Official Cribbage Tournament Rules: ACC Guide
For standardized competitive cribbage in the United States, the American Cribbage Congress (ACC) publishes an official tournament rulebook.
What the official rules cover
- Cards, boards, game setup and order of play
- Shuffling, cutting, dealing and the starter card
- Pegging, counting hands and recording scores
- Muggins and missed-point claims
- Illegal plays, errors, penalties and dispute resolution
- Tournament procedures, qualifying and playoff brackets
ACC rules versus local house rules
Home and bar games sometimes use variations. For a tournament, organizers should announce the ruleset and any event-specific conditions before registration. A local Northwoods event is not ACC-sanctioned unless the organizer separately obtains sanctioning.
What is muggins?
Muggins refers to claiming points an opponent fails to take in qualifying situations. Exactly when a claim is allowed, how it is made, and when it is barred depend on the official rules. For tournament decisions, refer to the ACC's muggins provisions rather than relying on informal house practice.
How are sanctioned events organized?
ACC-sanctioned events have specific procedures for seating, qualifying, scorecards, playoffs and adjudication. Northwoods may host independent events using published rules, but should not advertise them as sanctioned without approval.
Also see the ACC Tournament Director resources for director guidance and templates.
Rules reference: American Cribbage Congress Official Tournament Rules (2025 PDF), effective August 1, 2025. Northwoods is an independent resource, not an ACC-sanctioned or affiliated organization.
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What changes in ACC-sanctioned tournament play?
These are summaries, not a replacement for a judge or the official rulebook. The ACC's 2025 edition applies to sanctioned two-player play; doubles are addressed separately in Appendix B.
Long boards and 121 points
ACC-sanctioned and satellite tournaments require a long board with 60 holes out and 60 back. The first player to score 121 wins. See Rules 1.1 and 1.4.
Muggins is not automatically in effect
Under ACC rules, the tournament director decides whether muggins applies, and must put that on the tournament flyer and announce it before play. Do not assume missed points can always be claimed. See Rules 1.6 and 10.
Scoring disputes and judges
When an irregularity occurs, stop and request authorized judges rather than improvising a house penalty. ACC rules cover mispegging, exposed cards, wrong hand sizes, scorecards, and playoff disputes in detail. See Rules 4, 8, 9, 11–14 and the judge protocols.
Local Northwoods events versus sanctioned ACC events
Northwoods-hosted events are not automatically ACC-sanctioned. Each event must publish its own format, number of games, entry fee, prizes, muggins policy, tie-breakers, and dispute process. Where the event adopts ACC rules, the event announcement should say so explicitly.
ACC 2025 Official Tournament Rules (PDF) · Northwoods Cribbage Co. is an independent educational resource, not the ACC.