a low or middle card. Kings are the safest cards to give because they only run one way (J-Q-K).
A pair of kings is not a safe dump. K-K averages 5.0, well above a king with a 9 or an 8.

Weighing crib against hand

A point in your hand and a point in the crib are roughly the same trade. As dealer, a pair worth an extra 2 points to your crib is break-even if it costs you 2 points in hand. As non-dealer, giving your opponent 2 average points is the same as losing 2 from your own hand. Count the hand you would keep before you decide, using how fifteens score and how double runs score.

Whose crib it is depends on the deal, which alternates; see who counts first. The cribbage scoring guide covers the rest of the strategy, and the quickest way to build an instinct is to play a few hands: Practice with computer shows the score for every hand and crib in the log.

Play Cribbage free →Invite a friend or practice with the computer. No sign-up.