The perfect hand in cribbage is a rarity, and in fact, I’ve never gotten it in my 25 years of playing this game.
My grandpa has been playing for close to 80 years, and I know he’s only gotten it twice!
But even if you don’t get it right away, it’s good to know how to count a 29 hand in cribbage.
To count a 29 hand in cribbage, you first have to get the cards you need. You’ll need 3 fives and a Jack of the different suit from the fives. Then, we need the luck of getting the remaining five cut before the pegging phase. We count 16 points for the fifteens, 12 points for the four of a kind, and 1 point for nibs.
Clear as mud, right?
In the rest of this article, we’ll break it down for you along with other helpful info around this topic.
Check out our comprehensive guide on the rules of cribbage and how to play with examples, scoring breakdowns, and vocabulary guide.
Table of Contents
How To Count A Perfect Hand In Cribbage
Counting a 29 hand in cribbage is almost the culmination of all the types of scoring in the game.
It uses several combinations rarely seen, so it’s no surprise people don’t realize exactly how to count it.
Heaven forbid, you don’t count it correctly and leave points on the table (or points for your opponent; remember, if you miss points in cribbage, they can be stolen!).
In this section, we’ll go step-by-step to figure out what we need and how to count it.
Or if you prefer video, check out mine on the topic:
What Do You Need For The Hand
At the end of the day, you need 4 five’s and a Jack for the perfect hand.
This is hard enough, but you need them in a specific order.
After the cards are dealt and you discard them, you need to have 3 five’s and a Jack of the missing suit in your hand.
For example, let’s say you have the five of spades, five of hearts, and five of clubs. This means you’d need the Jack of diamonds also on your hand.
Cut The Card You Need
With 3 fives and the off-Jack in hand, you need to cut the right card.
When you or your opponent goes to cut the deck for the starter card before the pegging phase (traditionally called the play), the remaining five needs to be turned up.
Any other setup would result in a near-perfect hand of 28.
The odds of the five being cut at this point are 1 in 40 or 2.5%, so don’t count on it.
Sticking with our example from above, we now have:
- Five of spades
- Five of clubs
- Five of hearts
- Jack of diamonds
- CUT: five of diamonds
Counting 15s
After getting through the pegging, it’s time to count your perfect hand!
First, we start with the 15’s, as we traditionally do in cribbage.
Each combination of 15 is worth 2 points.
Let’s start with the five and Jack combinations.
- Five of spades + Jack of diamonds = 15 for 2
- Five of clubs + Jack of diamonds = 15 for 4
- Five of hearts + Jack of diamonds = 15 for 6
- CUT: five of diamonds + Jack of diamonds = 15 for 8
Don’t miss out on those other fifteen combination though!
3 fives added together make up 15 as well.
So we have 8 points, and now we keep counting.
- Five of spades, five of clubs, five of hearts = 15 for 10
- Five of spades, five of clubs, five of diamonds = 15 for 12
- Fives of spades, five of hearts, five of diamonds = 15 for 14
- Five of clubs, five of hearts, five of diamonds = 15 for 16
Phew!
We’re done with the 15s for a total of 16 points so far.
Counting Pairs
Now, it’s time to count the pairs.
We have four of a kind here. Some call this a double royal pair.
You can just know that this combination is with 12 points or you can count it out.
Since we’re explaining here, let’s count out the pairs in detail.
We left off with 16 points from the 15s, and each pair is worth 2 points.
- Five of spades + five of clubs = Pair for 18
- Five of spade + five of heats = Pair for 20
- Five of spades + five of diamond = Pair for 22
- Five of clubs + five of hearts = Pair for 24
- Five of clubs + five of diamonds = Pair for 26
- Five of hearts + five of diamonds = Pair for 28
We’re at 28 now. Almost there!
Don’t get distracted, but if you want to come back and learn more about pairs and pair royal in cribbage, click here.
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Get That Nibs!
Here’s where getting that five cut and having the matching Jack in your hand come into play to make the perfect hand.
We have the matching Jack (Jack of diamonds + CUT: five of diamonds), so we can count the one bonus point for nobs bringing our total to 29!
For more details and help with scoring in cribbage, check out our printable cribbage scoring cheat sheet.
Odds Of A 29 Hand In Cribbage
The odds of getting a 29 hand in standard 6-card cribbage is 1 in 216,580. Another way to look at this is 0.000004617232%.
The hardest part of getting this hand is the exact combination of the off-suited Jack in your hand and then cutting the matching five.
Odds For 28 Hand
The odds of getting a 28 hand in cribbage is 1 in 170,984 or 0.0006%. Any combination of 4 fives and a 10 or face card will you get you here.
What Does 4 Fives Score In Cribbage?
4 fives are worth 20 points in cribbage. It’s always worth it to keep this hand if possible. The fives combine to make 15 a total of 4 times, adding 8 points. The pairs (or four of a kind) are worth a total of 12 points.
Cribbage Hand Calculators: My Favorites
If you’re struggling to count your hands in cribbage, don’t stress! It’s a learning process.
But I wouldn’t rely too much on calculators or you’ll never learn on your own.
Always attempt to count it yourself, and then check your work on a calculator.
Here are a few I like:
- Buck the odds – Free, browser-based. I like how this one breaks it down a little for you.
- Cribbage Calculator – This one is the best for learning as it breaks it down in detail. But it’s a little hard to figure out how to put the cards in at first.
- Cribbage Scorer – Very basic but does the job.
