PAIRS.--A player playing a similar card to the card last played by his
adversary (as a king to a king, or a seven to a seven) is entitled to score
_two_ for a _pair_.[14]
PAIRS-ROYAL.--If the first player in the case last supposed can follow with
a third card of the same description, he scores _six_ for a _pair-royal_.
DOUBLE PAIRS-ROYAL.--If the second player replies with a fourth card of the
same description, he scores _twelve_ for a _double pair-royal_.
SEQUENCES, OR RUNS.--Three or more cards of any suit but forming a regular
numerical succession (as two, three, four; knave, ten, nine), count one for
each card to the last player. The sequence need not be played in regular
order, so long as the cards exposed for the time being form an unbroken
series. Thus, suppose that A plays a five, and B a four. If A now plays
either a six or a three, he is entitled to score a run of three (three
points). We will suppose that he plays a three. If B can play either a six
or a two, he will be entitled to score _four_; and if A can then add
another card at either end, he will score _five_. Suppose, again, that A
has played a five and a three, and B a two and a six. If A now plays a
four, he is entitled to score five for the complete sequence. The highest
number that can be scored {37} for a sequence is _seven_, for ace, two,
three, four, five, six, seven. Ace, king, queen, do not count as a
sequence.
FIFTEEN or THIRTY-ONE.--A player whose card makes, with those already
exposed, the number _fifteen_, scores two. If either player makes
_thirty-one_, he scores two in like manner. If, when the cards on the table
approach thirty-one, the player whose turn it is can go no further without
passing that number, he says, "Go." His opponent then plays any other card
or cards up to that limit. If they make thirty-one exactly, he scores two;
if not, he scores one for "last card," _i.e._ the last card played. This
(at five-card cribbage) terminates the hand.
The hand being over, the players, beginning with the non-dealer, proceed to
"show," _i.e._ turn up their cards, and reckon how many points they may
contain conjointly with the turn-up card, which is regarded as belonging,
for this purpose, to the hand of each player, as also to the "crib" of the
dealer. The first point noted is the _fifteens_ they may contain, _two_
points being reckoned for each, and the cards being combined in every
possible way to make that number. Thus three fives and a ten or court card
make (apart from their value under other aspects) four fifteens
(technically spoken of as "fifteen eight"[15]), each of the fives forming
one fifteen with the ten, and the three fives united forming another.
The next thing to be noted is the presence of any pairs, pair-royal, or
double pair-royal. Thus, in the {38} case supposed, the player, after
claiming "fifteen eight," would go on to say "and six for a pair-royal,
fourteen."
If all the three cards in the hand are in sequence (independent of suit),
three points are reckoned for this, or if the three form a sequence with
the turn-up card, four.
If three of the cards are in sequence, and the fourth is a duplicate of one
of them, such fourth card is regarded as making a fresh sequence with the
other two, the "double run," as it is called, scoring six points. Besides
this, the holder is entitled to two for his "pair" (the two duplicate
cards), bringing the total value (irrespective of "fifteens") up to eight.
Where (as in crib at five-card, or hand or crib at six-card Cribbage) five
cards have to be reckoned, it may happen that three are in sequence, and
that the other two are duplicates of one of them. In this case they
constitute a treble run of three (nine points) and a pair-royal (six
points), total fifteen.
If the three cards of the hand are all of one suit, the player scores three
points for a _flush_. If the turn-up is of the same suit, four points.
If the hand chance to contain a _knave of the same suit as the turn-up
card_, the holder is entitled to score one point, "for his nob."
The non-dealer having scored his points, as above indicated, the dealer
proceeds to score any points, first in his hand, and then in the crib, in
like manner. There is only one distinction, viz., that, in counting crib, a
flush is not reckoned unless the "start" is of the same suit as the rest.
In this case the flush is worth five points (one for each card). {39}
The following table indicates the method of counting some of the more
important combinations (including the start) of the hand at five-card
Cribbage:--
Points.