How to Play - Cribbage feat. Beth Sobel's River & Stone Cards

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This is a How to Play tutorial for "Cribbage," a classic game designed in 1630. Today we are utilizing the River & Stone deck of cards by artist and illustrator Beth Sobel.

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[neodonkey]

You made this easy to understand, I always found it too complicated before you explained this so well.

[blanetalk]

The Beth Sobel cards are gorgeous, and this was a wonderful choice for how to promote them. But as a long time Cribbage lover (it and Euchre were always the games of choice at Mather family reunions), I have to say this is a really great tutorial. You've covered the game brilliantly, and I'm going to bookmark this video for any time I want to teach the game. Well done!

[BrendanPNW]

Nice to see a classic card game being covered. Feels like a nice break from expensive board games.

[makerofjam]

I swear it’s like the two of you can read my mind. I was JUST thinking about learning this game and your video pops up! You guys are the best!

[bryanscollick]

My Grandmother taught me Cribbage as a young boy and we played many a game! This brings back so many fond memories of her. You guys are making me nostalgic!

[tracylf]

My grandfather arranged contract bridge tournaments in Orlando, FL in the 70's. He taught me how to play cribbage when I was 6. The best card game ever. You can play w/pen & paper, so bring a deck on your next plane trip.

[jeffdreher]

Flush rule clarification: all of YOUR hands must be the same suit (for 4 points) with a chance for a 5th point if the cut card matches. Crib flushes must be all 5 cards.

[kmontzka]

Yes! Cribbage is one of the all-time greats! My wife and I have played together since we met over twenty years ago and continued the tradition of her grandparents of keeping track of wins and losses on the back of the board. Love this one and hope your great explanation will introduce it to many new players.
Also wonderful to learn about Beth Sobel’s KS deck. We certainly appreciate her art on Wingspan. Thanks!

[dougsundseth]

There are a variety of fiddly different ways to play cribbage. Some differences with the way I was taught:

* If you offer the cut, you're offering the deal. And since the non-dealer counts first, this can be a sneaky way to count (and with any luck win) before the new dealer can count hand and cat. The only cut is immediately before turning the cut card.
* When using the board, it's always up the outside and down the inside. If you count in the wrong direction, that's on you.
* Once you pick up a peg, you count from the peg remaining in the board.
* If you miss counting some of your hand (or pegging points), your opponent can claim the uncounted points. And if you overcount, you are penalized and your opponent gets to peg your overcount.
* When counting a hand, you do the full count for the hand, then peg the hand. You don't count individual scoring combinations (too easy to make an error and count. So, for instance, the first counted hand here would have been "15-2, 15-4, pair for 6, and a pair for 8". (There are variations in how you would describe that hand.)

I learned the game from US military members, and to my knowledge, this is the standard way the game is played in that community. Not surprisingly, the game is generally played for money, though often for very small stakes (penny a point, nickel a game, and double for a skunk is pretty common).

[zakirjafry]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Naveen's elegant Riffle Shuffle at 2:24? :)

[jamesmorgan]

Whenever I hear about cribbage, I'm reminded of my dad. We used to play when I was young. Great game.

[Tabletop_AshleyRose]

Cribbage is such a timeless gem. Love this!!

[MrRandomhumanbeing]

Thank you! This is the best explanation of cribbage I have found.

[andrewcirco]

Thanks for doing this video. I have long wanted to learn cribbage, and have the River and Stone deck. So the past few days we have played. aided nicely by this video. Really have enjoyed it, and the cards are really beautiful and well made. We really appreciate what you do.

[rafaelzavala]

I just got my River and Stone playing cards today! We are going to sit down and learn cribbage now! Thanks so much for this great video!

[kossowankenobi]

Family classic around here - used to play it with my grandfather a lot.
And yeah, had to back Beth's cards. So purty.

[beneisen]

Beautiful deck and nice run through of a classic game. I used to play it a lot at my grandparents.

[raymyers]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Cribbage! I'd love to say that I had a great origin story, like grandparents teaching me or it being a family staple...but I fell for it because I found "Cribbage with Grandpas" app and found it relaxing and interesting at the same time. I love that you guys love Cribbage too!

[danielastin]

Easiest how to play cribbage i've seen, thank you! I hope to teach to my children soon and start a tradition of it :)
Will definitely grab Beth's deck too, I remember seeing it teased on twitter well over a year ago so glad I won't be missing it.

[lindasue]

I had serious doubts that you could pull this off properly in under 10 minutes, but you did! 😁 Even though I love the game, I play just seldom enough to largely forget most of the rules between games and always need to review. Not only is this a good succinct refresher, but I especially like how you broke down tackling adding up the cards by 15s then pairs etc. People I know who are more proficient at the game than I am, often rattle them all off really fast back-to-back.. I just realized keeping track of the sums is what has thrown me off as much as anything, much easier to mark off each one as you go. Thanks for this video!

Also thanks for introducing me to these cards, I'm going to go look into them right now!