The 29 hand

Twenty-nine is the highest a cribbage hand can count. Here it is counted out, with the hands that come close to it and the scores no hand can make.

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The hand

Three fives and a jack in your hand, and the fourth five turned as the starter, in the jack's suit. It is the highest a hand can count. The starter is the card cut after the discard; how to play shows where it comes from.

5♥ 5♣ 5♠ J♦ starter 5♦

Fifteen two, fifteen four ... fifteen sixteen, double pair royal is twenty-eight, and nobs is twenty-nine.

Why it is 29

Fifteens: the jack with each of the four fives, that is four, and every three of the four fives, four more: eight fifteens, 16. Four fives are a double pair royal, 12. The jack is the starter's suit, nobs, 1. Sixteen and twelve and one is 29.

Said the long way at the table: "Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, fifteen eight, fifteen ten, fifteen twelve, fifteen fourteen, fifteen sixteen, double pair royal is twenty-eight, and nobs is twenty-nine." Counting a hand has the fifteens, pairs and nobs one at a time.

The hands near it

The same cards with the jack in another suit count 28: everything but nobs. So do four fives in the hand with a ten turned, because the ten makes the same four fifteens the jack did.

5♥ 5♣ 5♠ J♠ starter 5♦

Fifteen sixteen and a double pair royal is twenty-eight. The jack is a spade and the starter a diamond, so no nobs.

5♥ 5♣ 5♠ 10♦ starter 5♦

Fifteen sixteen (the 10 with each 5, and every three fives), double pair royal is twenty-eight.

A double double run, two pairs inside one run of three, is 16 on its own: four runs of 3 and two pairs. This one counts 24 because 4, 5 and 6 also make fifteen four ways.

4♠ 4♥ 5♦ 5♣ starter 6♠

Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, fifteen eight (each 4 with each 5 and the 6), two pairs is twelve, and four runs of three is twenty-four.

The scores no hand can make

No hand counts 19, 25, 26 or 27. "Nineteen" at the table means a hand that counts nothing.

K♣ 9♦ 7♠ A♥ starter 3♣

No fifteen, no pair, no run, no flush, no nobs: nineteen.

More about the game

Counting a hand has every kind of score at the show. Pegging and the go has the points laid down before it. Skunks says what happens when a game ends far apart.

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