Games - Ninety-nine

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	Games - Ninety-nine

Ninety-nine is a card game for 2, 3, or 4 players. It is a trick-taking game that can use ordinary Anglo-American playing cards. Ninety-nine was created by David Parlett; his goal was to have a good 3-player trick-taking game with simple rules yet great room for strategy. In ninety-nine, players bid for the number of tricks that they will take; players who gain exactly that number of tricks (no more or less) gain a significant bonus. One unusual feature of ninety-nine is that players bid by discarding three cards.

Rules

Dealing

A round of ninety-nine begins with the deal of a shuffled deck. The two and three player versions of the game use only the 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A (ranked from lowest to highest) - note that 6 is the lowest rank, and that the 2 through 5 are not included in the deck. The four-player version of the game uses the entire 52-card deck (in which case the 2 is the lowest rank). Players are dealt the entire deck, one card at a time, with all cards face down. In the two-player version, the cards are dealt to the two players and also to a third pseudo-player called the "dummy". As a result, in the two and three player version players are initially dealt 12 cards, while in the four player version players are initially dealt 13 cards. Players should sort their cards by suit, and by rank inside a suit.

Trump suit is then determined. In the very first round of a game, there are no trumps. After that, the trump suit is determined by the number of players who won the last round: Diamonds if 0, Spades if 1, Hearts if 2, and Clubs if 3. In the four-player version, if all four players win a round, the next round is played with no trumps.

Bidding

Each player then bids on the number of tricks they expect to take. Players bid by discarding any three cards in their hand; each suit is worth a certain number of tricks, and the total number bid by three cards determines the bid using the following code:

Suit	Value	Mnenomic
♣ Clubs	3	Clubs have 3 bumps (top, left, right)
♥ Hearts	2	Hearts have 2 bumps on the top
♠ Spades	1	Spades have 1 point at the top
♦ Diamonds	0	Diamond outline looks like a zero

Thus, if a player discards a club and two diamonds, they have bid 3+0+0=3 tricks.

Normally, these discarded "bid" cards are placed face-down on the table, so that the other players will not know how many tricks that player is trying to take. However, a player who is very confident with his hand can also make two kinds of premium bids, which are made out loud to the other players: a declaration, where the bid cards will be shown face-up, or a revelation, where every one of the player's cards will be placed face up. Only one player can make a premium bid in a round; a revelation outbids a declaration, otherwise the Dealer's left has the highest priority.

In a 2-player game, both live players can declare, but neither player can reveal. Also, in the 2-player game, three cards are arbitrarily chosen from the dummy's hand and set aside as the dummy's bid (neither live player knows what the dummy has "bid").

Trick-Taking

After the bidding has been completed, trick-taking begins. If playing the 2-player version, the "dummy's" cards other than the 3 bidding cards are first placed face-up and sorted by suit.

In 3 and 4 player versions, the player to the dealer's left plays the first hand, and play continues clockwise. In the 2-player version, the non-dealer begins play.

Players must follow suit of the suit led if they can, else they can play any card; they need not beat a card even if they can. If a trump card is played, the highest-ranking trump card wins, else the highest-ranking card of the suit lead wins. The winner of a trick leads the next trick.

In the 2-player version, if a live player leads a trick, then the other live player plays next, and the leading player then can choose any (legal) card from the dummy's hand. If the dummy wins a trick, the live player who last led chooses the dummy's card, the other live player plays next, and the player who last led plays his own hand. Thus, the "dummy" is always first or last to play in the 2-player version.

Scoring a Round

After all the cards have been played, the round is scored. Players earn one point for every trick they won, regardless of any other bonuses (or the lack of them). A player who acquired exactly the number of tricks they bid gains a bonus depending on the number of others who also made their bid.

If only one player succeeded, that player earns 30 points; if two succeeded, each earns 20 points; if three succeeded, each earns 10 points; and if all four succeeded in a 4-player game there is no bonus. A declaration adds 30 points (to the declarer if successful, to the others if not); a revelation is worth 60 points (to the declarer if successful, to the others if not).

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