Cribbage

Two players race to 121 points. The winner is whoever gets there first — the moment someone reaches 121 the game stops, even mid-count.

The deal

Six cards each. You both throw two away into the crib, which belongs to the dealer and is counted at the end of the hand as a fifth hand. So you throw good cards in when it's yours and rubbish in when it isn't. Then the non-dealer cuts a starter card, shared by every hand. If it's a jack the dealer takes 2 ("his heels").

The play

You take turns laying cards face up, calling a running total. It may never pass 31.

• 2 for making the count exactly 15 or exactly 31
• 2 / 6 / 12 for a pair, three of a kind, four of a kind
• 3+ for a run of three or more, in any order
• 1 if your opponent can't play ("go"), and 1 for the last card

The show

Each hand is counted with the starter as a fifth card — non-dealer first, then the dealer, then the dealer's crib. That order decides close games.

• 2 for every combination adding to 15
• 2 per pair (so three of a kind is 6, four is 12)
• 3+ per run, counted once for each way it can be made
• 4 for four cards of one suit, 5 if the starter matches — in the crib only a five-card flush counts
• 1 for a jack matching the starter's suit ("his nobs")

The best possible hand is 29. A hand can never be worth 19, which is why a worthless hand gets called a nineteen.