🃏 Cribbage Hand Score Calculator
Select your 4 hand cards and the starter (cut) card. This calculator counts every fifteen combination, pair, run, flush, and nobs bonus using standard cribbage scoring rules.
Hand (4 cards)
Starter Card
The five ways a cribbage hand scores
Your four cards and the starter form one set of five, and every scoring pattern in it counts:
fifteens every subset of 2-5 cards adding to 15 → 2 pts each
pairs every pair of matching ranks → 2 pts (three of a kind = 3 pairs = 6)
runs each run of 3+ consecutive ranks → 1 pt per card, times its duplicates
flush four hand cards one suit → 4 pts, 5 if the starter matches too
nobs a Jack in hand of the starter’s suit → 1 ptAces count as 1 and faces as 10 for fifteens, but runs use rank order, so Q-K-A is not a run. Take 4-5-5-6 with a 7 cut: 4+5+6 makes fifteen twice for 4, the pair of fives gives 2, and 4-5-6-7 exists in two versions for 8 — 14 in all.
Reading the breakdown
- Double runs multiply. A run of three with one rank duplicated scores 3 × 2 = 6; a double-double run scores 3 × 4 = 12.
- The flush is asymmetric. All four hand cards must match, and a matching starter lifts 4 to 5. Three hand cards plus the starter is nothing.
- Crib flushes differ at the table. The crib scores a flush only on all five cards, so a four-card flush counted here is worth 0 in the crib.
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest cribbage hand?
29: three fives and a jack in hand, with the fourth five cut as the starter and matching the jack’s suit. There is no 19, 25, 26 or 27 hand, which is why players call a worthless hand a nineteen.
Does a run of three with a pair score six or eight?
Eight. You score the run twice, 3 + 3, and the pair adds 2. The calculator shows 6 on the runs line and 2 on the pairs line.
Why is my flush only worth four points?
Because the starter is a different suit. Four matching hand cards are 4 points; the fifth point arrives only when the cut card shares the suit.