Best cribbage hands: the highest-scoring crib hands

The highest crib hands

Each hand is your four cards plus the starter. Every one of these was checked against all possible combinations.

Notice the pattern: 5s make fifteens with every ten-card, and tight runs with pairs inside (4-4-5-6-6, 6-7-7-8-8) multiply fast. Learn more about these patterns on the cribbage scoring cheat sheet.

The perfect 29 hand

• Fifteens: the Jack with each of the four 5s (4 × 2 = 8), plus every set of three 5s (4 × 2 = 8) — 16
• Four of a kind: four 5s make six pairs — 12
• His nobs: the Jack matches the starter’s suit — 1

Only 4 of the 12,994,800 possible hand-and-starter combinations score 29 — one for each suit of Jack. Some lifelong players never hold one. If the starter is a 5 but in a different suit from your Jack, you still score 28.

3 of a kind and 4 of a kind in crib

The points come from counting every pair inside the group: three cards make 3 pairs (6 points), four cards make 6 pairs (12 points). The same values apply in your hand, in the crib, and during pegging when the cards are played one after another.

How often each score comes up

We scored every possible four-card hand with every possible starter — all 12,994,800 combinations — to find out how often each total really appears.

• Average hand: 4.77 points.
• About 44% of hands score just 2 or 4.
• Only about 4% of hands score 12 or more — so a 12 is a genuinely good hand.
• About 1 in 13 hands scores nothing at all.

Scores you can’t get

No combination of cards can score 19, 25, 26 or 27. Because 19 is impossible, cribbage players say “I’ve got nineteen” as a joke when their hand is worth zero.

Best hands in the crib

The crib scores exactly like a hand, so the highest crib is also 29. The one difference is the flush: in the crib it only counts if all five cards, including the starter, are the same suit (5 points). When it’s your crib, throw 5s, pairs and cards close together; when it’s your opponent’s, avoid them. Our cribbage strategy tips cover what to throw.

Questions

What is the highest hand in cribbage?

The highest hand is 29: three 5s and the Jack in your hand, with the fourth 5 turned as the starter in the same suit as your Jack. It scores 16 for eight fifteens, 12 for four of a kind and 1 for his nobs.

How many points is 4 of a kind in cribbage?

Four of a kind is worth 12 points (six pairs at 2 each), whether it is in your hand, in the crib, or played in a row during pegging. Add any fifteens on top, so four 5s with a ten-card starter make 28.

How many points is 3 of a kind in cribbage?

Three of a kind, also called a pair royal, is worth 6 points (three pairs). Three in a row during pegging also scores 6.

How rare is a 29 hand in cribbage?

Very rare. Of the 12,994,800 ways to hold four cards plus a starter, only 4 make 29. Allowing for choosing your best four from six, players usually quote about one 29 in every 216,000 hands.

What is the average cribbage hand?

The average hand (four cards plus the starter) scores 4.77 points. The most common scores are 4 and 2, each about 22% of hands.

What is the highest crib score?

The crib can also score 29, with the same cards as the best hand. The only difference is that a crib flush needs all five cards, crib and starter, in one suit.

Can you score 19 in cribbage?

No. 19, 25, 26 and 27 are impossible hand scores, which is why players jokingly call a zero hand “nineteen”.

More cribbage guides

• Cribbage for beginnersLearn by playing, with a tip on every turn.
• Cribbage rulesHow to play, step by step, with worked examples.
• Cribbage scoring cheat sheetEvery way to score, on one printable page.
• Cribbage calculatorCount any hand or crib in seconds — even offline.
• Cribbage strategy tipsSmarter discards, safer pegging, better endgames.
• The cribbage boardHow the board, pegs and streets work.

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