Editing Cribbage (section)

===Play===
[[File:Travel Cribbage Board (38669697446).jpg|thumb|Cribbage being played with a travel-sized scoring board]]
Starting with the player on the dealer's left, the players each, in turn, lay one card face up on the table in front of them, stating the count—that is, the cumulative value of the cards that have been laid (for example, the first player lays a five and says "five", the next lays a six and says "eleven", and so on)—without the count going above 31. Face cards (kings, queens, and jacks) count as 10. The cards are not laid in the centre of the table as, at the end of the "play", each player needs to pick up the cards they have laid.

Players score points during the play as follows:
*15 – For causing the count to reach exactly 15 a player scores two points, then play continues.
*Pair – Completing a pair (two of a kind) scores two points. 
**Three of a kind is the same as three different pairs, or 6 points.
**Four of a kind is 6 different pairs, or 12 points. 
*A [[run (cards)|run]] of three or more cards (consecutively played, but not necessarily in order) scores the number of cards in the run.

If a player cannot play without causing the count to exceed 31, they call "Go". Continuing with the player on their left, the other players continue the play until no one can play without the count exceeding 31. A player is obliged to play a card unless there is no card in their hand that can be played without the count exceeding 31 (one cannot voluntarily pass). Once 31 is reached or no one is able to play, the player who played the last card scores one point if the count is still under 31 and two if it is exactly 31. The count is then reset to zero and those players with cards remaining in their hands repeat the process starting with the player to the left of the player who played the last card. When all players have played all of their cards the game proceeds to the "show".

Players choose the order in which to lay their cards in order to maximize their scores; experienced players refer to this as either good or poor "pegging" or "pegsmanship". If one player reaches the target (usually 61 or 121), the game ends immediately and that player wins. When the scores are level during a game, the players' pegs will be side by side, and it is thought that this gave rise to the phrase "level pegging".<ref>Oxford Dictionaries, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121118043642/http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/11/popular-idioms-explained/ OxfordWords blog] Retrieved 31 October 2014.</ref>