What Is the Lead in Cribbage?
The lead in cribbage is the first card played in a count sequence during the pegging phase. The pone, the non-dealer, leads the first card of every hand. After the count resets at a go or at exactly 31, the player who did not lay the last card leads the next sequence.
Who leads first in cribbage?
The pone, the non-dealer, leads the first card of the pegging phase in every hand. Once both players have discarded to the crib and the starter card is turned, the pone lays a card face up and the dealer replies. The cards build a running count that may never pass 31.
The lead also shapes who scores. Because the pone leads and the players alternate, the dealer in a two-player game always pegs at least one point during the play, unless the game ends first. That point comes from taking either the last card or a go.
Who leads after the count resets?
A count sequence ends when a player brings the count to exactly 31, or when neither player can play under 31 and a go is scored. The count then resets to zero and a new sequence begins. The player who did not lay the last card leads the new sequence, so the player who just scored the go or the 31 never leads next.
The new lead starts completely fresh. Cards played before the reset never pair with the new lead and never extend a run across the boundary. The full sequence rules, including how the go itself is scored, live on the go and 31 rules page.
Why is a lead of 4 or lower safe from a fifteen?
The reason is plain arithmetic from the card values. An ace counts 1, pip cards count their face value, and jacks, queens, and kings count 10 each, so no single card counts more than 10. A lead of 4 or lower therefore leaves the count at 14 at most after the reply, and the opponent cannot make the count exactly fifteen for 2 points.
A led 5 does the opposite. Any ten-value reply, meaning a 10, jack, queen, or king, brings the count to exactly 15 and pegs an immediate 2 for the opponent.
By the Nobs Cribbage team Last reviewed 2026-08-02