At this point, each player's hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards.
Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, then discards the other one or two face-down to form the 'crib' (also called the box), which will be used later by the dealer. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in the center of the table to start the crib. For two players, each is dealt six cards for three or four players, each is dealt five cards. The dealer shuffles and deals five or six cards to each player, depending on the number of players. The players cut for the first deal, and the person who cuts the lowest card deals. This can even happen during the deal since the dealer scores if a Jack is cut as the starter. At any time during any of these stages, if a player reaches the target score (usually 121), play ends immediately, with that player being the winner of the game.
The play proceeds through a succession of 'hands', each of which consists of a 'deal', 'the play' and 'the show'.
