Why Is 19 an Impossible Hand in Cribbage?
No cribbage hand can score exactly 19. The possible totals for a hand plus starter run from 0 to 18, then 20 to 24, then jump straight to 28 and 29. Because 19 can never happen, players traditionally announce a hand worth nothing as "a nineteen hand."
Which scores can a cribbage hand make?
A hand is counted as five cards, the four you hold plus the starter card, and the totals those five cards can reach have holes in them. The American Cribbage Congress glossary records the full picture:
| Score total | Possible? |
|---|---|
| 0–18 | Yes, every total in the range |
| 19 | Never |
| 20–24 | Yes, every total in the range |
| 25, 26, 27 | Never |
| 28 | Yes: four 5s plus any ten-value card, at ACC odds of 15,028 to 1 |
| 29 | Yes: the maximum, three 5s and a matching jack, at ACC odds of 216,580 to 1 |
So a hand that scores nothing shares its impossibility joke with three other numbers, but 19 is the one that picked up the nickname. Announcing "nineteen" at the show is the traditional way of saying your hand is worth zero.
What does a nineteen hand look like?
Take 2♠ 4♥ 6♦ 8♣ with the K♦ as the starter, and run the five checks from how to score a hand:
- Fifteens: every card counts an even value (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 for the king), and no set of even numbers can add up to an odd total like 15.
- Pairs: all five ranks are different, so there is no pair anywhere.
- Runs: the ranks 2, 4, 6, 8, K never put three consecutive cards together.
- Flush: the four hand cards cover four different suits.
- Nobs: there is no jack to match the starter's suit.
The hand scores zero, and by table tradition you announce it as "a nineteen hand" rather than a flat "nothing."
Why can't a hand make exactly 19?
There is no short, elegant reason, and no rule authority publishes a proof. The impossibility simply falls out of checking every possible five-card combination against the scoring rules: work through them all and every total appears except 19, 25, 26, and 27. The American Cribbage Congress records the result in its glossary, so the fact is settled even though the explanation is exhaustion rather than a tidy theorem.
The gap is not a special rule, though. Nothing in the rulebook forbids 19; the combinations of fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes, and nobs just never land there.
Is 19 possible in the crib?
The published impossible-score list covers hands; no authority prints a separate one for the crib. The crib is counted with exactly the same combinations as a hand, with one restriction: a crib flush needs all five cards in one suit, while a hand scores four suited cards on their own.
That restriction changes the crib's arithmetic just enough that the settled rule stated on this page covers hands only. At the table the name travels anyway: a crib worth nothing draws the same announcement as a hand worth nothing.
What are the other impossible scores?
Three more totals share 19's fate: no hand can count 25, 26, or 27 either. Above 24, the only possible scores are 28 and 29, and there is no 30 at all.
A zero hand comes up often enough to need announcing, and "nineteen" is the name tables settled on for it.
What's the best possible hand?
The best hand in cribbage counts 29: three 5s and a jack, with the starter turning up the fourth 5 in the jack's suit, at American Cribbage Congress odds of 216,580 to 1. The twenty-nine hand page walks through all 29 points and the near-miss 28.
By the Nobs Cribbage team Last reviewed 2026-08-02