{"id":30,"date":"2026-04-21T00:49:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/example.com\/?post_type=card_game&#038;p=30"},"modified":"2026-04-21T00:49:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:49:22","slug":"ninety-nine","status":"publish","type":"card_game","link":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/?card_game=ninety-nine","title":{"rendered":"Ninety-Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Ninety-Nine?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Ninety-Nine is a brilliantly original trick-taking game for exactly three players. What makes it unique is the bidding system \u2014 you do not say a number. Instead, you secretly encode your bid by setting aside three cards from your hand. The rank of the cards you set aside determines your bid: a 9 = 3 tricks, a 6 = 2 tricks, a 3 = 1 trick, any other card = 0 tricks. You must win exactly your bid to score. Every player bids simultaneously and secretly, creating a fascinating puzzle where everyone is trying to hit an exact target no one else knows.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What You Need<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>One standard deck of 52 playing cards<\/li><li>Exactly three players<\/li><li>Score pad<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Bid Encoding System<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Set aside a 9:<\/strong> Adds 3 to your bid<\/li><li><strong>Set aside a 6:<\/strong> Adds 2 to your bid<\/li><li><strong>Set aside a 3:<\/strong> Adds 1 to your bid<\/li><li><strong>Set aside any other card:<\/strong> Adds 0 to your bid<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p>By choosing which three cards you set aside, you encode a bid from 0 to 9 tricks. Example: setting aside a 9, a 6, and a King = bid of 3+2+0 = 5 tricks. Setting aside three cards that are all non-scoring ranks = bid of 0.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Setting Up Each Round<\/h2>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Deal 12 cards to each player \u2014 all 36 remaining cards after the deal form no stock, all cards are in play.<\/li><li>Simultaneously, each player secretly selects exactly three cards from their hand and places them face-down in front of them. These are the bid cards.<\/li><li>When everyone is ready, all players reveal their three bid cards at the same time. Everyone calculates each player&#8217;s bid.<\/li><li>The nine revealed bid cards are shuffled together to form a face-down kitty \u2014 these cards may come into play depending on trump determination rules.<\/li><li>Each player now holds nine cards for trick play.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Determining Trump<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>A common method: total all three players&#8217; bids. Match that number to a suit (1\u201313 = Clubs, 14\u201326 = Diamonds, 27\u201339 = Hearts, 40+ = Spades or No Trump). The suit category of the total is trump. This means players can influence the trump suit through their bid choices.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Play<\/h2>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The player to the left of the dealer leads the first card.<\/li><li>Going clockwise, players must follow suit if they have a card of the led suit.<\/li><li>If you cannot follow suit, play any card including trump.<\/li><li>The highest trump wins if any trump was played. If not, the highest card of the led suit wins.<\/li><li>The winner of each trick leads the next. Play all 12 tricks.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scoring<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Hit your exact bid:<\/strong> Score 1 point \u2014 or a bonus based on difficulty (bid 0 = 2 points, bid all 9 = 3 points in some versions).<\/li><li><strong>Miss by any amount:<\/strong> Score 0 points.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Winning<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Play nine rounds. Highest score wins.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tips for New Players<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Count your certain winners \u2014 Aces, high trumps \u2014 before encoding your bid. Be conservative. Missing by one is the same as missing by five.<\/li><li>The three cards you set aside for your bid are gone from your playing hand \u2014 don&#8217;t bid away cards you desperately need.<\/li><li>Bid 0 if your hand is weak \u2014 winning zero tricks is achievable with careful play and scores a clean point.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=how+to+play+Ninety-Nine+card+game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>\u25b6 Search How to Play on YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Ninety-Nine? Ninety-Nine is a brilliantly original trick-taking game for exactly three players. What makes it unique is the bidding system \u2014 you do\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"game_category":[2,4],"game_tag":[],"class_list":["post-30","card_game","type-card_game","status-publish","hentry","game_category-classic-games","game_category-trick-taking"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/card_game\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/card_game"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/card_game"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"game_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fgame_category&post=30"},{"taxonomy":"game_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fgame_tag&post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}