A Twist on Partner Cribbage

I had never played partner Cribbage, but after developing Dealer's Cribbage and the Universal Cribbage Board I wanted to find ways to include more players in Cribbage battle. I love an intimate game between two worthy opponents, but Cribbage has a great potential for lively games between 3 or 4 players, or 2-4 teams. I was totally ignorant of the rules and formats that already exist for partner Cribbage (which I have happily learned is fairly popular), when I set out to create my own version that I am very excited to share with the Cribbage community.

"Show Me 2" Partner Cribbage

I had a couple of different names I was playing with for my new version of partner Cribbage. One was "Slide Show Partner Cribbage," but who's ever seen an exciting or memorable slide show? Another idea was "Pass 2 Partner Cribbage," but that may make many people think of taking a BM. I decided to stick with "Show Me 2 Partner Cribbage," but I am still open for suggestions.

The game is played just like regular Cribbage, but instead of two players against each other you have 2 teams of 2. Teammates sit across from one another just like in a game of Hearts or Spades (around the table: A, B, A, B). Instead of each player receiving 5 cards like in regular partner Cribbage, each player only receives 3 cards. I came up with this format because I was stuck on the total of 6 cards that each player receives in 2-player Cribbage, and I decided that each team would collectively get the same number of cards to work with.

After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer chooses two of his cards to slide face down across the table to his partner. His partner takes a look at the cards together with the 3 he is dealt. He then returns any two of the five cards he is now holding back to his partner. The dealer's partner sends the dealer two cards in the same fashion and the dealer returns 2 cards back to his partner.

After the card sharing is finished each player throws one of their cards to the crib. The player to the right of the dealer cuts the deck to establish the cut-card, and the player to the left of the dealer makes the first play to 31. Both players on a team share a scoring lane and the first team to 121 points wins.

I thoroughly enjoy this version of Cribbage, and it really makes you think. It is much more dynamic than regular partner Cribbage because you rely on the wits of your partner and their skill in communicating with you (without table talk, of course) which cards you should keep or throw to the crib. The current strategy I use with my partner is this: when you pass cards to your partner, put a card you wish to keep on the bottom and one you wish to discard on the top.

"Show Me 2" is a simple tweak to partner Cribbage, but it makes for some fun times. Please give it a shot and let me know what you think!