Cribbage score sheet
For when the board has gone missing, or when the count is disputed. Three lines a deal — pegging, hand, crib — so a total can be audited afterwards, and a counter that takes four cards and the turn-up and shows exactly where every point came from.
Keep score in the browser
The grid below is the sheet. Type into it and the totals, bonuses and thresholds are applied as you go; press Print at any point and the paper version comes out with whatever is in the boxes.
Names and scores stay in this browser and nothing is uploaded. Where a game has competing conventions the sheet says which one it applies. Check this before you rely on it. This score sheet and scorekeeper is provided free and without warranty, and its results are not professional advice.
Cribbage score sheet
Date ____________
| Score | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deal 1 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 1 — hand | ||||
| Deal 1 — crib | ||||
| Deal 2 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 2 — hand | ||||
| Deal 2 — crib | ||||
| Deal 3 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 3 — hand | ||||
| Deal 3 — crib | ||||
| Deal 4 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 4 — hand | ||||
| Deal 4 — crib | ||||
| Deal 5 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 5 — hand | ||||
| Deal 5 — crib | ||||
| Deal 6 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 6 — hand | ||||
| Deal 6 — crib | ||||
| Deal 7 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 7 — hand | ||||
| Deal 7 — crib | ||||
| Deal 8 — pegging | ||||
| Deal 8 — hand | ||||
| Deal 8 — crib | ||||
| Total |
Pegging, hand and crib kept apart so the count can be checked; 121 wins, and 90 or less is a skunk.
Count a hand
Four cards and the turn-up, written rank then suit. The count comes back itemised rather than as a bare number, so a disputed hand can be read line by line instead of counted again from the start.
A worked example
Three fives and the jack of diamonds, with the five of diamonds turned — the best hand the game has.
| What happened | Points |
|---|---|
| Fifteens | 16 |
| Pairs, which four fives make six of | 12 |
| The jack matching the turned suit | 1 |
| Total | 29 |
Why every combination counts separately
Two points for each pair, two for each distinct set of cards adding to fifteen, and a run scored once for every way it can be built. Counted independently like that, three of a kind is six rather than two, because three cards make three different pairs. A double run of four is ten: two separate runs of four, plus the pair that created them.
The counter on this page lists what it found rather than announcing a number, so a disputed count can be examined line by line instead of recounted from scratch. It is the fastest way to settle the recurring table argument about whether a hand was twelve or fourteen, and it is right about the twenty-nine hand, which is three fives and the matching jack with the fourth five turned.
Flushes and the jack behave differently in the crib
Four cards of one suit in your hand are worth four, and five including the turn-up are worth five. In the crib the four-card version does not count at all — only a five-card flush scores there. It is a small rule and it is forgotten constantly, usually by the dealer, and usually in their own favour.
The jack matching the suit of the turned card is worth one to whoever holds it, including in the crib. It is the single point that decides more games than any other, mostly because at a hundred and twenty it is exactly enough. Both rules are applied by the counter, with a switch for whether the hand being counted is a crib.
A hundred and twenty-one, and the lines before it
The finish is a hundred and twenty-one, and the pad marks the two lines that matter behind it. A loser stopped short of ninety-one has been skunked and the game is usually counted double; short of sixty-one is a double skunk and counts triple in the groups that recognise it at all.
Keeping pegging separate from the hand count is what makes those margins trustworthy. Pegging accrues in ones and twos over a whole deal and is where quiet mistakes accumulate, so it gets its own line rather than being folded into a hand that somebody counted aloud and everyone heard.
Common questions
Does the counter know about the twenty-nine hand?
It does. Three fives with the jack of the fourth suit, and the last five turned up, produces eight fifteens for sixteen, six pairs for twelve and one for the jack — twenty-nine, which is the highest a hand can reach.
How do I type a hand in?
Rank then suit, separated by spaces: 5H 5S 5C JD, with the turn-up in its own box. Ten is written as 10. Suits can be left off if you only want the fifteens, pairs and runs, but flushes and the jack need them.
Can three or four people use this pad?
Yes — up to four columns are drawn. Three-handed play deals a crib from the stock and four-handed is usually two partnerships sharing a column each, and in both cases the three lines per deal work unchanged.
Why keep a paper sheet at all when there is a board?
Because a board records position, not history. If the pegs are knocked, or somebody advances the wrong colour, a board cannot reconstruct the game and a written column can. Tournaments keep both for exactly that reason.
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