All told, it’s super weird but great once you get it. The pegging play can get very confusing with the “go” and the fact that you do not necessarily lay down a card for a card like most games. It is much more complex with very unintuitive rules. This was actually the biggest problem my wife and I had in understanding the written rules.ģ) Cribbage really isn’t a simple game. Nobody every clearly explained that I could do both.

I thought I had to either claim the 3 points for the run or the 7+8=15 for 2 points. At first, I thought once I used a card for points that the card was “spent.” For example, if I had a run of 7-8-9. Ask them to slow down or explain each decision no matter how small.Ģ) cards can be used in multiple combinations. Somebody with years of experience may assume that you can see what is obvious to them, even when it is clearly not the case. Not everybody can “see” at the same speed. I think there are several potential reasons for your troubles.ġ) an impatient teacher. He methodically took me through a game and then it began to click. Finally, a coworker invited me to play and patiently explained how to count points, his decision making process, and other unique points. It wasn’t broken, just terribly inadequate at explaining the nuances of the game. My wife and I spent a couple hours hashing through the rules in a coffee shop.

I originally tried to learn from the printed rules that came with my cribbage board. Today, it’s my favorite card game but I get where you are coming from. I thought it had ridiculous rules at first.

Learn to play cribbage