Cribbage: Pegging Mastery

Win the play — safe leads, traps, and the running count to 31

The play (pegging) is where good cribbage players quietly out-score weaker ones. This epoch is a deep, practical course in the play phase: the running count to 31 and everything it scores (fifteens, thirty-ones, pairs, pair royals, runs, the go, and last card), the right opening lead, making and denying pairs and runs, hitting and dodging the 15 and the 31, defensive 'safe-card' play, offensive traps that bait a re-pair for trips, holding low cards back for 31 and the go, counting the cards to read what the opponent holds, adjusting risk to the strength of your hand, and the razor-thin endgame where a single peg decides the game. Every lesson uses exact pegging arithmetic — face cards count 10, the ace counts 1, and the running total can never pass 31.