Best Cribbage Hands
Best Cribbage Hands: The 29 Hand and Other Top Scores
The best cribbage hand is a 29: three fives and the right Jack with a five starter. See how it scores, the 28 and 24 hands, and which totals are impossible.
The best hand in cribbage is worth 29 points: 5-5-5 and a Jack in your hand, with the five of the Jack’s suit cut as the starter. It packs eight fifteens (16 points), six pairs (12) and his nobs (1) into just five cards. Below are the hands just beneath it, how each one is counted, and the odd gaps in the scale: totals no hand can ever reach.
The 29 hand, counted
Hand: 5♥ 5♦ 5♣ J♠. Starter: 5♠.
- The Jack with each of the four fives: four fifteens, 8 points.
- Any three of the four fives: four more fifteens, 8 points.
- Four fives make six pairs: 12 points.
- The J♠ matches the starter’s suit: his nobs, 1 point.
Total: 16 + 12 + 1 = 29. Of all 12,994,800 combinations of a four-card hand and a starter, only 4 score 29: one for each suit the Jack can be.
The highest cribbage hands
| Score | Hand + starter | Where the points come from |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | 5 5 5 J + 5 (Jack matches starter suit) | 16 fifteens, 12 pairs, 1 nobs |
| 28 | 5 5 5 5 + any 10, J, Q or K | 16 fifteens, 12 pairs |
| 24 | 4 4 5 5 + 6 | 8 fifteens, 4 pairs, 12 runs |
| 24 | 3 3 3 3 + 9 | 12 fifteens, 12 pairs |
| 24 | 7 7 7 7 + A | 12 fifteens, 12 pairs |
| 21 | 3 3 3 4 + 5 | 6 fifteens, 6 pairs, 9 runs |
| 20 | 3 3 4 4 + 5 | 4 fifteens, 4 pairs, 12 runs |
A 28 can also be a near miss: 5-5-5-J with a five starter, when the Jack is the wrong suit for nobs and the perfect hand slips away by a single point.
Scores no cribbage hand can make
Count every possible hand with every possible starter and four totals never turn up: 19, 25, 26 and 27. Between 24 and 28 the scale is simply empty, and “nineteen” has become the table joke for a hand worth zero: if you cannot score it, you might as well announce it.
Back on earth, an ordinary hand averages a little under 5 points. Anything in double figures is a good hand, and 20 or more is rare enough that you will remember where you were sitting.
Keeping the best four cards
- Fives are the most valuable single card: sixteen cards in the deck count ten, and any one of them turns a five into a fifteen.
- Connected cards (6-7-8) and pairs give runs and pair points that grow with the right starter.
- Cards that already make 15 among themselves (7-8, 6-9, 4-5-6) score whatever the cut turns up.
- As non-dealer, keep fives and pairs out of the crib; as dealer, a good crib discard is points for you.
Torn between two keeps? Try both in the cribbage calculator before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best hand in cribbage?
The 29 hand: three fives and the Jack of the starter’s suit in hand, with the remaining five as the starter.
What is the highest crib score?
Also 29. The crib is counted like a hand, so the same five cards score the same; only the flush rule is stricter.
Can a cribbage hand score 19?
No. 19, 25, 26 and 27 are impossible hand scores, which is why “nineteen” means a hand with no points.
How rare is a 29 hand?
Very. Of the 12,994,800 possible four-card hands with a starter, only 4 are worth 29. Most players go years without holding one.
Sources
We check these rules against the standard references:
- Cribbage · WikipediaHow the 29 hand scores (eight fifteens, six pairs and nobs), the impossible totals 19, 25, 26 and 27, and “nineteen” for a hand worth nothing.
- Six Card Cribbage · Pagat, John McLeodThe values of fifteens, pairs, three and four of a kind and nobs that the top hands are built from, and nineteen being impossible.