Let not me take you at noddy anie more, least I present you to the parish for a gamester. - Thomas Nashe (attrib): An Almond for a Parrat, 1589.
"She'll sit up till you come, because she'll have you play a game at Noddy." Middleton Blurt, Master-Constable, 1602.
Some historians have speculated that the cribbage board may have originated as a scoreboard for an early dice game. In the 1660's the English naturalist Francis Willughby wrote a treatise on games, sports and pastimes which included a sketch of a Noddy board consisting of a single track of 61 holes laid out in an elongated "M" shape. The players started at opposite ends of the track, and the first one to reach the center hole won the game. The pegboard made Cribbage ideal for sailors and fishermen since the pieces don't move on a rolling sea: hence the Cribbage boards that Inuit used to manufacture for sale to the crews that visited their coasts. Originally brought home as souvenirs, some of these walrus-ivory boards are now valuable museum pieces. In Europe, there are some excellent examples of marquetry Cribbage boards and elaborately inlaid tables. King Gustavus IV of Sweden signed his abdication on one of them in 1809. William Crockford, the founder of Crockfords's Club which became the largest social/gambling club in Victorian England is said to have earned a large portion of his starting capital for his gambling business in a marathon 10,000-point Cribbage game.
The four-player game was more popular in Victorian times than it is today. In fact, Charles Dickens wrote about fourhanded Cribbage in the "The old Curiosity Shop":
"Mr. Quip is a dishonest player: Among his various eccentric habits he had a humorous way of always cheating at cards, which rendered necessary on his part, not only close observance of the game, and a sleight-of-hand in counting and scoring, but also involved the constant correction, by looks, and frowns, and a kick under the table, Richard Swiveller, who being bewildered by the rapidity with which his cards were told, and the rate at which the pegs traveled down the board, could not be prevented from sometimes expressing his surprise and incredulity".
All variations included here use a standard deck of cards. Kings are high, Aces are low. In standard Cribbage the first player who pegs 121 points wins the game. The first deal is determined by cutting the cards; low card deals first and has the first "crib". The deal then alternates between the players until someone wins. In the next game, the loser deals first (although some players simply alternate). The dealer deals six cards, face down, to each player. The remaining portion of the deck is placed face down on the table.
The Crib is a bonus hand for the dealer, counted and at the end of the hand. Both players choose two cards from their hands to discard face down to form the Crib. These four cards are set-aside until the end of the hand. The non-dealer should try to put cards that will not make valuable combinations, and still leave the best count for his own hand. The dealer may sometimes find it pays to place good cards in the Crib.
The non-dealer cuts the cards, and the dealer takes the top card of the lower portion of the deck and turns it face up. The non-dealer replaces the upper part of the deck back on top of the deck. The card that was drawn from the deck is the "Start card". The start card counts towards points both players' hands. If the start card is a Jack the dealer pegs two points. This is called "Nobs".
Play: The non-dealer starts by laying a single card face up in front of him, and the player alternate laying cards and adding up the total of the cards as they go. Cards that have been played are turned face down. The values of the cards are: Aces = 1; 2 through 10 equal the face value; face cards are worth 10. As each new card is played, the player announces the running total of the cards that have been played. If a card brings the total exactly to 31, the player who played it pegs two points, claiming "31 for 2" as he does. If a player cannot play a card without exceeding 31 he must say, "go". The next player continues laying cards until reaching 31, pegging for any combinations made along the way (see "Scoring during play" below). If no player can play another card without going over 31, then the last player to lay a card pegs "1 for last card". The player to the left of the player that counted “1 or 2 points” starts a new play with the remaining cards in his hand. This continues until all cards in the hand are played.
Hints: Try to prevent the opponents from making "15". Keep in your hand low cards to play last if possible to make "31". Watch closely to make or prevent runs.
•A player who makes any of the following scores during the play pegs for the points immediately.
•15: If you play a card that brings the total to 15 you peg 2 claiming "fifteen for two."
•31: If you play a card that brings the total to exactly 31, Peg 2 points.
•Pairs: Play a card of the same rank as the previous (i.e.10 after your opponent plays a 10), peg “2 for a pair.”
•Pair Royal: (3 of a kind) if immediately after a pair, a third card of the same rank is played, the player scores “6 for a pair royal.”
•Double Pair Royal: Four cards of a kind, played in immediate succession. The player of the fourth card pegs 12.
•Runs: A run or “sequence” is 3 or more cards in consecutive order (regardless of suit) such as 10-J-Q, or 5-6-7-8. (Note: aces are low; therefore Queen-King-Ace is not a run.) The player of a card that completes a run scores points for the run. The score is equal to the number of cards in the run. The cards do not have to be played in order, but no other cards must intervene. For example, the runs could be J-10-Q, or 6-8-7-5.
•Last Card: If neither player manages to make the total exactly 31, whoever played the last card pegs 1.
Melding: Scoring the cards that were in your hand. "Melding" is done at the end of the hand. All the cards in a player's hand are tallied for the scoring all possible combinations, and this score is added to whatever is already pegged on the board during the hand. In tallying the points, the "Start Card" is included in all possible combinations. The scoring combinations are the same as those used in play, plus the combinations included below.
Scoring points when melding:
•15 = 2 points. In counting 15s, every possible combination of cards adding to 15 scores 2 points.
•Pair = 2 points.
•Royal Pair = 6 points.
•Double Royal Pair = 12 points.
•Run = 1 point for each card.
•Double 3-card Run = 8 points. Double runs are made up of a pair plus a run. The run is counted twice because it can be constructed with two different cards. Example: 8 - 9 -10§ -10© scores 8 points because one run can be score with the 10§ and another with the 10©, plus two points for the pair of tens.
•Double Four Card Run = 10 points.
•Triple Three Card Run = 15 points.
•Quadruple Run = 16 points.
•”His Nobs”: The Jack of the starter card’s suite = 1 point.
•Four Card Flush = 4 points (All cards in the same suit).
•Five Card Flush = 5 points. (With starter card) Note: the crib can only score a five-card flush.
A sample hand: A hand of two 7’s and two 8’s (7§ - 7© - 8ª - 8§) would score four different combinations of 15 (7§+8ª; 7§+8§ ; 7©+8ª; 7© + 8§) for 8 points, plus 2 points for each set of two pairs. If in this case the starter card was a nine, there would be an additional score of 16 points for a quadruple run, earning a total of 24 points.
Note: the non-dealer counts first after each hand. This becomes a very important privilege at the end of the game, because the player that counts 121 first wins the game and the other players cannot count their hands. The game is over at this point.
Tallying Sequence: Each score must be announced by name and points so that your opponent can verify it. When tallying the score in your hand you announce them in this order.
The "15s".
"Pairs".
"Runs".
"Flushes".
Winning: As soon as one of the players reaches or passes 121, that player wins the game. This can happen at any stage during play, or melding, or even the dealer scoring "Two For His Heels" (a jack turned up as a starter). It is not necessary to reach 121 points exactly -you can go over the needed score and still wins. Note: In some tournament play "Two Points For His Heels" cannot be counted in the last five holes.
Additional Rules
Muggins: Experienced players sometimes agree to use the Muggins rule, which allows a player to call "Muggins" and score for himself any points his opponent missed during melding. Of course, this rule is not used between a skilled player and an inexperienced player.
Skunking (also called Lurching): When playing to 121 points, if the loser scores 60 or fewer points he is "lurched" and loses a double stake when wagering. Some people play that if the loser scores between 61-90 points he is "skunked" and loses double stake, and if he scores 60 or less he is "Double Skunked" and loses a triple stake.
Nineteen: As it is impossible to hold "Nineteen" in a hand or crib, it is a common practice in some circles for a player, when he has nothing at all to score, to announce, "nineteen".
Noddy
“By plaieing to much at primeroe and noddy he lost Time and his monie to(o).”
- J. Day: Peregrinatio Scholastica, 1610.
“Noddie turn'd up, all made, yet lose the tricke.”
- Vadianus' Panegyric Verses in Coryat Crudities, 1611.
2 players. Noddy is an early precursor of modern Cribbage, and can be thought of as “Small Cribbage” without the Crib. The Dealer deals three cards to each player, then turns up the top card of the deck, which can be used by both players. The “Knave Noddy” is the jack of the suit turned up; if it is the card turned up, the Dealer scores 2 points immediately.
Scoring: Both players total the “meld” the cards in their hands before play begins, opposite of the practice in modern Cribbage where melding is done at the end of the hand. The non-dealer scores his hand first, adding up all the combinations they can make from their hand cards plus the turned up card. Note: this happens. You score the combinations without showing your cards, although you declare what combinations you have. Period sources are silent on what happens if you make a mistake. Scoring combinations are:
Pair = 2 points
Pair Royal (3 of a kind) = 6 points
Double Pair Royal (four of a kind) = 12 points
Fifteen = 2 points
Twenty-five = 2 points (apparently a regional variation)
Run of 4 = 4 points
Run Of 5 Or More = 1 point each (only possible in play)
Flush of Three = 3 points (a run, all in the same suit)
Flush of Four = 4 points
Flush Of Five Or More = 1 point each (only possible in play)
Jack Noddy (In your hand, not as the card turned up) = 1 point
Play is similar to modern Cribbage. All scoring combinations above count. Additionally, if a player makes exactly 31, they score 2 points. If they score below 31, and the opponent cannot lay another card, they score 1 point. When 31 is reached, the hand ends, there is no going back to zero to use up the rest of the cards in the hand, as in modern Cribbage.
Winning: A win is counted as soon as either player pegs 31 points. If 31 is not reached, further hands are played until it is. The deal alternates for each subsequent hand.
Early Cribbage
This early version of Cribbage was apparently a variant of Noddy. However, it was still simpler than the modern game. Only the differences between Noddy and Early Cribbage will be described. Before the first deal, the non-dealer receives a 3-point lead, because the crib provides a significant advantage. Deal five cards to each player. Each player discards two cards to a crib. This leaves the players with three cards plus the card turned up, as in Noddy, plus a 4-card crib.
Scoring: After scoring his own hand, the Dealer scores for the crib, including the turned-up card. Therefore the crib is effectively five cards, which is the advantage mentioned above.
Winning: The game is played to 61 points instead of 31 for Noddy or 121 points for modern Cribbage. If you reach 61 before your opponent reaches 45, it is called a "lurch", and counts for a double stake.
Costly Colours
This version is based one described in The Complete Gamester, by Charles Cotton, 1674. It is a two-player game, with no crib. The name comes from the fact that during melding the color of the cards as well the numbers and suits can affect your score. The first person to reach 31 points wins.
Three cards are dealt to each player, and the next card in the deck is turned up. If the non-dealer does not like the turned up card, he can “Mogg,” or ask the dealer to turn up a different card. If the dealer refuses the non-dealer pegs one point. The dealer pegs 4 points if he turns up a two, or a Jack.
Scoring: Players peg during play for how many cards have been played so far in the hand as opposed to the points. A player who lays a card that brings the total to 15, pegs 1 point for every card that has been laid on the table so far. The same goes for reaching 25, 30, or 31 points, as well as laying the last card without going over 31.
Melding:
•Peg one point for each card that can be used to add up to a total of 15, or 25. (A hand of 5-6-4 adds up to 15 –Therefore the player pegs 3 points for 3 cards totaling 15. A hand of 10-5-2 would only score 2 points for the 10-5 combination).
•Peg 4 points for reaching a total of 31 using what is in your hand plus the turned-up card.
•Pairs = 2 points.
•Jacks = 2 points.
•A Jack matching the suit of the turned-up card = 4 points.
•A Two matching the suit of the turned-up card = 4 points.
•“Colours” 3 cards of one color (regardless of suit) = 2 points
•“Costly Colours” 3 of one suit. = 6 points.
•A “Pair Royal” 3 of a kind = 9 points.