# cribbage points **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401 "2001-04-01T19:46:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dughagen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58f4c7/32.png) [@Dughagen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dughagen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401/1 "2001-04-01T19:46:48Z")
A friend of mine told me today that he recently scored 29 points in one hand during a game of Cribbage. He says that that is the highest score possible & that one can play the game their entire life & not get a 29 point hand. This begs the question: What are the odds of getting a 29 point hand in Cribbage? Doug Hagen Seattle, Wa. ---
**Author:** ![sethdallob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@sethdallob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethdallob)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2001, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401/2 "2001-04-01T21:33:47Z")
Well, IANAS (as my other thread posts will show), but there is only one way to score 29 points (IIRC it is to have your hand be 5 5 5 5 and the draw to be the jack). Or it might be J J J J with a 5 draw - same odds either way. I’m horrid at this sort of stuff, but I can set it up. You are dealt 6 cards from a 52 card deck, and choose 4. The deck is cut and the top card is flipped over. What are the odds that you would pull 5 5 5 5 and the card flipped over was any jack? With any luck, someone smarter than I like Cabbage will be able to answer it from here… ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401/3 "2001-04-01T21:51:35Z")
**sethdallob** - the hand you need to get is three fives and a jack of the suit which you don’t have the five in. The cut card needs to be the remaining five. (Therefore you get one point for Knobs). Four jacks in your hand and a five cut would only net you 21 points. (8 Points for 4 combos of 15, 12 points for four of a kind, and 1 point for Knobs.) 4 fives with a jack cut (or a 10, queen, or king) is a 28 hand. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401/4 "2001-04-01T21:57:53Z")
[This site](http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~stevel/humor/cribbage.html) provides some statistics on the possiblities of each possible score for a hand. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401/5 "2001-04-01T23:36:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sethdallob \* > \*\*Well, IANAS (as my other thread posts will show), but there is only one way to score 29 points (IIRC it is to have your hand be 5 5 5 5 and the draw to be the jack). Or it might be J J J J with a 5 draw - same odds either way. > > I’m horrid at this sort of stuff, but I can set it up.\*\* Neither of those hands are 29. The first is a twenty-eight, and the second is only twenty-one. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2001, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cribbage-points/60401/6 "2001-04-02T00:33:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > \*\*Neither of those hands are 29. The first is a twenty-eight, and the second is only twenty-one. \*\* Umm, yeah. That’s what I said over and hour and a half earlier. Sheesh!