Cribbage Strategy: 8 Tips to Score More

These tips assume you know the rules. The numbers come from simulations of the same scoring code the game uses. You can check any hand with the score calculator.

1. Keep the hand that scores best over every starter

You don't know the starter when you discard, so judge each four-card hand by what it scores on average across all 46 possible starters, not by what it scores now. Hands with 5s, connected cards (6-7-8) and fifteens tend to improve with almost any starter. Four random cards average under 5 points. Choosing well from six usually keeps a hand worth about 8.

On kawu, the Hint button during the discard shows the two cards the computer would throw.

2. Feed your own crib, starve your opponent's

The two cards you throw matter almost as much as the four you keep. Simulated over thousands of cribs, the cards you throw are worth roughly:

When it is your crib, it's fine to throw 5s, pairs and cards that add up to 15. When it is your opponent's, give them far-apart cards that don't add to 15, like 10-K or 9-K.

3. Lead low

Lead with a 4 or lower: your opponent can't reach 15 with one card. Avoid leading a 5, because any ten card makes 15 for them, and most of the deck is ten cards.

4. Avoid leaving 5 or 21

If the count is 5 or 21, a single ten card gives your opponent 15 or 31 for 2 points. Since 16 of the 52 cards count as ten, this is the most common trap in the play.

5. Watch the runs and pairs you set up

Playing a card one or two ranks away from the last card invites a run. If your opponent plays a 6 and you answer with a 7, a 5 or an 8 from them makes a run of three. Pairing your opponent's card is good when you hold a third card of that rank; otherwise it hands them a chance at three of a kind for 6.

6. Hold low cards for the go

Late in a count, low cards let you keep playing after your opponent has said go, scoring the go point and sometimes extra pairs. Spend high cards early while the count is low and keep an Ace or a 2 for the end.

7. Play to the board near the end

Near 121 the score matters more than the average:

• When you're the non-dealer, you count first. If your hand alone gets you out, play safe in the pegging and avoid giving points away.
• When the dealer needs only a few points, the non-dealer should peg aggressively and throw the dealer the worst crib possible, even at the cost of their own hand.
• Before each discard, estimate what you're likely to score this hand, what your opponent is likely to score, and who counts first. Then choose between safe and ambitious.

8. Expect the computer to count everything

On kawu every combination is counted for you, so there's no muggins. Watch the show breakdown anyway: hover or tap an item to see which cards made it. It's the fastest way to learn to spot fifteens and double runs.

Practise at different levels

• Easy picks one of its five best discards and plays loosely in the pegging.
• Normal keeps the best hand by average value and avoids the classic pegging traps.
• Hard also values the crib and plays each pegging card after simulating hundreds of possible opponent hands.

The daily challenge gives everyone the same deals against the normal computer, so you can compare results with friends.

Last updated 2026-10-17