Ninety-nine
How to Play Ninety-nine
Ninety-nine is a running-total game for 2–6 people — 2 is this game, 3 is a real table — everyone for themselves. You deal 3 each. Play one card, say the new total out loud, and do not go over 99. Three lives each. Last with a life wins.
This page is kitchen-table Ninety-nine. Also called 99 at some tables — CardPractice house name is Ninety-nine. Short enough to deal tonight. This is not 31. 31 is three cards, make 31 in one suit, knock, lives — how to play 31. This is not Crazy Eights. Crazy Eights is match suit or rank, 8s wild — how to play Crazy Eights. This is not cribbage. Cribbage pegs 15s and 31 on a board — how to play cribbage. Not Parlett’s Ninety-nine (3-player tricks, bid by discarding). Two is this game, not a leftover. Three is a real table. Pick it from tonight with 4 players, tonight with 3, the 3-player hub, tonight with 2, or tonight with 5.
What you need
- 2–6 people. Nobody has a partner. Two is this game. Three is a real table. Four is a typical first night. Five works.
- One standard 52-card deck. No jokers. Deal 3 each. Remaining cards face-down = the stock.
- Three lives each — pennies, chips, or hash marks. Last with a life wins. No pad race.
Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house
Sit where everyone can hear the total. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the deal moves clockwise.
Give each person three lives before the first deal. Say these out loud before the first card:
- Three each. Stock face-down. Nobody has a partner. Draw back to 3 after you play. If the stock runs out, keep playing with what is in hand.
- Running total starts at 0. Left of dealer plays first. Play one card, say the new total out loud. Then clockwise, until a 4 reverses.
- Values: Ace = 1. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 = pip. 4 = reverse, adds 0. 9 = 0 ("nine is mine" — total stays). 10 = minus 10 (cannot go below 0). Jack = plus 10. Queen = plus 20. King = 99 (sets the total to 99 — always legal).
- You may not play a card that would make the total greater than 99. King to 99 is fine. At 99 already: only 9, 4, 10, or another King.
- Cannot play: out of this hand, flip a life. Next player keeps the same total. Last with a life wins the table. Not 31. Not Crazy Eights. Not cribbage. Not Parlett’s Ninety-nine.
Deal 3 each and a stock
Shuffle the 52. Deal clockwise: three cards each. Put the rest of the pack face-down in the middle. That is the stock. No discard pile. No up-card.
Four people: 12 cards dealt, 40 in the stock. Three people: 9 dealt. Two people: 6 dealt. Six people: 18 dealt. If someone has the wrong count, throw it in and deal again.
Left of the dealer plays first. The running total starts at 0.
Play one card, say the new total, draw back to 3
On your turn you play one card from your three, say the new total out loud, then draw one from the stock so you hold three again. If the stock is gone, skip the draw and keep playing with what is in hand.
Play goes clockwise until someone plays a 4. A 4 reverses direction and adds 0 — the total stays, play goes the other way.
Card values
| Card | House tonight |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 | Pip value |
| 4 | Reverse direction. Adds 0. Total stays. |
| 9 | 0 — “nine is mine.” Total stays. |
| 10 | Minus 10. Total cannot go below 0; if it would, the play is illegal. |
| Jack | Plus 10 |
| Queen | Plus 20 |
| King | Sets the total to 99. Always legal. |
Say these out loud before the first card. Tonight Ace is 1, not 14. Tonight Queen is +20, not 10. You add (or subtract, or set) a value. You do not match suit. That is not Crazy Eights. You do not score one suit in three cards. That is not 31.
Do not go over 99
You may not play a card that would make the total greater than 99. Count before you play. Say the new total. If it would be 100 or more, that card is illegal this turn.
- King sets the total to 99. Always legal — even from 0, even from 99.
- A total of 99 already: only 9 (stay), 4 (reverse, stay), or 10 (to 89) are legal besides another King (stays 99).
- A 10 that would take the total below 0 is illegal. From 5, a 10 is not a play.
Can’t play: flip a life
If every card in your 3 would go over 99, you are out of this hand. Flip over one life. The next player continues with the same total.
The last person still in the hand does not automatically win the whole game. The hand ends when only one person is left in it — that person stays, everyone who busted lost a life. Then deal again. Last player with a life wins. Optional rematch: just deal again.
Lives are pennies, chips, or hash marks — a count, not a cash stake. You do not race a pad. You do not make 31 in one suit. That is 31. You do not match suit or rank with 8s wild. That is Crazy Eights. You do not peg 15s on a board. That is cribbage.
Walk through one first-night hand
Four people, 3 each, three pennies. The total is 80.
You play a Jack. You say 90. Draw back to 3.
East plays a 9 — nine is mine. Total stays 90.
South’s 8 would be 98. South plays it. You say 98.
West has 5, 7, Queen — 103, 105, 118. All over 99. West is out of this hand and flips a life.
You play a 9. Total stays 98. Keep going until only one person is still in the hand, then deal again. Last with a life wins the table.
Night-one habits
- Deal 3 each. Remaining cards face-down = the stock. Draw back to 3.
- Total starts at 0. Say the new total out loud every play.
- Ace = 1. 4 reverses (adds 0). 9 stays. 10 minus 10. Jack +10. Queen +20. King sets 99.
- Do not go over 99. Cannot play: flip a life, same total continues.
- Two people is a real Ninety-nine table. Three is a real table. Four is typical. Five works. Deal.
You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the table. Four people is a tonight pick. Three people is a tonight pick and sits on the 3-player hub. Two people is a tonight pick. Five people is a tonight pick. There is no Ninety-nine trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product. If you wanted three cards, 31 in one suit, and a knock, that is 31. If you wanted match suit or rank and 8s wild, that is Crazy Eights. If you wanted pegging to a board, that is cribbage. This is not Parlett’s Ninety-nine.