The History of:

It is believed that an English soldier and poet by the name of Sir John Suckling, invented the game, cribbage in the early 1600’s. John Suckling was born in 1609. John was a playwright, the best card player, a traveler, and an expert at cards. He inherited his father’s fortune at the age of 18. In 1630, he was knighted by the king but had fallen from grace a few years later. In 1641, he was forced to flee England and fled to France when it was found out that he had planned to save a friend from the Tower of London. He died in 1642 at the age of 33. He killed himself by taking poison because he couldn’t return to England.

In the beginning, cribbage was played with five cards whereas today it is played with six cards. Cribbage became popular with colonies especially the New England colonies when the English settlers brought the game over in the 17th century.

The game can be played with just two players which makes it great when you want to pass the time when you are a sailor or fisherman.

Cribbage has been a popular game to play if you were a mariner. It was played on submarines during the World War II.

“The nuclear-powered attack submarine, USS Los Angeles (SSN 688) departed its homeport of Pearl Harbor on May 7 for deployment. This time the submarine deployed with a cribbage board that belonged to Medal of Honor recipient and World War II prisoner of war Rear Adm. Richard H. “Dick” O’Kane. After it was cleaned and restored, the more than 60-year-old cribbage board came into the possession of the Pacific Submarine Force, and the tradition of passing the cribbage board from the oldest submarine to the next was started.” (1)

References

1. ^USS Los Angeles Embarks With a Piece of Submarine History” US Navy. 16 May 2007

How to Play

To play cribbage, you need two players, one deck of 52 cards, and a cribbage board. Each player takes turns dealing with the cards. The dealer gives out six cards to each player. Then each player discards two cards out of the six cards and places it face down in the crib. There should be four cards in the crib which will be used at the end of the game. There should be four cards in each player's hand. The player that is not the dealer cuts the deck. Then turns the card over. If the card is a jack the dealer gets two points.

To win the game, you need 121 points. To win, you need to go around the board twice. You will need to keep score. Here is how you score:

15 is worth 2 points

Pair is 2 points

Pair Royal is 6 points which is three a kind

Double Pair Royal gets 12 points which are four of an of-a-kind

Run is 1 point per card which means cards in order (i.e. — 1–2–3–4)

Flush 4 cards get 4 points if all four cards in your hand are of the same suit

Flush 5 cards get 5 points if all five cards in your hand (and using the starter) are the same suit

The last player to lay a card gets a point

Jack gets 1 point if it is the same suit as the starter card.

After each player adds his/her score then the dealer adds up the cards in the crib. Then you continue until someone wins.